NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6867A
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to prohibiting certain
restrictions as it relates to dog breed; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
PURPOSE:
This legislation will protect pet owners from discrimination by insur-
ance companies based on breed of dog owned.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one repeals and replaces section 3421 of the insurance law.
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Pet owners have long been subject to discrimination by insurance compa-
nies based on the breed of dog they own. Such discrimination may come in
the form of increased premiums, coverage restrictions or denial of an
insurance policy, even if the dog has never been involved in a biting
incident or shown any signs of aggression. These arbitrary restrictions
impede the ability for people to obtain the necessary insurance policy
for their home and are based on myths and stereotypes that suggest
certain breeds are inherently dangerous. This legislation would ensure
that no insurer may cancel, refuse to issue or renew, increase the
premium or otherwise exclude, limit, restrict or reduce coverage based
on breed of dog owned.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
90 days.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6867--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, LUNSFORD, JACOBSON, SHRESTHA --
read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to prohibiting certain
restrictions as it relates to dog breed; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3421 of the insurance law is REPEALED and a new
2 section 3421 is added to read as follows:
3 § 3421. Dogs; coverage refusal. (a) An insurer that issues or delivers
4 a policy in this state shall not cancel, refuse to issue, refuse to
5 renew, or increase the premium of a policy or exclude, limit, restrict,
6 or reduce coverage under such policy based upon harboring or owning any
7 dog of a specific breed or mixture of breeds.
8 (b) The provisions of this section shall not prohibit an insurer from
9 refusing to issue or renew or from canceling any such contract or poli-
10 cy, nor from imposing a reasonably increased premium or rate for such a
11 policy or contract based upon the designation of a dog of any breed or
12 mixture of breeds as a dangerous dog pursuant to section one hundred
13 twenty-three of the agriculture and markets law, based on sound under-
14 writing and actuarial principles reasonably related to actual or antic-
15 ipated loss experience subject to the applicable provisions of section
16 three thousand four hundred twenty-five of this article.
17 (c) This section shall apply to policies of insurance if the insured
18 or proposed insured is an individual or individuals.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
20 have become a law and shall apply to all policies issued, renewed, modi-
21 fied, altered or amended on or after such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10473-02-3
