Increases the number of properties eligible for the coastal market assistance program by providing eligibility to properties within one mile of the shore.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9821
SPONSOR: Otis TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to increasing the number
of properties eligible for the coastal market assistance program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To increase the number of properties eligible for the coastal market
assistance program which serves property owners who cannot find property
insurance on the private market.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subsection c of section 5414 of the insurance law to
expand coverage of the coastal market assistance program to properties
located within one mile of the shore and expands the definition of
"shore" to include more communities across the state.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
n/a
JUSTIFICATION:
The increasing incidence of extreme weather events due to climate change
has led to severe and disastrous flooding around the state, much of it
in areas that have never experienced such events. As part of a compre-
hensive, state-wide approach to ensuring resiliency, we must do more to
protect homeowners struggling to recover and rebuild after storms. This
includes ensuring that homeowners property insurance is available to
those living in communities that may be affected by adverse events.
The Coastal Market Assistance Program (CMAP), established under section
5414 of the insurance law after Hurricane Andrew, is meant to ensure
that homeowners are able to purchase coverage in areas where private
insurers are reluctant to go. Section 5414 provides that New York Prop-
erty Insurance Underwriting Association (NYPIUA) "shall create a coastal
market assistance program to provide a voluntary mechanism whereby
insurers and insurance agents and brokers facilitate efficient access to
participating private market insurance companies for those personal
residential property risks located in coastal areas."
NYPIUA policies do not include liability, flood, or theft coverage, but
provide homeowners insurance coverage in hard to cover areas.
CMAP currently applies to properties within 2500 feet of the shoreline
in the Bronx and Westchester and Long Island's North Shore, and to prop-
erties within one mile of the shoreline in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten
Island, and the South Shore of Long Island."
This bill would expand the geographical coverage of CMAP to properties
located within one mile from the shoreline in all covered areas, and
would broaden the definition of "shore" to include Lake Erie, Lake
Ontario, the Saint Lawrence River and the Niagara River. The bill also
empowers NYPIUA to adopt additional or more expansive eligibility stand-
ards.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9821
IN ASSEMBLY
April 9, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. OTIS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to increasing the number
of properties eligible for the coastal market assistance program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 5414 of the insurance law, as
2 added by chapter 136 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
3 (c) The association shall administer the coastal market assistance
4 program. The association may, subject to approval of the superintendent,
5 adopt reasonable eligibility standards for participation in the coastal
6 market assistance program. At a minimum, properties eligible for the
7 program shall be located within one mile of the shore. For purposes of
8 this section, shore shall mean salt-water ocean, sound, bay, inlet, Lake
9 Erie, Lake Ontario, the Saint Lawrence River or the Niagara River with
10 distance measured from mean high water. The association may adopt addi-
11 tional or more expansive eligibility standards for participation in the
12 coastal market assistance program.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13698-04-4
