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A02207 Summary:

BILL NOA02207
 
SAME ASSAME AS S02231
 
SPONSOREichenstein
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Rpld §3114, add §3422, Ins L (as proposed in S. 7658-B & A.8869-B)
 
Prohibits an insurer from cancelling, refusing to issue, refusing to renew, or increasing the premium of a policy or to exclude, limit, restrict, or reduce coverage under such policy solely on the basis that one or more claims have been made against any policy during the preceding sixty months for a loss that is the result of a hate crime.
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A02207 Actions:

BILL NOA02207
 
01/24/2023referred to insurance
01/31/2023reported referred to rules
01/31/2023reported
01/31/2023rules report cal.74
01/31/2023ordered to third reading rules cal.74
02/01/2023passed assembly
02/01/2023delivered to senate
02/01/2023REFERRED TO RULES
02/06/2023SUBSTITUTED FOR S2231
02/06/20233RD READING CAL.168
02/06/2023PASSED SENATE
02/06/2023RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
03/03/2023delivered to governor
03/03/2023signed chap.65
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A02207 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2207
 
SPONSOR: Eichenstein
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to insurance for victims of a hate crime; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: The purpose of this bill is to make amendments to Chapter 676 of the Laws of 2022 relating to insurance for victims of a hate crime.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Sections 1-2 make amendments to Chapter. 676 of the Laws of 2022 to move a section of law which prohibits the cancellation or increase in cost of an insurance policy due to a claim resulting from an insured being the victim of a hate crime to Article 34 of the Insurance law, adds that this protection applies to an independently owned and operated business entity that employs 100 or fewer employees, changes the term "offender" to "perpetrator", clarifies that this new law shall not prohibit an insurer from abiding by other sections of the Insurance law and provides a ninety-day effective date. Section 3 provides the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: Modeled after an Illinois Law, this legislation seeks to protect victims of hate crimes from having their insurance policy cancelled for the sole reason that they were the victim of a hate crime. It is abhorrent to think that an insurer might cancel a policy for this singular reason, this legislation does allow for a policy to be cancelled if there are other compelling factors, it also does not prohibit terms of a policy from being changed, it simples provides protection from being cancelled. As an example, a Jew who has a swastika repeatedly etched into their car in their driveway would be protected against their auto insurance being cancelled because of this vandalism. Or a mosque that is the constant victim of vandalism on their building and property would likewise be protected from a cancellation of their insurance policy. This legis- lation seeks to bring peace of mind to these individuals by removing the fear that if they rapport a claim, they may lose their insurance policy. We should be doing all we can to remove artificial barriers towards the reporting of hate crimes and this legislation helps to achieve that goal. Chapter 676 of the Laws of 2022 prohibited an insurer from cancelling, refusing to issue, refusing to renew, or increasing the premium of a policy solely on the basis that one or more claims have been made against any policy during the preceding sixty months for a loss that is the result of a hate crime. This Chapter amendment moves this protection to Article 34 of the Insurance law, adds that this protection applies to an independently owned and operated business entity that employs 100 or fewer employees, changes the term "offender" to "perpetrator", clarifies that this new law shall not prohibit an insurer from abiding by other sections of the Insurance law and provides a ninety-day effective date.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: None noted.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law and shall apply to all policies issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after such date; provided, however, that the provisions of section one of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the insurance law relating to insurance for victims of a hate crime, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 7658-B and A. 8869-B, takes effect.
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A02207 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          2207
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 24, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  EICHENSTEIN -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Insurance
 
        AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to insurance for  victims
          of a hate crime; 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 3114 of the insurance law, as added by a chapter of
     2  the laws of 2022 amending the insurance law relating  to  insurance  for
     3  victims  of  a  hate  crime, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.
     4  7658-B and A.  8869-B, is REPEALED.
     5    § 2. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 3422 to read
     6  as follows:
     7    § 3422. Hate crimes;  coverage  refusal.  (a)  For  purposes  of  this
     8  section,  "insured"  means  a current policyholder or a person or entity
     9  that is covered under an insurance policy.
    10    (b) This section shall apply to policies of insurance if  the  insured
    11  or proposed insured is:
    12    (1) an individual;
    13    (2)  a  business  entity  that is independently owned and operated and
    14  employs one hundred or fewer individuals;
    15    (3) a religious organization;
    16    (4) an educational organization; or
    17    (5) any other nonprofit organization that is  organized  and  operated
    18  for religious, charitable or educational purposes.
    19    (c)  An  insurer  that issues or delivers a policy in this state shall
    20  not cancel, refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or increase the premium of
    21  a policy or exclude, limit, restrict,  or  reduce  coverage  under  such
    22  policy  solely  on  the  basis  that  one  or more claims have been made
    23  against any policy during the preceding sixty months for a loss that  is
    24  the  result of a hate crime, as defined pursuant to article four hundred

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03944-01-3

        A. 2207                             2
 
     1  eighty-five of the penal law, committed against the person  or  property
     2  insured  if  the named insured provides evidence to the insurer that the
     3  act causing such loss is a result of a hate crime and  that  an  insured
     4  was not the perpetrator of the hate crime.
     5    (d)  Nothing in this section shall prohibit an insurer from canceling,
     6  refusing to renew, increasing the premium  of  an  insurance  policy  or
     7  excluding, limiting, restricting, or reducing coverage under such policy
     8  due  to  other  factors  that are permitted by any other section of this
     9  chapter, including the factors set forth in section two  thousand  three
    10  hundred three of this chapter.
    11    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    12  have become a law and shall apply to all policies issued, renewed, modi-
    13  fied, altered or amended on or after such date; provided, however,  that
    14  the  provisions of section one of this act shall take effect on the same
    15  date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws  of  2022  amending
    16  the  insurance law relating to insurance for victims of a hate crime, as
    17  proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 7658-B  and  A.  8869-B,  takes
    18  effect.
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A02207 LFIN:

 NO LFIN
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