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.
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.
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.
