NYIA Regulatory Symposium Recap
The New York Insurance Association (NYIA) held back-to-back essential events for property and casualty insurance companies doing business in New York on November 1st and 2nd at the Century House in Latham, New York.
The New York Regulatory Symposium held on November 1st provided attendees with an excellent opportunity to connect with new Insurance Division leaders at the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and receive the most up-to-date information on recent regulatory activities. Participants from DFS included: Scott Fischer, executive deputy superintendent for insurance; Stephen Doody, deputy superintendent for property and Casualty; Larry Wertel, assistant bureau chief; and Joan Riddell, deputy chief insurance examiner.
The program also included an industry panel moderated by Mark Gardner, New York regional counsel, Allstate Insurance Company and featured panelists Edward Harper, executive vice president and CEO, Mid-Hudson Co-Operative Insurance Company; Floyd Holloway, counsel, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company; and Robert Pastel, partner, Pastel & Rosen, LLP.
Along with policy-level discussions from key regulators and industry experts, the symposium agenda provided attendees with the opportunity to ask specific questions about where the future of insurance regulation is headed in New York. Discussion topics included the proposed cyber security regulation, financial exams shifting to risk-based focus and the most effective ways for DFS to provide guidance to companies.
NYIA’s Annual Meeting was held the next day on November 2nd. The event featured a Legislation and Regulation Committee meeting with the adoption of the association’s 2017 Legislative and Regulatory Agenda, a business meeting to elect the 2017 NYIA Board of Directors, and two presentations—Approaching the BCAR Finish Line, presented by Rick Decker, assistant vice president, Property/Casualty Rating Division, A.M. Best Company, and a keynote address, from newly appointed Chair of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), Kenneth Munnelly.
Kenneth Munnelly provided a snapshot of the workers’ compensation market in New York and an update on the various initiatives occurring at the Workers’ Compensation Board. He reported that the workers’ compensation market is currently a $6 billion system, with one-third being written by the private insurance market, one-third by self insurance, and one-third by the New York State Insurance Fund.
Rick Decker provided attendees with a ratings update from A.M. Best, focusing on the changes to BCAR. He indicated that A.M. Best will be releasing a revised BCAR methodology in the near future and encouraged companies to provide their comments on the latest version.
One critical element of the day was the establishment of the association’s 2017 Legislative and Regulatory Agenda. NYIA’s legislative and regulatory priorities include: no new or increased taxes or fees on the property and casualty industry, stiff penalties for registration fraud and rate evasion, the interest rate on judgments being tied to the prevailing market rate, tougher laws to discourage roof repair fraud after disasters, productive audits for workers compensation, changes to the no-fault medical fee schedule regulation, negotiation of international property and casualty insurance products in New York, and clarification of assessment of cooperative insurers’ ability to write umbrella policies.
An equally important aspect was the election of the 2017 officers and board of directors. The following officers were elected for a one-year term: Steven Coffey, president and CEO, Broome Co-operative Insurance Company as chair; Elizabeth Heck, president and CEO, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company as first vice chair; Mark Prechtl, executive vice president and CEO, Chautauqua Patrons Insurance Company as second vice chair;and Norman Orlowski, president and CEO, Erie and Niagara Insurance Association as treasurer. Steven Coffey and Norman Orlowski were also elected as directors, serving a three-year term, in addition to: Mark Gardner, New York regional counsel, Allstate Insurance Company; Thomas Hyman, government affairs manager, Farmers Insurance Group; and Charles Makey, senior vice president, insurance operations, Merchants Insurance Group.
