NYIA Provides Industry Roadmap at New York Auto Forum

The New York Insurance Association hosted the New York Auto Forum—A Look at the Road Ahead on Wednesday, November 14, 2018. Auto insurance writers and insurance professionals heard from industry experts on a variety of trending topics.

Skip Short, member, Short & Billy and Barry Levy, partner, Rivkin Radler shared colorful anecdotes from their many years as litigators in the fields of no-fault automobile insurance fraud during their presentation Stories from the No-Fault Battlefield & The Fight Against Fraud.

υRobert Sinclair, manager, media relations, AAA Northeast and Ben Lieberman, co-founder, Alliance Combatting Distracted Driving and Distracted Operators Risk Casualties talked about the latest research and efforts to address the current distracted driving epidemic during their Impact of Distracted Driving & Possible Solutions presentation.

A talk on Trends in Auto Claims was given by Sandee Perfetto, coverage director, personal auto/umbrella product development, ISO where she discussed the challenges of auto safety and structure versus the advancements in technology and comfort including the latest on autonomous vehicles.

The Fireside Chat with Legislators featured Senator James Seward, New York State Senate Insurance Committee Chair; Senator Neil Breslin, New York State Senate Insurance Committee Ranking Member; Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, New York State Assembly Insurance Committee Chair and was moderated by Kristofer Snader, senior director government relations at Nationwide. The participants gathered fireside to have a conversation regarding insurance trends and legislation, including topics of fraud, modernization, photo inspections and distracted driving.

The New York Insurance Association Sets Course for 2019

The New York Insurance Association held its Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 15, 2018. The Annual Meeting is a yearly event that sets the course for the following year. NYIA’s officers and board of directors for 2019 were elected and as part of the Legislative and Regulatory committee meeting, NYIA members adopted the 2019 agenda. Members also heard compelling presentations from industry leaders and specialists.

Tanisha Edwards, Governor’s Office, assistant counsel to the governor for taxation and financial services delivered an insightful keynote address to NYIA Annual Meeting attendees. In her talk Edwards discussed a variety of issues and emphasized the importance of collaborative approaches.

Featured speakers Steven Groeschen, chief consulting actuary and risk analyst and Joseph Petrelli, president with Demotech, Inc. presented The Long View: Analysis of the New York State Property and Casualty Marketplace. Groeschen and Petrelli briefed NYIA Annual Meeting attendees on their complete analysis of multiline data in New York from 2000–2017.

NYIA members reelected the following officers—chair, Elizabeth Heck, president and CEO, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company; first vice chair, Mark Prechtl, executive vice president and CEO, Chautauqua Patrons Insurance Company; second vice chair, Charles Makey III, senior vice president, insurance operations, Merchants Insurance Group and Norman Orlowski, Jr., president/CEO, Erie and Niagara Insurance Association.

NYIA members also elected board of directors to serve a three-year term ending December 31, 2021. Marc Craw of MLMIC Insurance Company and Jennifer Cavolo of Progressive Casualty Insurance Company were elected and Elizabeth Heck of Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company, Matthew Benedict of Midstate Mutual Insurance Company and Jaynine Warner of Farmers Group, Inc. were reelected to serve.