PIANY Commends Legislation Proposed by ELANY

GLENMONT, N.Y.—The Professional Insurance Agents of New York State is pleased to be the first to support the Excess Line Association of New York’s introduction of a bill that would simplify requirements of agents and brokers placing business in the state’s excess & surplus lines marketplace.

The bill, S-769, filed in the New York Senate, as intended would excuse retail insurance brokers and any unaffiliated wholesale excess line insurance broker from making a diligent effort when procuring commercial lines insurance. However as currently drafted, this intent is not fully realized. PIANY would urge the Senate to amend the bill to ensure the spirit of the bill is fully implemented. Further, it would reduce the affidavit requirement on brokers when procuring non-commercial lines insurance—they would need to only record the name of the carrier, National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ number and the information the agent/broker relied upon to indicate why the authorized insurer might write the type of coverage and class of insurance involved. No additional information would need to be reported on the affidavit.

This legislation would remove an artificial barrier that can prevent consumers from obtaining the necessary coverage for their risks.

“PIA applauds the proposed amendment and Sen. Neil Breslin for his sponsorship. We are a strong advocate for its passage,” said PIANY President Jamie Ferris, CIC, AAI, CPIA. “The removal of these overly stringent requirements would streamline the insurance procurement process, and remove the need for filing unnecessary and time-consuming paperwork.”