May 30
Unanimous Confirmation: LAWSKY TO HEAD NEWLY CONSOLIDATED DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
By Sabrina Pry Albany, N.Y.—Benjamin M. Lawsky has been confirmed Superintendent of the soon to be created New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). DFS – a product of the merger of the State Banking and Insurance Departments – will begin operations on October 3, 2011. “I am both deeply honored and humbled to […]
Stick ‘em Up!
Over the years I have written in my column about numerous ways that bad guys try to dupe us into sending them our hard earned money through the use of fictitious email scams, phishing expeditions, and spoofing amongst other methods designed solely to fraud and deceive unsuspecting or unknowing potential victims. Although their M-O’s may […]
Restaurant Had Plenty of Reason to Believe That Patron’s Death From Food Poisoning Would Result in a Claim
“This is an insurance coverage dispute concerning whether plaintiff Tower must defend and indemnify its insured, defendant Babylon Fish & Clam, Inc. (Babylon), under an occurrence-based commercial general liability insurance policy. The underlying lawsuit is a wrongful death action brought by defendant Sandra Menken, individually and as executor of the estate of Michael J. Menken, […]
Obligation to Report Arrests
Section 2110(j) of the New York Insurance Laws, which became effective in 2004, requires an insurance producer to report any criminal prosecution of the licensee in any jurisdiction, “within thirty days of the initial pretrial hearing date.” Although enacted 6 years ago, Section 2210(j) is the subject of numerous disciplinary actions in the Department’s most […]
Is Insurance Going to the Dogs?
Dog bites have become a major insurance issue. The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has just announced that it will be filing an exclusion for use with its homeowners and personal umbrella forms that will eliminate BI and PD liability coverage for claims arising from direct physical contact with any (emphasis added) canine. According […]
Honors, Letters, Appeals
In this issue we introduce Benjamin Lawsky, the new Superintendent of New York’s newly combined Departments of Insurance and Banking and note, with pleasure, that Jim Wrynnwill remain on the team on the insurance side. Thanks to our Albany team for hammering out this piece on deadline, falling exactly the day of the confirmation hearings… …Jan […]
Full circle
Last month, I received a brochure from Forrester and Co., congratulating me because Ruchman Associates reached its 50th anniversary this year. Fifty years! It gave me pause to consider my career. As I reflected on my experience in the industry, there are two things I can say without doubt: One is that things sure have […]
