A bill introduced in the New York State Assembly on March 27 would force insurers to cover some business income losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, even if their policies excluded coverage. Big I New York is joining other industry groups in opposing the measure.
The bill, A.10226, was introduced by Assem. Robert Carroll (D – Brooklyn). Assem. Carroll announced his intention to introduce the bill in a series of Twitter posts on March 24. Big I NY AVP of Research and Information Tim Dodge posted several replies to the assemblyman’s tweets; no counter-replies have been posted.
The bill would require business income policies to cover the insured business for losses it sustains if it must shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would apply regardless of whether those policies contain virus exclusion. The mandate would apply to policies insuring organizations that employ less than 100 workers who normally work 25 hours or more per week. The bill would authorize DFS to assess for contributions every insurance carrier authorized to do business in this state. The department would then use those contributions to reimburse carriers forced to pay for these losses. The bill would apply retroactively to all policies in force on March 7, 2020.
The bill has been referred to the Assembly Insurance Committee. No similar bill has been introduced in the Senate. The New York State Legislature is currently focused on enacting a 2020-21 state budget, so the bill will likely not be on their agenda before the summer.
We believe that this bill would cause great harm to the New York insurance marketplace. Big I New York is working with the national Big I as well as other industry trade groups to defeat it.