Advocacy

On March 18th, Governor Cuomo signed a bill intended to address employee sick leave, both in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak, and more generally. The bill took effect immediately. SUMMARY OF BENEFITS Employer Size Covid-19 Benefits (Effective Immediately) Sick Leave Benefits (Effective 9/14/20) 4 or fewer employees and net profits of $1 million or less Unpaid sick leave for the duration of the Quarantine Order 40 hours of unpaid leave 5-99 employees or net profits of more than $1 million 5 days paid leave then unpaid sick leave for the duration of the Quarantine Order 40 hours of paid leave 100+ employees 14 days paid…

Today, Big I NY, along with other industry trade groups, ​ sent a letter to DFS Superintendent Linda Lacewell urging the department to take critical steps to protect policyholders. Together, we call on the DFS to protect consumers’ ability to obtain comprehensive and collision insurance by suspending the photo inspection requirement in Regulation 79. With current staffing limitations, and social distancing directives, customers are unable to travel to inspection locations. Furthermore, we call on the DFS to implement a grace period for CE and license renewal requirements for the duration of the current State of Emergency. Insurance agents and brokers face increased difficulty in obtaining the required continuing…

  This week, Big I NY members from Buffalo to Long Island traveled to Albany to urge lawmakers to take action on a number of key issues affecting IAs and our customers. Delegations from nearly all of our local associations, including many members of the Group of 100​, kicked off the day with a briefing session before departing for meetings with state lawmakers representing their region. Members urged lawmakers to reject a significant expansion of the Department of Financial Services' authority to prosecute unfair, deceptive, and abusive business practices, as well as a dramatic and unwarranted increase in insurance law fines and penalties. Big I…