Advocacy

​Written by: Lisa Lounsbury, President & CEO of Big I New YorkAt Big I New York, there is no higher priority than supporting and advocating for our members.  It is often difficult for others to see the breadth and impact of the advocacy work that we do with regulators, legislators, and carriers.  Today, there is an easy-to-share tangible result of our advocacy efforts that Utica National Insurance Group just communicated.We met with Utica National Insurance Group this week immediately after they announced the commission changes to certain segments of their New York Private Passenger Auto business.  While we do not agree with or support the…

This week, Big I NY, along with dozens of groups representing a wide swath of New York's employers, issued a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to again veto legislation which would radically increase jury awards in wrongful death lawsuits. This legislation would impose major costs on policyholders, burden taxpayers, stifle economic growth, and destabilize the state's already faltering insurance market. The bill, S.6636/A.6698, would allow for subjective “pain and suffering" damages, substantially expand who would be eligible to receive awards, and retroactive lengthen the statute of limitations for filing wrongful death lawsuits. This would make New York's wrongful death laws the most generous in the…

On Thursday, October 12th, Big I NY met with counsel to Governor Hochul and urged that she veto legislation that would ban the use of non-compete agreements.While we appreciate the intentions behind this bill, we firmly believe that a blanket ban on non-competes would have detrimental consequences for the independent insurance industry, particularly in the context of business sales and acquisitions.Big I NY believes this bill must be vetoed for the following reasons:Preserving Business Value: Insurance agencies invest time and resources in building and maintaining client relationships. A non-compete agreement prevents departing agents from taking clients and policy expirations with them to a competitor, preserving…