Emergency Coronavirus Regulation Extended For 30 Days

​New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended for 30 days an order that prohibits insurance carriers from terminating some policies and requires them to be lenient with policyholders suffering financially from the COVID-19 pandemic. The requirements, which were scheduled to expire on May 7, will now expire on June 6. Big I New York wrote to the governor last week urging him to extend the requirements' duration. The governor issued an executive order on March 29 that required the state Department of Financial Services to issue regulations setting a 60-day moratorium on insurers cancelling, non-renewing or conditionally renewing some policies. The regulations also required insurers…

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WC Rating Board: New Classification for Idled Employees

​The New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board (NYCIRB) today announced that employers who are paying employees sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic will pay a less-expensive rate for Workers' Compensation insurance. Big I New York had asked the NYCIRB to make this change. Many employers have taken advantage of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which provides them with short term loans to cover payroll for two months during stay-at-home orders. Other employers are simply paying employees even though they are prohibited from operating. Workers' Compensation rating rules require premiums to be calculated based on the amount of the employer's payroll. While idled employees are still on…

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On Our Mind… Can Complacency Could Lead to Mistakes and E&O Exposures?

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it “ is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It’s an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms”……..Colin Powell​​​​As I was preparing to write this week’s note, I came across the above quote. Boy does it apply to our “new normal”. It would be very easy to get complacent these days- it would be easy to take short cuts or just mail it in as my Dad used to say. Well, complacency could lead to mistakes, errors and omissions.. What a great time to look at your agency’s operations, procedures and protocols. We have our annual E+O…

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