New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement, “I agree with the intent of the bill and have reached an agreement with the Legislature to ensure that the scope of the insurance coverage information that parties must provide is properly tailored for the intended purpose, which is to ensure that parties in a litigation are correctly informed about the limits of potential insurance coverage.”

Gov. Hochul’s statement refers to Senate Bill 7052, the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act. Congress delivered the bill to the governor on December 20, 2021. Upon signature on December 31, 2021, the bill went into law. The intent of the bill is “to require that all parties provide notice and proof of the existence and contents of any insurance agreement, including coverage amounts, under which any person or entity may be liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment within sixty days of serving an answer in an action.”

The governor did ask for some modifications to soften the impact on businesses and insurers. Specifically, the changes are related to the amount of time for disclosure of insurance information, copies of policies or contracts would only be required if they relate to the current claim in litigation, and only the name of the adjuster would need to be disclosed, not complete contact information, as was initially proposed by the assembly.

For more details about the bill and how it may affect your business, please check out this article from the Insurance Journal.

All businesses should know what coverage they currently have and which coverage is relevant to a specific claim. If you would like to have a conversation about your current business or professional liability, feel free to reach out to AdvoCap Insurance Agency, Inc., we would be happy to have a conversation with you.

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