Legislation Quarterly Update – January 2023

We’d like to welcome Ed Crittenden, FIFAA, President of Crittenden Adjustment Company, for coming on board as our Southeast Region Legislative Chair!

For more information about the NAIIA legislative committee and upcoming events, contact National Legislative Chair Barry A. Parks of Hausch & Company at barry@hauschco.com or visit us at www.NAIIA.com   


From the desk of Legislative Committee Member Charles J. Reilly, Jr., CPCU, RPA, CPAU of Edward R. Reilly & Co., Inc.

For more information regarding this article, feel free to contact Chuck at creilly@reillyandco.com.

The first legislative summary concerns the pending New York legislation, as it relates to independent adjusters being required to meet continuing education requirements, to maintain their licenses. The second summary pertains to cyber security regulations that are currently in place in the State of New York for all licensees under the Jurisdiction of the States Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Lastly, a summary is provided concerning the statutory change to the appraisal clause in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

PENDING LEGISLATION IN NEW YORK STATE FOR ADJUSTERS CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

Currently, in the State of New York, all licensees that are under the jurisdiction of the New York State Department of Financial Services are required to satisfactorily complete courses or programs of instruction or attend seminars as may be approved by the superintendent equivalent to 15 credit hour sof instruction, in order to maintain their licenses. The notable exception is the independent insurance adjuster.

The New York State Association of Independent Adjusters, Inc., with the assistance of State Senator John Brooks has introduced an amendment to section 2618 of the New York State licensing law to include the continuing education requirement to the independent adjuster.

This measure has been approved by the Senate and is being introduced to the New York State Assembly for further action. Once approved by both legislative chambers, the legislation then moves to the Executive Chamber where it requires the Governor’s signature before the legislation is enacted.

There has been some pushback from certain industry quarters, namely large Third Party Administrators (TPA’s) concerning this legislation. This effort will continue to be monitored as if enacted, the association members who operate in New York State will need to be appraised of that development.


NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES CYBER SECURITY REGULATIONS FOR INSURANCE LICENSEES

In 2017, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) enacted and implemented requirements that all licensees, large and small, must implement and maintain a comprehensive cyber security program in accordance with specific compliance requirements and timeline.

The Cyber Security requirements outline a series of arrangements and measures that covered entities should implement in order to mitigate cyber security risks and respond to data breaches, thereby minimizing negative consequences of an incident.

One of the key pieces of the involved legislation mandates the role of an organization’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), who is required to sign off at least annually on the organization’s cyber security program and key cyber security risks.

Due to the increase in the worldwide cyber security breaches by both domestic and foreign actors, the New York State Department of Financial Services is now revisiting their earlier Legislation and is looking to upgrade its current requirements for its licensee to bolster their cyber security protection levels.

This type of legislation will no doubt be forthcoming to other states as cyber security threats continue to escalate.


COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA STATUTORY CHANGE OT THE APPRAISAL CLAUSE

In April of 2022, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia removed the statutory requirement of requiring the appraisers and umpires to be citizens and actual residents of the Commonwealth.

Going forward, whenever any appraisal is to be made under the standard provisions of a policy for loss or damage to property, each appraiser and umpire shall, before acting as such, take an oath that he is not directly or indirectly in the employment of the insured, the insurer, that he is not related to the insured or any officer of the insurer, and that he will faithfully discharge the duties imposed upon him.

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