STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9862 IN SENATE June 6, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to claims for loss or damage to real property, continuing education for licensed persons and qualifications for independent adjusters The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 2618 2 to read as follows: 3 § 2618. Claims for loss or damage to real property; repairs. (a) 4 Unless otherwise prescribed within the insurance policy, whenever an 5 insured suffers a loss or damage to real property, no insurer providing 6 coverage therefor shall require that repairs be completed by a partic- 7 ular entity or individual. 8 (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, an insurer, third- 9 party administrator, independent adjuster, or public adjuster may recom- 10 mend or suggest repairs be made by a particular entity or individual, 11 provided that any financial interest in such entity or individual that 12 they recommend or suggest is also disclosed. 13 § 2. Paragraph 1 of subsection (f) of section 2108 of the insurance 14 law is amended to read as follows: 15 (1) The superintendent shall, in order to determine the trustworthi- 16 ness and competency to act as an independent adjuster of each individual 17 applicant for such license, and of each proposed sub-licensee, except in 18 the case of a renewal license, require every such individual to take and 19 pass, to the satisfaction of the superintendent, a personal written 20 examination. An individual shall not be deemed qualified to take the 21 examination without having demonstrated by evidence satisfactory to the 22 superintendent that: (A) the individual possesses a minimum of one 23 year's experience in the insurance business, with involvement in sales, 24 underwriting, claims, or other experience considered sufficient by the 25 superintendent; or (B) the individual successfully completed forty hours 26 of formal training in a course, program of instruction, or seminars 27 approved by the superintendent. The superintendent may prescribe the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10608-01-3
S. 9862 2 1 types of written examinations according to the kind or kinds of insur- 2 ance claims [which] that the applicant is to be licensed to investigate 3 and adjust. 4 § 3. Subsection (r) of section 2108 of the insurance law, as added by 5 chapter 264 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows: 6 (r) (1) The following continuing education requirements shall apply to 7 resident and non-resident persons licensed as public or independent 8 adjusters. 9 (2) Resident and non-resident persons licensed as public or independ- 10 ent adjusters and any person previously so licensed whose license was 11 not in effect on the effective date of this subsection and who has 12 subsequently been relicensed pursuant to the provisions of this article, 13 shall biennially satisfactorily complete such courses or programs as may 14 be approved by the superintendent, as follows: 15 (A) Any person holding a license as a public or independent adjuster 16 shall, during each full biennial licensing period, satisfactorily 17 complete courses or programs of instruction or attend seminars as may be 18 approved by the superintendent equivalent to fifteen credit hours of 19 instruction. 20 (B) During the same calendar year biennial licensing period, a licen- 21 see may use accumulated continuing education credits to meet the 22 requirements of similar classes of licenses including those authorized 23 by subsection (b) of section two thousand one hundred three, section two 24 thousand one hundred four, section two thousand one hundred seven of 25 this article with respect to general insurance consultants, and this 26 section [two thousand one hundred eight of this article] with respect to 27 public and independent adjusters. 28 (C) Excess credit hours accumulated during any biennial licensing 29 period shall not carry forward to the next biennial licensing period for 30 that same class of license. 31 (3) (A) The courses or programs of instruction successfully completed, 32 which shall be deemed to meet the superintendent's standards for contin- 33 uing education shall be: 34 (i) Courses, programs of instruction or seminars, approved as to meth- 35 od and content by the superintendent, covering portions of the principal 36 branches of insurance related to the kinds of insurance covered by the 37 public or independent adjusting license, and given by a degree confer- 38 ring college or university whose curriculum is registered with the state 39 education department at the time the person takes the course, whether 40 such course be given as part of such curriculum or separately, or by any 41 other institution, association, trade association or insurer, which 42 maintains equivalent standards of instruction and which shall have been 43 approved for such purpose by the superintendent. 44 (ii) Continuing education as required by the state in which a non-re- 45 sident licensee resides and maintains an office, provided the super- 46 intendent deems them equivalent to New York continuing education 47 requirements. If the state in which the non-resident licensee resides 48 and maintains an office has no continuing education requirements, or the 49 superintendent does not deem them equivalent, the licensee must satisfy 50 New York continuing education requirements. 51 (B) The number of credit hours assigned to each of the courses or 52 programs of instruction set forth in paragraph one of this subsection 53 shall be determined by the superintendent. 54 (4) A person who teaches any approved course of instruction or who 55 lectures at any approved seminar, and who is subject to these continuing 56 education requirements shall be granted the same number of credit hours
S. 9862 3 1 as would be granted to a person taking and successfully completing such 2 course, seminar or program, provided that such credit hours shall be 3 credited only once per approved course during any biennial licensing 4 period. 5 (5) Every person subject to these continuing education requirements 6 shall furnish, in a form satisfactory to the superintendent, written 7 certification attesting to the course or programs of instruction taken 8 and successfully completed by such person, and executed by the sponsor- 9 ing organization or its authorizing representative. 10 (6) (A) Any person failing to meet applicable continuing education 11 requirements shall not be eligible to renew the license. 12 (B) Any person whose license was not renewed shall not be eligible to 13 become relicensed during the next biennial licensing period until that 14 person has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the superintendent that 15 continuing education requirements for the last biennial licensing period 16 were met. 17 (C) Any person whose license was not renewed pursuant to subparagraph 18 (A) of this paragraph, who accumulates sufficient credit hours for the 19 prior licensing period to qualify for relicensing in the biennial period 20 following such non-renewal, may not apply those same credit hours toward 21 the continuing education requirements for the current biennial licensing 22 period. 23 (7) (A) Any entity eligible to provide continuing education courses, 24 programs of instruction, or seminars shall file for approval by the 25 superintendent on a biennial basis, to conform with its areas of 26 instruction, a provider organization application and a course submission 27 application for each course, program, and seminar. 28 (B) The provider organization application shall include the names of 29 all instructors to be used during the contract period, and instructors 30 may be added during the period by notifying the superintendent and 31 paying the appropriate filing fee. 32 (C) The completed applications shall be returned in a timely manner, 33 as specified by the superintendent with a non-refundable filing fee of 34 two hundred dollars per organization, fifty dollars per course, program, 35 and seminar, and fifty dollars per instructor. 36 (D) Approval of the application shall be at the discretion of the 37 superintendent. 38 (8) Each licensee shall pay a biennial fee of ten dollars per license, 39 for continuing education certificate filing and recording charges, to 40 the superintendent, or, at the direction of the superintendent, directly 41 to an organization under contract to provide continuing education admin- 42 istrative services. 43 § 4. The opening paragraph of subsection (a) of section 2110 of the 44 insurance law, as amended by chapter 499 of the laws of 2009, is amended 45 to read as follows: 46 The superintendent may refuse to renew, revoke, or may suspend for a 47 period the superintendent determines the license of any insurance 48 producer, insurance consultant, public or independent adjuster or life 49 settlement broker, if, after notice and hearing, the superintendent 50 determines that the licensee or any sub-licensee has: 51 § 5. Paragraph 2 of subsection (c) of section 2132 of the insurance 52 law, as amended by chapter 264 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read 53 as follows: 54 (2) During the same calendar year biennial licensing period, a licen- 55 see may use accumulated continuing education credits to meet the 56 requirements of similar classes of licenses, as follows: (A) subsection
S. 9862 4 1 (a) of section two thousand one hundred three and section two thousand 2 one hundred seven of this article with respect to life insurance 3 consultants; or (B) subsection (b) of section two thousand one hundred 4 three, section two thousand one hundred four, section two thousand one 5 hundred seven of this article with respect to general insurance consult- 6 ants, and section two thousand one hundred eight of this article with 7 respect to public and independent adjusters. 8 § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 9 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.