STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3842--A 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. FORREST, RIVERA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the insurance law, the financial services law, and the banking law, in relation to establishing the insure our communities act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "insure our communities act". 3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and 4 declares the following: 5 1. The Department of Financial Services has identified that New York 6 state is "in the midst of an affordable housing crisis driven by numer- 7 ous factors, including the availability of affordable insurance"; 8 2. The Office of Budget Policy and Analysis has identified that "rates 9 of rental cost burden have increased across all income groups since 10 2012" and "significant racial disparities exist among households suffer- 11 ing from housing insecurity. In New York, 55 percent of households head- 12 ed by a Hispanic person (any race), 50 percent of households headed by a 13 Black or African American person and 48 percent of households headed by 14 an Asian person had at least one housing insecurity problem, compared 15 with 31 percent of households headed by a white person. People experi- 16 encing homelessness were also disproportionately Black and Hispanic or 17 Latino"; 18 3. A 2022 study conducted by the Department of Financial Services and 19 New York State Homes and Community Renewal found that affordable housing 20 developers "had seen premiums rise, even in instances where there had 21 been no previous claims made, to levels that they deemed prohibitively 22 expensive"; 23 4. The availability of fair and affordable insurance has a significant 24 impact on community credit needs as homeowners and business owners need 25 insurance coverage in order to secure residential or commercial loans, 26 as well as to protect their homes and businesses when damages occur, and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00753-03-5
A. 3842--A 2 1 housing developers need access to fair and affordable insurance coverage 2 to secure financing for the development of affordable rental housing; 3 5. A lack of fair and affordable insurance coverage can limit access 4 to homeownership and business development, reduce the development of 5 affordable rental housing, and can also limit lending and community 6 development financing opportunities of institutions covered by New 7 York's Community Reinvestment Act that evaluates banking institutions on 8 their ability to meet credit needs of the entire community; 9 6. Climate change, resulting primarily from the combustion of fossil 10 fuels, is an immediate, grave threat to the state's communities, envi- 11 ronment, and economy. New York has experienced an increasing number of 12 extreme and unusual weather events, including Hurricanes Irene and Lee 13 and the unprecedented Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which caused at least 48 14 deaths and $41.9 billion in damage in New York state; 15 7. Preexisting social and economic challenges combined with the uneven 16 distribution of climate change impacts makes certain communities more 17 vulnerable to climate change impacts than others, such as low- and 18 moderate-income communities and communities of color; 19 8. Homeowners, businesses, and affordable multifamily developers are 20 increasingly facing obstacles in securing fair and affordable insurance 21 coverage in light of climate change and its economic impacts, and the 22 New York State Climate Impacts Assessment has identified that "many 23 regions are already experiencing an increase in policy premiums derived 24 from past extreme climate events"; 25 9. Scientific evidence shows that climate change impacts will become 26 more severe over time with the continuing rise of global warming from 27 greenhouse gas emissions; 28 10. The state of New York must raise additional resources in order to 29 mitigate the effects of climate change, as evident by a report commis- 30 sioned by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's 31 (NYSERDA) estimating that climate change costs in New York "could 32 approach $10 billion annually by midcentury"; and 33 11. Comprehensive data collection on insurance industry practices in 34 New York state in the form of a statewide database is necessary in order 35 to facilitate enforcement of the law and to determine if additional 36 steps need to be taken to increase the availability of affordable insur- 37 ance in areas underserved by insurance companies. Such data includes but 38 is not limited to: 39 a. The availability and affordability of insurance coverage and the 40 quality or type of insurance coverage, by the race, ethnicity, gender 41 and income of the policyholder, as well as race, ethnicity, and income 42 of the census tract the insured risk is located in; 43 b. The location of the principal place of business of insurance 44 agents, by census tract, including in low- and moderate-income census 45 tracts and census tracts in disadvantaged communities; 46 c. The extent to which insurance companies are significant financiers 47 of the fossil fuel industry and new fossil fuel projects; and 48 d. Whether the extent and characteristics of insurance availability, 49 affordability, and coverage require public officials to take any actions 50 to remedy redlining or other illegally or unfairly discriminatory insur- 51 ance practices; or to promote insurance availability and affordability 52 in areas underserved by insurers. 53 § 3. The insurance law is amended by adding a new article 92 to read 54 as follows: 55 ARTICLE 92 56 INSURE OUR COMMUNITIES ACT
A. 3842--A 3 1 Section 9201. Definitions. 2 9202. Implementing climate leadership and community protection 3 act targets for insurers. 4 9203. Reporting. 5 § 9201. Definitions. In this article, unless the context or subject 6 matter otherwise requires: 7 (a) "New fossil fuel project" means a project designed to facilitate 8 the production of fossil fuels in excess of what is in development as of 9 the effective date of this article, including production of new coal 10 infrastructure, power plants, or mines. "New fossil fuel project" also 11 includes projects that would support exploring new oil and gas fields or 12 otherwise expanding oil and gas reserves. Examples of such projects 13 include, but are not limited to, new wells, pipelines, terminals or gas 14 power plants. 15 (b) "Department" means the department of financial services. 16 (c) "Superintendent" means the superintendent of the department of 17 financial services. 18 (d) "Precautionary principle" means an approach taken to regulation 19 which mandates that when activities under consideration may lead to 20 unacceptably serious or irreversible harm that is scientifically plausi- 21 ble but uncertain, actions shall be taken to avoid or diminish that 22 harm. 23 (e) "Guidance" means the department guidance for New York domestic 24 insurers on managing the financial risks from climate change issued by 25 the department of financial services. 26 (f) "Disadvantaged communities" means communities identified as disad- 27 vantaged communities pursuant to the criteria set forth in paragraph c 28 of subdivision one of section 75-0111 of the environmental conservation 29 law. 30 § 9202. Implementing climate leadership and community protection act 31 targets for insurers. (a) The department shall: 32 (1) Integrate the precautionary principle into its regulation and 33 supervision of insurers by: 34 (A) incorporating measures to anticipate, prevent, or minimize the 35 effects of climate risk and its adverse effects; and 36 (B) implementing cost-effective measures to address the climate risk 37 exposure of insurers, even in the absence of full economic or scientific 38 certainty; 39 (2) Require insurers to annually file and report progress on plans to 40 align their investment and underwriting activities with science-based 41 climate mitigation targets consistent with the emissions limits set in 42 section 75-0107 of the environmental conservation law and to certify 43 that they do not invest or underwrite new fossil fuel projects; 44 (3) Align insurer investment and underwriting activities with 45 science-based climate mitigation targets consistent with the emissions 46 limits set in section 75-0107 of the environmental conservation law by 47 prohibiting underwriting for any new fossil fuel project and directing 48 insurers to phase out existing underwriting for exploration, extraction, 49 processing, exporting, transporting, and any other significant action 50 with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct thereof; and 51 (4) Develop a process for insurance companies to certify as a condi- 52 tion of licensure that they file and report progress on plans to align 53 their investment and underwriting activities with science-based climate 54 mitigation targets consistent with the emissions limits set in section 55 75-0107 of the environmental conservation law and to certify that they 56 do not invest or underwrite new fossil fuel projects. The department
A. 3842--A 4 1 shall review each insurance company's certification to ensure that they 2 file and report on such plans. 3 (b) Within twelve months of the effective date of this article, the 4 superintendent shall develop and implement criteria for certain insurers 5 doing business in this state, as determined by the superintendent pursu- 6 ant to subsection (f) of this section, to submit annually to the super- 7 intendent a report disclosing: 8 (1) Such insurer's investments in: 9 (A) any company that derives ten percent or more of revenue from 10 exploration, extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any 11 other significant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any 12 byproduct thereof; 13 (B) any project intended to facilitate or expand exploration, 14 extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any other signif- 15 icant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct 16 thereof; and 17 (C) any project intended to construct any infrastructure related to 18 projects under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, such as wells, pipe- 19 lines, terminals or refineries; 20 (2) The financed emissions from all of the insurer's investments in 21 the previous reporting year; 22 (3) Information concerning such insurer's gross premium underwriting 23 for: 24 (A) any company that derives ten percent or more of revenue from 25 exploration, extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any 26 other significant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any 27 byproduct thereof; 28 (B) any project intended to facilitate or expand exploration, 29 extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any other signif- 30 icant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct 31 thereof; and 32 (C) any project intended to construct any infrastructure related 33 projects under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, such as wells, pipe- 34 lines, terminals or refineries; 35 (4) The insured emissions from all of the insurer's underwriting in 36 the previous reporting year; 37 (5) Any other information the department deems necessary to effec- 38 tively implement and enforce any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant 39 to this article. 40 (c) The criteria developed by the superintendent pursuant to 41 subsection (b) of this section shall enable the superintendent to post 42 the information reported to the superintendent pursuant to subsection 43 (d) of this section on the department's website. 44 (d) Within twelve months of the effective date of this article, and 45 annually thereafter, such insurers doing business in this state, as 46 determined by the superintendent subject to subsection (f) of this 47 section, shall submit a report to the superintendent disclosing the 48 information set forth in subsection (b) of this section for the preced- 49 ing calendar year. 50 (e) Within three months of receiving the report required pursuant to 51 subsection (b) of this section, and annually thereafter, the superinten- 52 dent shall compile and post the information in such report on the 53 department's website. 54 (f) The superintendent may engage the services of attorneys, actuar- 55 ies, accountants and other experts not otherwise a part of the super- 56 intendent's staff, at the reporting insurer's expense, as shall be
A. 3842--A 5 1 reasonably necessary to assist in the review of such insurer's filing 2 under subsection (c) of this section. All persons so engaged shall be 3 under the direction and control of the superintendent and shall act in a 4 purely advisory capacity. 5 (g) The superintendent shall subject an insurer to the requirements of 6 this section if: 7 (1) The insurer reports over one hundred million dollars on its annual 8 schedule T filing with the National Association of Insurance Superinten- 9 dents; or 10 (2) The insurer's activities or investments may expose such insurer to 11 a heightened level of risk from the physical or transition effects of 12 climate change; or 13 (3) The superintendent otherwise determines that disclosure would be 14 in the public interest. 15 (h) The superintendent shall review and update the guidance at least 16 once every two years and shall update the guidance to reflect develop- 17 ments elsewhere in the world, with the intent of incorporating emerging 18 best practices and ensuring the smooth functioning of New York insurance 19 markets. 20 (i) The superintendent may adopt such regulations as the superinten- 21 dent deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this article. 22 (j) Within five years of the effective date of this article, the 23 superintendent shall require any insurer doing business in the state to 24 certify that they have divested from: 25 (1) any company that derives ten percent or more of revenue from 26 exploration, extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any 27 other significant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any 28 byproduct thereof; 29 (2) any project intended to facilitate or expand exploration, 30 extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any other signif- 31 icant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct 32 thereof; and 33 (3) any project intended to construct any infrastructure related to 34 projects under paragraph two of this subsection, such as wells, pipe- 35 lines, terminals or refineries. 36 § 9203. Reporting. (a) Within twelve months of the effective date of 37 this article, and once every two years thereafter, the superintendent 38 shall submit a report to the legislature and the governor. The report 39 shall also be made available to the public and posted on the depart- 40 ment's website. The report shall disclose, for the preceding two calen- 41 dar years, the department's: 42 (1) Efforts to implement the provisions of section nine thousand two 43 hundred two of this article; 44 (2) Regulatory and supervisory actions taken, if any, to bolster the 45 resilience of insurers to the physical impacts of climate change; 46 (3) Regulatory and supervisory actions planned, if any, to bolster the 47 resilience of insurers to the physical impacts of climate change; 48 (4) The effects, if any, that the insurers' efforts to address climate 49 risk have had on the affordability and availability of insurance for 50 disadvantaged communities. 51 (b) Such report shall also summarize available information regarding: 52 (1) insurer and insurance market readiness for climate change and the 53 energy transition; 54 (2) major sources of climate risk faced by New York insurers; 55 (3) any gaps related to climate risk that the department intends to 56 address; and
A. 3842--A 6 1 (4) any legislative action that must be taken in order to allow the 2 department to address climate risk. 3 § 4. Subsections (k) and (l) of section 102 of the financial services 4 law are amended and a new subsection (m) is added to read as follows: 5 (k) To promote the reduction and elimination of fraud, criminal abuse 6 and unethical conduct by, and with respect to, banking, insurance and 7 other financial services institutions and their customers; [and] 8 (l) To educate and protect users of banking, insurance, and financial 9 services products and services through the provision of timely and 10 understandable information[.]; and 11 (m) To identify, supervise, regulate and manage exposure to risk in 12 New York's banking, insurance and financial services industries, includ- 13 ing risks related to climate change. 14 § 5. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 2354 to read 15 as follows: 16 § 2354. Protecting communities from bluelining. (a) The superintendent 17 shall have the authority to place a moratorium on non-renewals in under- 18 served communities that have been affected by a climate disaster in the 19 last year. 20 (b) No insurer shall refuse to issue or renew or shall cancel a policy 21 of property and casualty insurance based solely on the insured residing 22 in an area that is designated as a disadvantaged community. Such prohi- 23 bition shall not preclude an insurer from refusing to issue or renew or 24 from canceling such policies based on sound underwriting and actuarial 25 principles reasonably related to actual or anticipated loss experience 26 subject to the applicable provisions of this section and of section 27 three thousand four hundred twenty-five of this chapter. 28 § 6. Subsection (d) of section 3425 of the insurance law is amended by 29 adding a new paragraph 4 to read as follows: 30 (4) With respect to cancellation of policies in disadvantaged communi- 31 ties, in addition to the requirements contained in paragraph one of this 32 subsection, unless the insurer, at least one year in advance of the end 33 of the policy period, mails or delivers to the named insured, at the 34 address shown in the policy, a written notice of its intention not to 35 renew a covered policy, or to condition its renewal upon change of 36 limits or elimination of any coverages, the named insured shall be enti- 37 tled to renew the policy upon timely payment of the premium billed to 38 the insured for the renewal. 39 § 7. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 215 to read 40 as follows: 41 § 215. Rating and affordability improvement study. (a) The department 42 shall conduct a study on methods for keeping property and casualty 43 insurance lines affordable for disadvantaged communities, including the 44 development of a public option for residential insurance, consideration 45 of homeowner mitigation in premium discounts and non-renewal and cancel- 46 lations decisions, assistance programs for low-income policyholders 47 similar to those proposed for the national flood insurance program, and 48 a tax on homeowners insurance lines that declines into a rebate based on 49 income. 50 (b) Within twelve months of the effective date of this section, the 51 department shall issue a report on their findings which shall provide 52 recommendations for regulatory and legislative actions relating to 53 affordable insurance lines in disadvantaged communities. 54 (c) For the purposes of this section, affordability shall be measured 55 by comparing average written premiums in census tracts where the insured 56 risk is located to the median household income of census tracts where
A. 3842--A 7 1 the insured risk is located, differentiating among policies issued for 2 single-family homes, multi-family homes, and condominium or cooperative 3 units and between policies with varying types of benefits, including but 4 not limited to guaranteed replacement cost, standard or limited replace- 5 ment cost, market value or actual cash value. 6 § 8. Subdivision 4 of section 28-b of the banking law, as amended by 7 chapter 180 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 8 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or other law to 9 the contrary, the term banking institution when used in this section 10 shall mean and include all banks, trust companies, savings banks, 11 savings and loan associations, credit unions, covered insurance compa- 12 nies and foreign banking corporations incorporated, chartered, organized 13 or licensed under the laws of this state. In the case of a foreign bank- 14 ing corporation licensed pursuant to this article and maintaining a 15 branch in this state, the management of the branch shall establish a 16 committee of not fewer than three officers to function in the role of a 17 board of directors for purposes of this section. 18 § 9. Section 28-b of the banking law is amended by adding eight new 19 subdivisions 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 to read as follows: 20 7. The superintendent shall consider the following factors in assess- 21 ing a covered insurance company's record of performance at meeting the 22 insurance needs of their assessment areas, and include in its written 23 assessment required by this section the record of performance of such 24 covered insurance company as to each of the following factors: 25 (a) The number and distribution of policyholders throughout the commu- 26 nity, including the number and distribution of low- and moderate-income 27 policyholders, and the number and distribution of policyholders based on 28 the race or ethnicity of policyholders, as identified in data collected 29 pursuant to subdivision thirteen of this section; 30 (b) The number and distribution of policyholders residing in low- and 31 moderate-income census tracts, as well as the number and distribution of 32 policyholders residing in census tracts identified as disadvantaged 33 communities, as identified in data collected pursuant to subdivision 34 thirteen of this section; 35 (c) The extent to which the company has adopted innovative and flexi- 36 ble marketing methods and products that facilitate the sale of insurance 37 on a nondiscriminatory basis to low- and moderate-income consumers, 38 consumers in disadvantaged communities, and developers of affordable 39 housing for low- and moderate-income renters; 40 (d) The extent to which the company offers affordable insurance. For 41 the purposes of this paragraph, affordability shall be measured by 42 comparing average written premiums of the covered insurance company in 43 census tracts where the insured risk is located to the median household 44 income of census tracts where the insured risk is located, differentiat- 45 ing among policies issued for single-family homes, multi-family homes, 46 and condominium or cooperative units and between policies with varying 47 types of benefits, including but not limited to guaranteed replacement 48 cost, standard or limited replacement cost, market value or actual cash 49 value; 50 (e) The distribution of the insurance company's retail offices by 51 income level of census tracts and retail offices located in disadvan- 52 taged communities and the range of services offered by retail offices 53 across census tracts by income level and disadvantaged communities 54 status; 55 (f) The extent to which the company financially supports, in the form 56 of loans, investments, or grants, projects designed to avoid, moderate,
A. 3842--A 8 1 repair, or adapt to negative impacts caused by climate change, for the 2 benefit of households residing in, and businesses located in, low- and 3 moderate-income communities or disadvantaged communities in order to 4 help such communities prepare for future climate change-driven 5 disruptions. Such projects shall include, but are not limited to: 6 (i) hardening homes and businesses in order to better protect them 7 from extreme weather events; 8 (ii) restoring coastal wetlands and developing other nature-based 9 solutions and coastal protections; 10 (iii) upgrading storm water drainage systems; 11 (iv) making defensive upgrades to roads, bridges, subways, and transit 12 systems; 13 (v) preparing for and recovering from hurricanes and other extreme 14 weather events; 15 (vi) undertaking preventive health care programs and providing medical 16 care to treat illness or injury caused by the effects of climate change, 17 including but not limited to programs to minimize health issues caused 18 by air pollution, water pollution, or rising temperatures, such as Lyme 19 disease and West Nile virus; 20 (vii) relocating, elevating, or retrofitting sewage treatment plants 21 vulnerable to flooding; 22 (viii) installing energy efficient cooling systems and other weatheri- 23 zation and energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits in public and 24 private buildings including schools and public housing; 25 (ix) upgrading parts of the electrical grid to increase stability and 26 resilience, including supporting the creation of self-sufficient clean 27 energy microgrids; 28 (x) addressing urban heat island effects through green spaces, urban 29 forestry, and other interventions; and 30 (xi) responding to toxic algae blooms, loss of agricultural topsoil, 31 and other climate-driven ecosystem threats to forests, farms, fisheries, 32 and food systems; 33 (g) Evidence of prohibited discriminatory, unfair, deceptive, abusive 34 or other illegal insurance practices, including practices that dispro- 35 portionately disadvantage low-income consumers or consumers of color 36 irrespective of whether such practices may be grounded in traditional or 37 actuarial principles; and 38 (h) other factors that, in the judgment of the superintendent, reason- 39 ably bear upon the extent to which a covered insurance company is help- 40 ing to meet the insurance needs of its assessment area. 41 8. For the purposes of this section: 42 (a) The term "assessment area" means, with respect to a covered insur- 43 ance company, each community, including metropolitan statistical areas 44 and rural counties, in which such company: (i) maintains a retail office 45 or is represented by an agent; and (ii) has not less than fifty policy- 46 holders residing in either the metropolitan statistical area or rural 47 county. The communities constituting assessment areas shall include the 48 communities in which the great majority of policies have been issued. 49 (b) The term "disadvantaged communities" means communities identified 50 as disadvantaged communities pursuant to the criteria set forth in para- 51 graph c of subdivision one of section 75-0111 of the environmental 52 conservation law. 53 9. In the case of any covered insurance company which the superinten- 54 dent determines has engaged in any practice or provided any service in a 55 manner which unlawfully discriminates against, or is unfair, deceptive,
A. 3842--A 9 1 or abusive towards, any person or disadvantaged community, the super- 2 intendent: 3 (a) may not give positive consideration to any such practice in 4 assessing the extent to which such covered insurance company has met its 5 obligations under subdivision seven of this section; 6 (b) shall reduce the rating that the covered insurance company would 7 otherwise obtain with respect to such company after consideration of the 8 extent of such discriminatory practice or service; and 9 (c) shall, in addition to any other penalty or sanction imposed by 10 law, order the covered insurance company to make restitution to all 11 consumers harmed by such practice. 12 10. Whenever a covered insurance company receives a rating of "Needs 13 to Improve" or lower in any assessment area or overall rating, the 14 company shall submit an improvement plan, subject to public notice and 15 comment, to the superintendent. 16 (a) Any improvement plan submitted to the superintendent by a covered 17 insurance company pursuant to this subdivision shall describe how the 18 institution intends to improve its performance overall and in any 19 assessment area where the company received a rating of "Needs to 20 Improve" or lower. 21 (b) The superintendent shall review any improvement plan submitted by 22 a covered insurance company and either approve the plan or send it back 23 to the company for revisions. 24 (c) After the superintendent approves an improvement plan submitted by 25 a covered insurance company pursuant to this subdivision, the company 26 shall submit reports and data on a quarterly basis so that the super- 27 intendent and the general public can monitor performance. 28 (d) If any covered insurance company receives a rating of "Needs to 29 Improve" or "Substantial Noncompliance" in any assessment area or over- 30 all rating, the superintendent may not accept or approve any application 31 by such covered insurance company or any merger applications involving 32 such company until the company's performance improves on a subsequent 33 evaluation and may increase examination fees pursuant to subdivision 34 eleven of this section. 35 (e) The superintendent shall consider the progress in meeting the 36 goals described in any improvement plan as an integral factor in reviews 37 of any application by such covered insurance company or any merger 38 applications involving such company. 39 11. The superintendent shall have the authority to examine each 40 covered insurance company for compliance with this section, in consulta- 41 tion with state and federal regulators with an appropriate regulatory 42 interest, for and in compliance with applicable New York and federal 43 consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws, as often as the super- 44 intendent deems necessary and proper. The superintendent may adopt rules 45 and regulations with respect to the frequency and manner of examination 46 including the imposition of examination fees. The superintendent may 47 also increase fees for covered insurance companies with less than satis- 48 factory community reinvestment performance, as well as covered insurance 49 companies identified using data collected pursuant to article ninety-two 50 of the insurance law to be significant financiers of fossil fuel busi- 51 nesses and new fossil fuel projects as defined pursuant to section nine- 52 ty-two hundred one of the insurance law. Fees collected pursuant to this 53 subdivision may be transferred to other departments or state-adminis- 54 tered funds for the purpose of financing projects and initiatives 55 designed to avoid, moderate, repair, or adapt to negative impacts caused 56 by climate change, for the benefit of households residing in, and busi-
A. 3842--A 10 1 nesses located in, low- and moderate-income communities or disadvantaged 2 communities in order to help such communities prepare for future climate 3 change-driven disruptions. The superintendent and the superintendent's 4 appointees may examine the entire books, records, documents, and oper- 5 ations of covered insurance companies, their parent company, and their 6 subsidiaries, affiliates, or agents, and may examine any of the covered 7 insurance companies, their parent company's or their subsidiaries', 8 affiliates', or agents' officers, directors, employees, and agents under 9 oath. Any document or record prepared or obtained in connection with or 10 relating to any such examination, and any record prepared or obtained by 11 the superintendent to the extent that the record summarizes or contains 12 information derived from any document or record described in this subdi- 13 vision, shall not be disclosed to the public unless otherwise authorized 14 pursuant to article ninety-two of the insurance law. 15 12. Covered insurance companies with less than "Satisfactory CRA" 16 performance, as identified by the superintendent, will be ineligible for 17 prior approval of raising property insurance rates as stipulated by the 18 filing requirements established pursuant to sections twenty-three 19 hundred five and twenty-three hundred eight of the insurance law and 20 will be ineligible for prior approval of raising property insurance 21 rates beyond limitations specified by regulation pursuant to section 22 twenty-three hundred forty-four of the insurance law. 23 13. By March thirty-first of each year, every covered insurance compa- 24 ny shall file with the superintendent a "residential insurance rate, 25 experience and statistical report" and shall make available in an elec- 26 tronic database format the statistical information on its residential 27 and commercial activities by census tract and demographics of the poli- 28 cyholder according to the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 29 subdivision. 30 (a) Such statistical report shall be in a form prescribed by the 31 superintendent as in effect at the commencement of the calendar year 32 reported upon and shall include, but not be limited to, the following 33 information: 34 (i) the number of policies in effect, or other exposures insured. For 35 the purposes of this paragraph: "policies in effect" shall mean the 36 number of policies written in the reporting year; and "other exposures", 37 if any, shall mean any coverage extended other than policies written, 38 and shall be described in the report in sufficient detail to identify 39 the coverage provided; 40 (ii) the number of applications for coverage; 41 (iii) the number of applications for which coverage was not provided, 42 classified according to applications withdrawn, applications denied, and 43 applications still in process; 44 (iv) the number of policies not renewed; 45 (v) the number of policies canceled or terminated; 46 (vi) the number of claims filed; 47 (vii) the number of claims approved, in whole or in part; 48 (viii) the number of claims denied, in whole or in part; 49 (ix) the amounts of the losses incurred; 50 (x) the amounts of the losses paid; 51 (xi) applicable rates, within assessment areas served by a covered 52 insurance company, for each form of property insurance and rating clas- 53 sification, including rates by tier in multi-tier programs, and differ- 54 entiating between policies with varying types of benefits, including but 55 not limited to guaranteed replacement cost, standard or limited replace- 56 ment cost, market value or actual cash value, and differentiating among
A. 3842--A 11 1 policies issued for single-family homes, multi-family homes, condominium 2 or cooperative units, and renters; 3 (xii) for covered insurance companies distributing through direct 4 solicitation, the number of direct mail or telephone solicitations; 5 (xiii) the number of agents appointed by the covered insurance compa- 6 ny; 7 (xiv) the street addresses of all offices issuing or servicing poli- 8 cies; 9 (xv) languages spoken, other than English, with sufficient fluency to 10 conduct business in that language by personnel within each office; 11 (xvi) whether the covered insurance company issues policies in a 12 language other than English, and, if so, identifying the languages in 13 which policies are issued and the number of policies issued in each 14 language; 15 (xvii) for each of the categories of information described in subpara- 16 graphs (i) through (xi) of this paragraph: further classifications and 17 aggregated data according to race, national origin, ethnicity, household 18 income, and gender of the insureds or applicants; classifications and 19 aggregated data by race, national origin, ethnicity, and income charac- 20 teristics of the census tract in which the insured risk is located, 21 including whether the insured risk is located in a disadvantaged commu- 22 nity, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the superinten- 23 dent; and, where an insurer applies any other classification which 24 affects the premium rate at which the policy is issued, totals by race, 25 national origin, ethnicity, household income and gender for each such 26 classification; 27 (xviii) all of the information upon which an insurer, rate service 28 organization, or group of insurers filed with the superintendent in 29 support of the rates as required to be filed with the superintendent by 30 subsection (b) of section twenty-three hundred four and subsection (c) 31 of section twenty-three hundred five of the insurance law. An insurer or 32 group of insurers which are members or subscribers of a rate service 33 organization which makes or files rates on behalf of such insurer or 34 group of insurers shall be responsible for filing such information as 35 part of the report required by this paragraph; 36 (xix) the total dollar amount of financing to fossil fuel businesses, 37 including investments and insurance policies. For purposes of this 38 subparagraph, "fossil fuel businesses" means any company that derives 39 ten percent or more of revenue from exploration, extraction, processing, 40 exporting, transporting, and any other significant action with respect 41 to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct thereof; and 42 (xx) the total dollar amount of financing for new fossil fuel 43 projects, including investments and insurance policies. For purposes of 44 this subparagraph, "new fossil fuel projects" means projects designed to 45 facilitate the production of fossil fuels in excess of what is in devel- 46 opment as of the effective date of this subdivision, including 47 production of new coal infrastructure, power plants, or mines, and also 48 includes projects that would support exploring new oil and gas fields or 49 otherwise expanding oil and gas reserves, including, but not limited to, 50 projects relating to new wells, pipelines, terminals or gas power 51 plants. 52 (b) In addition to aggregate data required to be reported pursuant to 53 this subdivision, each insurer shall file with the superintendent, and 54 make available to the public, the individual record data collected 55 pursuant to subparagraphs (i) through (xi) of paragraph (a) of this 56 subdivision from which the report summaries were tabulated. Such data
A. 3842--A 12 1 shall be provided in an online, electronic database format as prescribed 2 by the superintendent and the superintendent shall make such database 3 files available directly to the public in accordance with the procedures 4 and time requirements established in paragraph (c) of this subdivision. 5 The superintendent shall require that all information which would 6 personally identify any individual applicant or policyholder shall be 7 deleted. The categories of data to be made available for each individual 8 record shall include all of the same categories of information collected 9 pursuant to subparagraphs (i) through (xi) of paragraph (a) of this 10 subdivision and shall be presented in accordance with standardized clas- 11 sification codes to be established by the superintendent. 12 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, by July first of 13 each year the superintendent shall make the full text of the reports 14 filed pursuant to this subdivision available to the public on request 15 and shall make such reports available for inspection at the office of 16 the superintendent. Such reports shall be made available in both printed 17 and electronic format, including access through the department's 18 website, at no charge to the requesting party; provided, however, that 19 printed copies or photocopies shall be available for a reasonable fee, 20 not to exceed five cents per page or the actual cost of duplication, 21 whichever is less. Data presented in electronic format shall be made 22 available in a database file format of the type in general usage by the 23 public. 24 14. A covered insurance company who does not file the statistical 25 report or other information required by this section as of the date such 26 report is required to be filed shall, upon notice and opportunity to be 27 heard, be subject to a penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars per 28 day for each day beyond the date such report or information was required 29 to be filed; provided, however, that the superintendent may waive such 30 penalty upon a written finding that the report or other information was 31 filed by such insurer by the required date, was substantially complete, 32 and the insurer has corrected any deficiencies within a date set by the 33 superintendent. A covered insurance company required by this section to 34 submit a statistical report or other information who willfully fails to 35 file such statistical report or other information shall, in addition to 36 any other penalties provided for by law, upon notice and opportunity to 37 be heard, be subject to a penalty of up to five hundred dollars per day 38 for each day beyond the date such report or information was required to 39 be filed. Fees collected pursuant to this subdivision may be transferred 40 to other departments or state-administered funds for the purpose of 41 financing projects and initiatives designed to avoid, moderate, repair, 42 or adapt to negative impacts caused by climate change, and to assist 43 low- and moderate-income and minority communities, households, and busi- 44 nesses in preparing for future climate change-driven disruptions. Where 45 an insurer has failed to comply with the requirements of this section, 46 an aggrieved individual, including any person or agency attempting to 47 analyze the performance of any insurer subject to this section, shall 48 have a cause of action in any court of competent jurisdiction for 49 declaratory and injunctive relief. The court may, in its discretion, 50 award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the successful party in any 51 action or proceeding brought pursuant to this section. 52 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.