NYPIUA Begins Accepting Applications for New Insurance and Renewals

The New York State Insurance Department announced that the New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association (NYPIUA) has begun accepting application for insurance and issuing renewals.

The law authorizing the NYPIUA expired last April, but recent legislation, contained in Senate Bill 5700, (See IJ Website June 26) reauthorized it until April 30, 2004. The NYPIUA is a joint underwriting association created in 1968 designed to meet the basic insurance needs of the public. It provides property insurance coverage to residents who have difficulty obtaining homeowners insurance or commercial property insurance in the voluntary market.

Despite pleas from the insurance industry, including the Professional Insurance Agents of New York, the legislation that provides for the NYPIUA’s operations has never been made on a permanent basis, but must be reintroduced every time it expires. The insurer was prevented from continuing its operations for almost two months while legislators debated S.B. 5700.