N.Y. kills ‘draconian’ agent penalties

Insurance agents have succeeded in removing from the New York State budget a provision to substantially boost fines against insurance professionals.

The proposal would have increased fines from $1,000 for the first violation and $2,500 for each subsequent violation to $10,000 and $25,000 for running an insurance business without a license.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York, Inc. said they would have resulted in “draconian penalties” and might have inadvertently punished agencies for simple bookkeeping errors, such as not renewing a license before its expiration date.

“The government is right to punish criminally negligent insurance wrongdoers and, at the same time, increase the state’s revenues,” said Mark J. Hagan, IIABNY chair and president of Perry & Carroll, Inc. in Elmira.

“However, the financial weight of these penalties could have hurt many small, well-intentioned family run businesses, who might not have survived such a crushing blow.

“These fines would have been the equivalent of losing your house or car because of one late payment,” he added.