N.Y. AGENTS SET LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

Despite a recent decision by the state’s Court of Appeals that narrows the scope of the state’s so-called labor or scaffold law, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York Inc. insists it will continue to pursue reforms in the law once the state legislature begins its 2004 session. In the decision, the six justices unanimously upheld the Appellate Court decision in a case involving a contractor who fell off his own ladder injuring his ankle while renovating a house in the Bronx. The injured man sued the homeowner and Neighborhood Housing Services of New York Inc., which financed the project. The Court of Appeals rejected the argument that the absolute liability standard in the state labor law applied after finding the sole cause of the injury was the plaintiff’s negligence. “It seems the courts are equally concerned as we are about the application of absolute liability,” said Maura T. Clancy, IIABNY chair of the board. The current standard, the only one of its kind in the nation, imposes an absolute liability on contractors or building owners for a worker’s fall from any height. As a consequence, insurance on construction projects for many contractors has become expensive and the market for such coverage severely restricted. IIABNY has criticized the legislature’s failure in 2003 to reach agreements on reforming this law and for failing to crack down on fraud under the state’s no-fault auto system. Studies have shown that no-fault fraud costs New York motorists $124 annually per vehicle. “While we made some progress during the past year, legislative action is long overdue on both issues, ” said Clancy, who is also president of Clancy & Clancy Brokerage Ltd. in Garden City, N.Y. “The fact that fraud and the scarcity of affordable liability insurance are again at the top of our legislative agenda should send a strong message that we are not giving up on our efforts to reform New York’s insurance market.”

Topics New York Agencies