S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7797

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              May 12, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  FARLEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation

AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the  insurance  law,  in
  relation to increasing the minimum insurance coverage requirements for
  automobiles registered and/or operated within the state of New York

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 and subdivision 7 of section
311 of the vehicle and traffic law, paragraph (a) of  subdivision  4  as
amended  by chapter 305 of the laws of 1995 and subdivision 7 as amended
by chapter 805 of the laws of 1984, are amended to read as follows:
  (a) Affording coverage as defined in the minimum provisions prescribed
in a regulation which shall be  promulgated  by  the  superintendent  at
least  ninety  days prior to effective date of this act. The superinten-
dent before promulgating such  regulations  or  any  amendment  thereof,
shall  consult  with all insurers licensed to write automobile liability
insurance in this state and shall not prescribe minimum provisions which
fail to reflect the provisions of automobile liability  insurance  poli-
cies,  other than motor vehicle liability policies as defined in section
three hundred forty-five of this chapter, issued within  this  state  at
the  date of such regulation or amendment thereof.  Nothing contained in
such regulation or in this  article  shall  prohibit  any  insurer  from
affording  coverage  under an owner's policy of liability insurance more
liberal than that required by  said  minimum  provisions.    Every  such
owner's policy of liability insurance shall provide insurance subject to
said  regulation  against  loss  from  the  liability imposed by law for
damages, including damages for care and loss  of  services,  because  of
bodily  injury to or death of any person and injury to or destruction of
property arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use, or operation of
a specific motor vehicle or motor vehicles within the state of New York,
or elsewhere in the United States in North America or  the  Dominion  of
Canada,  subject  to  a  limit,  exclusive  of  interest and costs, with
respect to each such motor vehicle except a tow truck, of  [twenty-five]
TWO  HUNDRED  FIFTY  thousand  dollars because of bodily injuries to and

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD01272-01-5

S. 7797                             2

[fifty] FIVE HUNDRED thousand dollars because of death of one person  in
any  one  accident and, subject to said limit for one person, to a limit
of [fifty] FIVE HUNDRED thousand dollars because of bodily injury to and
one  [hundred  thousand] MILLION dollars because of death of two or more
persons in any one accident, and to a limit of [ten]  TWENTY-FIVE  thou-
sand  dollars  because of injury to or destruction of property of others
in any one accident provided, however, that such policy need not be  for
a  period  coterminous  with  the  registration  period  of  the vehicle
insured. The limit, exclusive of interest and costs, with respect  to  a
tow  truck  shall  be  a combined single limit of at least three hundred
thousand dollars because of bodily  injury  or  death  to  one  or  more
persons or because of injury or destruction of property of others in any
one  accident, and to a limit of twenty-five thousand dollars because of
damage to a vehicle in the care, custody and control of the insured. Any
insurer authorized to issue an owner's policy of liability insurance  as
provided  for  in  this article may, pending the issue of such a policy,
make an agreement, to be known as a binder, or may, in lieu  of  such  a
policy,  issue a renewal endorsement or evidence of renewal of an exist-
ing policy; each of which shall be construed  to  provide  indemnity  or
protection  in  like manner and to the same extent as such a policy. The
provisions of this article shall apply to such binders, renewal endorse-
ments or evidences of renewal. Every such policy issued insuring private
passenger vehicles and every renewal  policy,  renewal  endorsement,  or
other  evidence  of  renewal issued shall have attached thereto a rating
information form which clearly specifies and defines the rating  classi-
fication  assigned  thereto, including any applicable merit rating plan;
and
  7. The term "financial security deposit" shall  mean  for  each  motor
vehicle  the  deposit with the commissioner of [twenty-five] TWO HUNDRED
FIFTY thousand dollars in cash, or securities, such as  may  legally  be
purchased  by  savings banks or trust funds, of a market value of [twen-
ty-five] TWO HUNDRED FIFTY thousand dollars and an additional deposit in
an amount determined by the commissioner to be sufficient to satisfy the
requirements of article fifty-one of the insurance law.
  S 2. Paragraph 3 of subdivision (b) of section 345 of the vehicle  and
traffic  law,  as amended by chapter 305 of the laws of 1995, is amended
to read as follows:
  (3) Shall insure the insured or such other person  against  loss  from
the liability imposed by law for damages, including damages for care and
loss  of services because of bodily injury to or death of any person and
injury to or destruction of property arising out of the ownership, main-
tenance, use, or operation of such motor vehicle or motor vehicles with-
in the state of New York, or elsewhere in the  United  States  in  North
America  or  the  Dominion  of  Canada, subject to a limit, exclusive of
interest and cost, with respect to each such motor vehicle, except a tow
truck, of [twenty-five] TWO HUNDRED FIFTY thousand  dollars  because  of
bodily  injury  to  or  [fifty] FIVE HUNDRED thousand dollars because of
death of one person in any one accident and, subject to said  limit  for
one  person, to a limit of [fifty] FIVE HUNDRED thousand dollars because
of bodily injury to or one [hundred thousand] MILLION dollars because of
death of two or more persons in any one accident,  and  to  a  limit  of
[ten]  TWENTY-FIVE  thousand dollars because of injury to or destruction
of property of others in any  one  accident.  The  limit,  exclusive  of
interest  and  costs,  with  respect  to a tow truck shall be a combined
single limit of three hundred thousand dollars because of bodily  injury
of  death  to one or more persons or because of injury or destruction of

S. 7797                             3

property of others in any one accident, and to a  limit  of  twenty-five
thousand dollars because of damage to a vehicle in the care, custody and
control of the insured.
  S  3.  Paragraph  1 of subsection (f) of section 3420 of the insurance
law, as amended by chapter 305 of the laws of 1995, is amended  to  read
as follows:
  (1)  No  policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed
by law for bodily injury or death suffered by any natural person arising
out of the ownership, maintenance and use of  a  motor  vehicle  by  the
insured  shall be issued or delivered by any authorized insurer upon any
motor vehicle then principally garaged or principally used in this state
unless it contains a provision whereby the insurer agrees that  it  will
pay  to  the insured, as defined in such provision, subject to the terms
and conditions set forth therein to be prescribed by the board of direc-
tors of the  Motor  Vehicle  Accident  Indemnification  Corporation  and
approved by the superintendent, all sums, not exceeding a maximum amount
or  limit  of [twenty-five] TWO HUNDRED FIFTY thousand dollars exclusive
of interest and costs, on account of injury to and all sums, not exceed-
ing a maximum amount or limit of [fifty] FIVE HUNDRED  thousand  dollars
exclusive  of  interest and costs, on account of death of one person, in
any one accident, and the maximum amount or limit, subject to such limit
for any one person so injured of [fifty] FIVE HUNDRED  thousand  dollars
or  so  killed  of  one [hundred thousand] MILLION dollars, exclusive of
interest and costs, on account of injury to, or death of, more than  one
person  in  any  one  accident, which the insured or his legal represen-
tative shall be entitled to recover as damages from an owner or operator
of an uninsured motor vehicle, unidentified motor vehicle  which  leaves
the scene of an accident, a motor vehicle registered in this state as to
which  at  the  time of the accident there was not in effect a policy of
liability insurance, a stolen vehicle, a motor vehicle operated  without
permission  of  the  owner,  an  insured motor vehicle where the insurer
disclaims liability  or  denies  coverage  or  an  unregistered  vehicle
because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting
therefrom,  sustained  by  the  insured, caused by accident occurring in
this state and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of  such
motor vehicle. No payment for non-economic loss shall be made under such
policy  provision  to a covered person unless such person has incurred a
serious injury, as such terms are defined in section five  thousand  one
hundred two of this chapter. Such policy shall not duplicate any element
of  basic  economic  loss  provided  for under article fifty-one of this
chapter. No payments of first party benefits  for  basic  economic  loss
made  pursuant  to  such  article  shall diminish the obligations of the
insurer under this policy provision for the payment of non-economic loss
and economic loss in excess of basic economic loss. Notwithstanding  any
inconsistent  provisions  of section three thousand four hundred twenty-
five of this article, any such policy which does not contain the  afore-
said  provisions  shall be construed as if such provisions were embodied
therein.
  S 4. Subsection (a) of section 5210 of the insurance law,  as  amended
by chapter 305 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
  (a) When any qualified person who has complied with all the applicable
requirements  of  this  article  recovers  a  final  judgment in a court
against a financially irresponsible motorist, for injury  to,  or  death
of,  any  person arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the
uninsured motor vehicle in this state, which  remains  unpaid,  and  all
appeals have been concluded or the time for commencing them has expired,

S. 7797                             4

the judgment creditor may file a verified petition in the court in which
the  judgment  was  entered  and,  upon  ten days' written notice to the
corporation apply to the court for an order  directing  payment  by  the
corporation  of the amount unpaid on the judgment.  However, there shall
be no right of recovery by a covered person  from  the  corporation  for
non-economic  loss  unless such person has incurred a serious injury, as
such terms are defined in section five thousand one hundred two of  this
chapter.    Such  judgment  exclusive  of  interest  and costs shall not
exceed:
  (1) [twenty-five] TWO HUNDRED FIFTY thousand  dollars  on  account  of
injury to one person in any one accident, and
  (2)  [fifty]  FIVE HUNDRED thousand dollars on account of death to one
person in any one accident, and
  (3) [fifty] FIVE HUNDRED thousand dollars on account of injury to more
than one person in any one accident subject to the limit of  twenty-five
thousand dollars for any one person, and
  (4) one [hundred thousand] MILLION dollars on account of death to more
than  one person in any one accident subject to the limit of fifty thou-
sand dollars for any one person.
  S 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
is shall have become a law.