S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    551
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 9, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  AKSHAR, FELDER -- 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,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05488-01-9

 S. 551                              2
 
 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
 [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.
   §  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

 S. 551                              3
 
 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
 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.
   §  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.
   § 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

 S. 551                              4
 
 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,
 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.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 is shall have become a law.