Last chance to give your input—PIA’s 60-second Market Trends Survey is closing tomorrow

The survey is closing tomorrow and your input is important! Take a moment now to take PIA’s Market Trends Survey, which includes less than 10 quick online questions that will give PIA your valuable input on how the current market trends are affecting you and your clients. Take the survey here.  

Call for nominations: 2013 Distinction of Professionalism Awards

PIANY will present its 2013 Distinction of Professionalism Awards during the PIANY/PIANJ Joint Annual Conference June 9-11, 2013, at the Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City. Do you know someone who deserves a nomination for Professional Agent of the Year; Distinguished Insurance Service; or the Community Service Award? For a nomination form, click here or to request a fax-back version of the nomination form, call (800) 424-4244. Submissions must be received by Friday, April 12, 2013. For more information about the conference, click here.  

Don’t miss PIANY’s Long Island RAP, April 25

Don’t miss this chance to join your peers at PIANY’s Long Island Regional Awareness Program at Leonard’s of Great Neck, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Education sessions, an expansive trade show and networking opportunities will be available throughout the day. Delivering Long Island RAP’s 2013 keynote address will be Prasad Gunturi, senior vice president of catastrophe management services, Willis Re. Gunturi will deliver an insightful and informative review of Storm Sandy, what happened, why the loss was greater than expected. Also, find out how loss can be mitigated in future events, and how Sandy has changed hurricane modelers views of vulnerability in New York state. For more information on the vent, or to register, click here.  

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Gov. Cuomo announces more aid for Sandy recovery

Gov. Andrew Cuomo welcomed an additional $1 billion allocation for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to pay the costs of recovering from Superstorm Sandy and rebuilding damaged elements of the MTA’s subway, bus and commuter rail system. The $1 billion in funding from the Federal Transit Administration comes in addition to more than $193 million in initial reimbursement allocated earlier this month to MTA New York City Transit, MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA Long Island Rail Road, and $3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for MTA bridges and tunnels. More… Gov. Cuomo also announced a $38.5 million program that New York state will oversee in conjunction with Catholic Charities that will provide more than 200 service coordinators to assist individuals and families affected by Superstorm Sandy recover and access essential resources.  More…

Registered RRG list updated

The Department of Financial Services has updated and posted online the list of registered Risk Retention Groups.  

PIANY legislative hot lists

Want to see the status of an important bill? Think PIA first. Select PIANY Priority Bills for bill status. Select Recent Actions for any movement in the past week affecting any bill PIANY is tracking. More information, including summaries and bill texts, can be viewed by clicking on the bill number in the chart.  

PIANY Spring Advisory Councils provide insight on market conditions

The PIANY 2013 Spring Advisory Council program continued in Long Island and New York City last week; where council members discussed the market conditions in the Metro area. Increased competition, stringent underwriting practices and the lasting effects of Sandy were concerns cited by council members. Council members were informed about PIANY’s ambitious legislative agenda; including efforts to address the use of fraudulent certificates of insurance and to standardize hurricane deductible triggers.   

PIANY Advisory Councils are your chance to get involved

The PIANY Spring Advisory Council program continues on Tuesday, April 30, in Albany and in Kingston on Thursday, May 2; it is designed to get valuable input from our members, which is critical to the development of PIANY policies, products and services. If you are interested in participating in the Advisory Council program, please contact PIANY Deputy Director Kelly Norris, CAE, at knorris@pia.org.  

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Federal gun insurance bill proposed

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and eight Democrat cosponsors have introduced the "Firearm Risk Protection Act" (H.R.1369) into Congress, the first bill that would require liability insurance of gun buyers nationwide. The proposal was introduced into the House Judiciary Committee. "Legislatures can mandate, but can’t compel insurers to sell it," said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute. Currently, guns are only insured as property in most cases, but bodily and property injury due to accidental discharge may be covered under a traditional homeowners policy, akin to slip-and-fall incidents.  More…

Latest NFIP bulletins

In Bulletin W-13017, FEMA announced that effective Oct. 1, 2013, the National Flood Insurance Program no longer will allow an exception to the 30-day waiting period for lender-required flood insurance policies. Specifically, this rule applies to policies that are required as a result of a lender determining that a loan on a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area that does not have flood insurance coverage should be protected by flood insurance. The only allowable exceptions to the 30-day waiting period are summarized in the bulletin. In Bulletin W-13016, FEMA provides notification of broad-based changes that the NFIP will implement effective Oct. 1, 2013, which primarily result from the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. It will require modifications to the NFIP Flood Insurance Manual, Policy Forms, Transaction Record Reporting and Processing Plan and the Edit Specifications document. Highlights of the changes include the following: revised premium rates; new reserve fund assessment; exclusion of certain properties from receiving subsidized premium rates; no extension of subsidy to new policies or lapsed policies; increased federal policy fee; updated requirements for new business applications and TRRP Plan; and NFIP form changes.  

New ACORD certificate editions

In the latest ACORD forms update, the following countrywide forms are revised: 25 (2013/04) Certificate of Liability Insurance; 28 (2013/04) Evidence of Commercial Property Insurance; 30 (2013/04) Certificate of Garage Insurance; and 31 (2013/04) Certificate of Marine/Energy Insurance. These and other ACORD forms are now directly available under the ACORD Advantage Program. If you already are registered for the ACORD website, enter your username and password here.  

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Earn Life CE credits before the June deadline

Need Life CE credits for your June 30 corporate license renewal? Don't wait until it's too late. Register today for one of PIA’s upcoming courses offering LA credits. Next week: Tuesday, April 9, CISR Agency Management Operations, Cheektowaga; Tuesday, April 9, CPIA 1: Position for Success, Plainview; Wednesday, April 10, CISR Agency Operations,NewHartford; Thursday, April 11, Exploring Workers’ Compensation & Health Insurance, Glenmont. Fora full listing of courses, or to register, click here.  

Third annual CE Marathon, April 10-11, at PIA Headquarters, Glenmont

PIANY's third annual CE Marathon delivers four CE-approved sessions and networking luncheons. The four seminars cover both personal-lines and commercial-lines content—earn up to 15 NYCE credits. On Wednesday, April 10, Sheldon Hansen, CIC, CRM, CPIA, will teach Property Exposure Lessons Learned from Natural Disasters and Cyber Liability: What Do You Mean I'm Not Covered? On Thursday, April 11, Mishell Magnusson, CIC, CISR, AAI, FIPC, CPIA, will teach Exploring Workers’ Compensation & Health Insurance and Commercial Lines Exposure Pitfalls. Register for all four CE sessions and save. For more information, or to register, click here, or call PIA at (800) 424-4244.  

Network at the NY-YIP Spring Reception

On Monday, April 15, 2013, come network with the New York Young Insurance Professionals in the heart of New York’s capital city. The 2013 Spring Reception takes place from 5:30-8 p.m., at Blue 82 in Albany. For more information, or to register for this event, click here.  

NYPIUA FAQ on Sandy

PIA posed several questions to the New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association regarding how it would be handling policies in the aftermath of Sandy. To learn more, log on to the PIANY website and type QS31390 in the Google-facilitated search box or a fax a request to PIANY’s Industry Resource Center at (888) 225-6935.  

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