When the New York state Legislature is not in session, PIANY continues to advocate for the association’s legislative priorities. This year is no different and PIANY is working with legislators to try and make private-passenger photo inspections optional. Through...
The winter season may bring warm fires, hot chocolate and cozy socks to mind—but residents in the Northeast aren’t strangers to the bitter cold, snowy conditions that accompany the winter months. This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts...
I’m a coastal agent who insures a lot of secondary homes. At my agency, I have been watching water-damage claims closely for years. When our area gets a deep freeze, we do have a fair number of large claims due to water damage. However, weather is only a part of...
Personal- and commercial-lines insurance policies are nuanced. If you know how each policy will respond to an insurance claim, you can help your clients be better prepared ahead of time. Quiz yourself with the following examples: Do both personal- and commercial-lines...
Do you have clients who drink wine? Or, more specifically—do you have clients who collect wine? Did you know that, depending on the size and value of their wine collection, they can get coverage? To help your clients get coverage for their beloved reds, whites and...
The National Flood Insurance Program’s new premium rating methodology, Risk Rating 2.0 will go into effect Oct. 1, 2021, for new policies, but for policies that renew between Oct. 1, 2021, and April 1, 2022, the Rating 2.0 rates also are available, if they are...
Harvard’s researchers found that Americans spent almost $420 billion on home improvement projects in 2020. That’s an average of over $5,000 per single-family detached home in the U.S. It seems that even high lumber costs couldn’t keep Americans from using COVID-19’s...
On June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., partially collapsed in the middle of the night, claiming 98 lives and injuring several more. The cause of the tragedy still is uncertain, but according to Miami New Times, the structural integrity of the...
When policyholders are facing nonrenewal or cancellation of their policies, it’s important that you—the agent—follow the rules when notifying them of the nonrenewal or cancellation. But, depending on the state in which you do business, the rules may differ. New York...
Following confusion over insurance claims after major, hurricane-strength storms, PIANY has made the standardization of windstorm deductible triggers a legislative priority to clarify the definition of windstorm. How a windstorm is defined can make a substantial...