Government officials and industry experts convene on NY P&C Summit

Lawmakers and industry professionals discussed the latest trends in the insurance market at the New York P&C Insurance Summit held in Albany this week.

Insurance is important to everyday life, from New Yorkers’ homes to their cars and businesses, and the industry is facing big challenges, including rising costs, climate change and fraud specifically, singling out litigation financing as an area of concern. 

“Insurance isn't just important after being in a car accident, it's important to the family who's forced out of their home because there's a hole in their roof or water or smoke damage or fire. Insurance is just as important when it's paying for their living expenses, rebuilding the home and really rebuilding their lives,” Travis Wattie assistant vice president of government relations at Big I New York said in his opening remarks at the event held Tuesday at the Hilton in Downtown Albany.  “If you ask those people what insurance means to them after a loss, they'll use a lot of words. ‘Important” may be one of them, but I'm confident that it would be expressed with a sense of emotion and deep gratitude.”

Summit speakers discussed the need to work together to find solutions and keep insurance available and affordable. Comments from industry professionals addressed the effects of regulations and rising costs on industry growth; natural disasters which are causing billions of dollars in damage; lawsuits and fraud that are driving up costs and lack of insurance supply to meet demand. 

Recommendations from the industry experts and government panelists convened included: updating regulations to make it easier for insurance companies to adjust their rates; cracking down on fraud; encouraging people and businesses to be more resilient to disasters and making sure the legal and regulatory system is fair and doesn't encourage unnecessary lawsuits. “If you talk to insurance companies in this room, if you bump an insurance company representative next to you, they will tell you that New York can be a challenging place to operate, and that sometimes the regulators in New York, at least the view of insurers view them in a somewhat adversarial way,” Wes Bissett, senior counsel to government affairs with Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America told the audience.

“We work very closely with insurers to make sure that this is a place they want to do business. And if you see it, you know in the rate that unlike California, where the rates were held artificially low, here we do a robust actuarial analysis” Adrienne A. Harris, superintendent of the state Department of Financial Services told City & State Editor-in-Chief Ralph R. Ortega during a mid-day fireside chat interview at the event. “It doesn't mean insurance always gets what they ask for. In fact, they usually don't get everything that they are asking for, but the commitment from DFS is that the decisions we make on rates, for instance, are based in actuarial science and not ideology or political expediency.”

City & State’s Senior State Politics Reporter Rebecca Lewis moderated a closing panel of government officials  that included Assembly Member David Weprin, chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee; Assembly Member Pam Hunter, president of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators; and state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, who each agreed that affordability is a major concern and that they worry about the effects a  catastrophic event could have in New York. “We actually  had an earthquake in New York City over the summer. Nobody expected that. Thank God we didn't have mass damage, as we've had in other parts of the country. But I don't think any event is off the table,” Bailey warned the audience.

There are also worries about potential federal policy changes and their impact on state insurance regulations that they are keeping an eye on. “There are concerns about what the federal government might do. Specifically, I know certainly when it comes to climate resiliency, we're seeing a drawback from the federal administration for climate projects,” Hunter said. “That also translates to concerns over property and casualty insurance, and what that means for combating and helping people through climate crisis,“ 

The panelists stressed that collaboration among carriers, regulators, and legislators is crucial to address risk mitigation and affordability, as they aim to maintain a competitive insurance market while ensuring consumer protection. They are considering various measures to address affordability, such as discounts for weatherization and resiliency efforts. 

Travis Wattie of Big I NY wrapped up the summit by encouraging further collaboration.  

“The insurance industry is an ecosystem, comprised of so many multiple components that rely on each other to work well together,” he said. “We need to be energized with a sense of optimism that collectively, we can tackle these challenges in the interest of New York's 19 million plus residents, who are depending on us.”