Authors Carl J. Pernicone, Frederick J. Pomerantz, Stacey B. Rowland, and Sandy M. Smith are attorneys with New York law firm Wilson Elser. 

A year after Superstorm Sandy came ashore, the New York Department of Financial Services issued Circular Letter No 8 of 2013 to inform New York licensed P&C insurers of the regulatory standards they should expect to encounter the next time a federal or state disaster emergency is declared. This regulatory guidance echoes the various actions that the DFS implemented prior to the onslaught of Superstorm Sandy and for several months thereafter.

While the DFS outlines the various regulatory guidelines it may impose when a State Disaster Emergency is declared, the Circular Letter also cautions that the DFS may implement additional standards based on the specific circumstances of the emergency, including but not limited to tornados, flooding and earthquakes. The letter then details the types of actions that the DFS may take in a future disaster. These actions are substantively similar to the actions that the DFS took in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, as noted below.