The legislature has passed a one-year extension of New York State's FAIR Plan property insurance pool, avoiding its usual practice of letting the program expire and creating chaos for policyholders.
Approval came Tuesday just days before the June 30 sunset date for the plan known as the New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association (NYPIUA). Republican Gov. George Pataki is expected to sign the measure.
Chris Olli, an aide to Assemblyman Alexander Grannis, D-Manhattan, chairman of the Assembly's Insurance Committee, said the Assembly passed the one-year extension of NYPIUA Monday and the Senate passed it the following day.
In past years, NYPIUA has frequently been allowed to sunset and then been resuscitated in a continuing conflict between the Democratic-led Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate.
Mr. Grannis continues to push a bill (A. 750) to make NYPIUA permanent–a proposition which has overwhelming support in the Assembly but has met resistance in the Senate.
New York is one of only two states that does not have a permanent FAIR plan to act as a home and business insurer of last resort.
NYPIUA offers basic property coverage to some 57,000 New York home and business owners who can't get private insurance because of location, age or condition of the property. The majority of the NYPIUA book of business comes from regions in New York City and Long Island where the registered voters are primarily Democrat.
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