PIANY Applauds Gov. Paterson’s Support of NY Insurance Exchange

The Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc. praised several of initatives proposed by Gov. David Paterson in his State-of-the-State address on Wednesday. In particular, PIANY applauds the governor's intention to revive the New York Insurance Exchange. The NYIE would enhance New York State's status as the world's financial center and fuel the state economy by increasing the flow of capital and insurance premiums.

Source: Source: PIANY | Published on January 7, 2010

“The reintroduction of the NYIE will help stimulate a struggling New York state economy,” said Kevin M. Ryan, CIC, president of PIANY. “An exchange would provide the opportunity to bring much-needed business activity back into the state.”

The original NYIE, founded in 1980, was envisioned as the Americanized iteration of Lloyd’s of London, intended to create market flexibility particularly when considering hard-to-place risks. The exchange provided a central market for brokering and underwriting risk. By 1984, the NYIE was ranked as the eighth-largest U.S. reinsurer. However, due to unfortunate timing, unforeseen losses in the product liability market caused the exchange to close its doors after seven years.

Reintroducing the exchange would help keep insurance dollars stateside, as opposed to sending them to international reinsurance markets. “The insurance marketplace is much different today than in the 1980s,” said Ryan. “It’s much more sophisticated, making it likely that the NYIE will be a success.”

In addition to the NYIE, there were several other initiatives PIANY hopes Gov. Paterson will consider for the new year, including: coastal homeowners’ insurance availability, producer compensation disclosure, the fight against auto insurance fraud and clarification to workers’ compensation requirements.

PIANY is a trade association representing professional, independent insurance agencies, brokerages and their employees throughout the state.