New York Scales Back New Insurance Disclosure Law

Summary

An amended and less burdensome version of New York’s Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act is now in effect. As detailed in our previous alert, in December 2021, New York State enacted a new law that requires defendants in civil litigations to disclose certain information related to their insurance coverage, including copies of all applicable insurance policies, contact information for adjusters, information related to the amount of available coverage and whether any of that coverage has been eroded, and copies of insurance applications. Before the law even went into effect, the state legislature passed an amendment reducing certain disclosure obligations. The law, as amended, is now in effect.

The Changes

The original version of the Act drew immediate criticism for being more burdensome than similar laws in other jurisdictions and for applying retroactively. The new amendment addresses those criticisms. The amendment makes the following changes to a defendant’s disclosure obligations:

• Extends the deadline for making required disclosures from 60 days to 90 days after filing an answer;
• Allows the defendant to provide the declarations page instead of the entire policy, but only if the plaintiff consents;
• Eliminates the requirement to disclose details of other lawsuits and attorney’s fees that have eroded policy limits, but still requires that the defendant disclose the total amount of coverage available after erosion;
• Reduces the defendant’s obligation to make ongoing disclosures, such that disclosures are now only required at designated times (such as before mediation or trial) rather than whenever there is a change to insurance coverage;
• Eliminates the requirement to disclose insurance applications;
• Clarifies that the disclosure requirement applies to any potentially applicable policy and disclosure does not constitute an admission that there is coverage under that policy; and
• Eliminates the retroactivity provisions, so that the law no longer applies to actions filed before December 31, 2021.

Conclusion

As amended, the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act applies to all civil actions filed in New York State Court on or after December 31, 2021. Defendants (and cross-claim and counter-claim defendants) are required to disclose the following information within 90 days of filing an answer:

• A copy of any potentially applicable insurance policies or (with consent of the plaintiff) copies of declaration pages;
• The name and contact information of the person responsible for adjusting the claim; and
• The amount of potentially available coverage after the erosion of policy limits from other claims.