New York Gov. Proposes Insurance Bill

New York Gov. George Pataki has proposed an insurance bill that would allow insurers to sell business policies covering losses caused by governmental closures of roads. Pataki’s “civil authority” bill would provide for insurance coverage based on lost business rather than actual physical damage. Business interruption insurance currently requires the business be physically damaged before a merchant can collect insurance monies.

The New York Insurance Association supports the bill, though spokesman Bernie Bordeau has said insuring such potential losses would be risky. “Unlike the whims of nature…you’re now adding the whims of a political entity,” Bordeau was reported as saying in an Associated Press story.