Serio to Form N.Y. State Commission on Terrorism Insurance

New York State Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio announced plans to create a state commission to address insurance capacity issues affected by Sept. 11 and potential terrorist attacks during a speech at the Insurance Brokers’ Association of the State of New York’s fall membership meeting Oct. 24.

Expressing his concern over Congress’ delay in passing a terrorism backstop measure, Serio said New York could no longer wait for a federal solution. He announced that he will appoint a commission to deal with the problem, and said that a commercial broker would be among the participants. The commission will focus on the state’s marketplace problems and will propose changes to state laws relating to captive insurance companies, reciprocals and alternative funding mechanisms, which will resolve the problems of the state’s small and medium-sized businesses. At the end of the discussion, IBANY President Dick Impastato presented Serio with an award for his leadership of the New York insurance marketplace.