Six Western New York members of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State met with local lawmakers to discuss legislative issues affecting the state’s insurance industry as part of the association’s annual District Office Visit program.

The meetings were coordinated by Fred Holender, PIANY immediate past president, of Lawley Service Inc. in Buffalo.

The PIANY members met with 16 legislators in each of their district offices, including Assembly members Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda, and state Sen. Catharine Young, R-Olean, before her retirement.

“The District Office Visits program is a vital initiative we take to better serve the independent agent,” said Jamie A. Ferris, PIANY president. “These visits go a long way in Albany when our legislators recall meeting with PIANY members. PIANY is grateful for the time that each legislator has taken to meet with our members.”

Items discussed include:

¯ reforming New York’s “Scaffold Law” to establish a comparative negligence standard for claims under Labor Law 240 and 241;

¯ eliminating the New York State Insurance Fund’s 30-day rule for canceling a policy;

¯ authorizing the NYSIF to pay commissions to licensed brokers;

¯ standardizing the events that would trigger coastal homeowners insurance hurricane deductibles;

¯ repeal of the anti-arson application requirement in New York City;

¯ protect consumers from carrier “bait-and-switch” activities; and

¯ simplify the requirements of agents and brokers placing business in the state’s excess-line marketplace.