There is a certain hope of improvement in the New York State insurance coverage environment, but it is unlikely to come from state legislators. The decades of attempts to reform the labor law of the New York State 240 (1) have not been legislatively. By conferring 100% negligence to businessmen for most injuries related to fall, workers involved in work accidents can rely on the law as a basis for the demands for claims and negligence of workers against companies. Any type of travel and fall is covered. Unlike most other states,
In New York, there is no opportunity for entrepreneurs accused of asking a court or jury assigning a fraction of guilt for an accident to a worker who breaks with security training, which would reduce the exposure and cost of the employer.
Slowly development of changes in construction and finance has now helped increase the costs of Empire State’s insurance. Immigrant workers carry out many of the tasks in key shops. Also, demand loans: excess investments in demands of liability in exchange for an interest paid by an agreement or a verdict – has become part of a legal financing industry for third parties of third parties. The plaintiff is likely to keep as many agreement as possible.
A building restoration contractor recently told Enr that his annual insurance premium was $ 2 million, from $ 500,000 within a few years. In the words of a great lender, “the tendency to normalize the financing of litigation continues” (Enr 2/3 p. 24).
To fight against, some contractors and an insurer have published videos of accidents on stage. After the initial media reported that immigrant workers had been recruited and prepared for insurance fraud, one of the most active personal injury law firms in New York State sought to deliver at least 165 cases that he managed to other lawyers, a sign of concern. It is not clear how many of these cases will be continued.
Do not count on state legislators to do anything. A small hope to improve the New York insurance environment – and lower costs for customers of construction and maintenance contractors – is restored with the Administrative Council of the New York State Supreme Court. It establishes the rules for the demands and, since last spring, has proposed to demand that a plaintiff disseminate if a demand loan is supporting a claim. Five states already require the dissemination of third -party demand loans.
The Council began collecting comments on the change proposed last spring, with the New York County Lawyers Association, which also proposed some viable modifications and exceptions that would largely leave the main provisions of the outreach rules.
We urge the Board to move forward with its proposed changes. Demand loans have opened the wider door for the exploitation of the legal system in a way that harms both construction and public employers. Dissemination requirements are a small reasonable step towards a fairer system that can also reduce insurance costs in New York.