Enacted Amendments to the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act

February 25, 2022

Governor Hochul signed the amendments to the NY Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act (“CIDA”) into law today. The following constitutes the relevant insurance disclosure requirements in NY State, under the revised law. The CIDA now applies only to cases in which Defendants filed an answer on/after Dec. 31, 2021. It no longer applies retroactively to existing cases. It does not apply pre-suit. In new cases, the CIDA requires every defendant to disclose the following, within 90 days of each defendant’s filing of its answer:

  • Pursuant to CPLR §3101(f)(1), (f)(1)(i) and (f)(3), all defendants, third-party, cross-claim or counter-claim defendants, must disclose complete copies of any policy (primary or excess) or similar agreement (SIRs, captives, etc.) that “may” satisfy any part of a judgment or indemnify or reimburse payments to do same.
  • Pursuant to CPLR §3101(f)(1)(iii), claims adjuster’s name and e-mail;
  • Pursuant to CPLR §3101(f)(1)(iii), the total available policy limits, including any depletion, erosion or offsets to each disclosed policy’s limits; and
  • Pursuant to CPLR §3101(f)(2) and CPLR §3122-b, defendants and their attorneys are each separately required to provide a certification accompanying the disclosure of the aforementioned information that they each made “reasonable efforts to ensure” this information remains “accurate and complete.”

After the initial disclosure, defendants are obligated to re-certify and update the aforementioned disclosure upon the filing of the Note of Issue and before any mediation, settlement conference or trial date(s), and for 60 days after any settlement, entry of final judgment or appeal.

The most significant changes are that the CIDA no longer applies retroactively to existing cases (which were due Mar. 1st) and that policy applications are no longer required to be disclosed.

Should you have any questions concerning the CIDA’s requirements, please do not hesitate to contact Howard Klar or William Parra.