New York legislators introduced three insurance bills this week that could change how insurers compensate agents, price auto policies, and license adjusters.
On April 22 and 23, 2026, three separate proposals to amend the New York Insurance Law landed in the state legislature within a day of each other. All three were referred to the Committee on Insurance. None has been enacted, but together they signal an active stretch ahead for compliance teams and insurance professionals doing business in the state.
The most substantive of the three is Senate Bill 10017, filed by Senator Bailey on April 22. It targets Section 4228 of the Insurance Law, the provision that sets the rules for how life insurance and annuity companies pay their agents and brokers. Under the current law, the superintendent is required to periodically adjust the caps on training allowance subsidies, but the statute does not fix a specific schedule. The bill would replace that open-ended timeline with a mandatory annual adjustment on January 1 of each year, increasing the prior year's limits by the same percentage as the state's minimum wage adjustment under the Labor Law. The superintendent would also retain the authority to approve training allowance subsidies exceeding those limits at any time. A similar indexing mechanism would apply to the caps on prizes and awards that companies can give agents and brokers. Those caps currently sit at five hundred dollars per single prize and two thousand dollars per agent per calendar year, with companies also permitted to pay a monthly prize worth up to fifty dollars. Beginning January 1, 2027, those prize and award thresholds would rise each year by the same minimum wage percentage adjustment.
The bill also streamlines compensation plan filings. Under the proposed changes, companies that reduce compensation – or simply leave it unchanged – for every individual covered by an arrangement would no longer need to file those adjustments with the superintendent, though they would have to keep the records for at least six years. Increases or other changes to compensation would still trigger a filing requirement. On top of that, the bill removes direct solicitation advertising as a standalone selling expense category, re-letters the remaining provisions, and repeals subsection (g) and subparagraph (A) of paragraph 1 of subsection (f) of Section 4228, which the bill's title describes as relating to obsolete language and unnecessary filing requirements.
The second bill is a simpler, consumer-facing measure. Senate Bill 10019, introduced by Senator Cordell Cleare on April 22, would bar insurers from increasing automobile insurance premiums for policyholders aged sixty or older at renewal solely on the ground of the age of the insured. New York law already prevents insurers from refusing to issue or renew a covered policy solely on the basis of advanced age, but the bill would extend that protection to pricing. If it becomes law, the prohibition would take effect on the first of January following enactment and apply to renewals of policies issued from that date onward.
The third proposal, Assembly Bill 11042, was introduced by Member of Assembly Berger on April 23 and deals with the licensing process for independent adjusters. Under current rules, every individual applicant for a new license – other than those seeking a renewal – must take and pass a written examination administered by the superintendent. The bill would add a further waiver for individuals who already hold a claims certification from a national or state-based claims association, provided the certification program includes at least forty hours of pre-exam coursework, a proctored exam of sufficient length to adequately determine competency, and twenty-four hours of continuing education required for certification renewals on a biennial basis. The waiver would remain subject to the approval of the superintendent.
As of their filing dates, all three bills remain in the earliest stage of the legislative process. Senate Bills 10017 and 10019 were each referred to the Committee on Insurance. Assembly Bill 11042 was read once and referred to the same committee. Insurance professionals operating in New York will want to keep an eye on these proposals as they move – or stall – through Albany in the months ahead.
