BILL
SUBJECT
DATE
The Business Council opposes this legislation which seeks to clarify that an insured business entity and volunteer fire and ambulance service provider’s supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) policies offer a broader scope of coverage than current law permits.
This bill ensures that employees of a corporate entity or firefighter or first responder crew while acting in the scope of their duties will be covered under their employers SUM coverage.
The problem with this bill is employees would no longer have to be injured using a company vehicle to be covered, as is current law. The intent of this legislation was to provide expanded coverage for firefighter and ambulance workers who are often subject to auto injury when tending to victims on roadways or directing traffic but not injured while in the employers vehicle.
It is unclear why this coverage should be expanded to also include employees of corporate or business entities who are not involved in work activities that require the use of a company vehicle or work on the roads or other areas where they would be more susceptible to injury from a vehicle. Any auto accident involving an employee while in the course of their employment duties would now be covered under the employer SUM policy. A company employee could be injured in a motor accident with their own vehicle or just walking down the street. So long as it could be determined that the accident occurred within the scope of the employees work, the employee would be covered under the SUM policy.
This will greatly broaden this type of coverage, driving up premium rates for businesses. New York companies already provide workers compensation coverage to employees hurt on the job. There is no reason to force businesses to provide automobile/vehicle insurance for employees who are not hurt in company vehicles.
For these reasons The Business Council recommends the defeat of this legislation.