NY lawmakers should undo unfair insurance hike

Have you noticed an unusual bump in your auto insurance premium?

Last month, drivers across the state found themselves with added coverage they likely didn't ask for — and many of them don't need.

Thanks to an unnecessary law signed last year by Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Yorkers are now seeing supplemental spousal liability insurance added to their auto insurance policies. The coverage applies to an unusual situation — when one spouse wants to sue another for damages for pain and suffering from an injury due to negligent driving.

The problem: The law provided the coverage as an "opt-out" measure. So everyone gets it and pays for it unless they specifically and intentionally refuse it. And everyone means everyone — even those who would never sue their spouses, or those who are single.

The law, pushed by the powerful trial lawyers' lobby, advanced quietly through both chambers of the State Legislature. Just a few years ago, the Republican-controlled State Senate might have blocked a measure like this, providing a balance that Albany now lacks with Democratic control of both houses.

That check also could have come from Hochul, but she signed the legislation with little explanation.

"I recognize the importance of this legislation," her approval message said.

Absent an explanation of this "importance," one could reasonably conclude that the primary motivation for the bill was to benefit trial attorneys.

Such coverage could help a small group of drivers in certain circumstances. But that is no reason to turn spousal liability into an opt-out, where even those without spouses are charged until they take action to cancel the coverage, which costs as much as $84 a year.

State lawmakers need to fix this mistake. The bill sponsors are apparently willing to consider changes. That's promising. When they return to Albany, they must amend the legislation so the coverage at least applies only to married people and requires someone to request it, rather than remove it from their auto policies.

In the meantime, drivers are forced to parse the fine print, and opt out of coverage for which they have no use. Insurance companies must make that process simple and clear. But motorists cannot opt out if they are unaware of what they are paying for. State lawmakers and Hochul should notify their constituents of the coverage and the opt-out — and how to do it — through public service announcements, social media and mailers.

This was a mess of their own making. Now they have to clean it up. New Yorkers shouldn't be legally manipulated into coverage they don't need and don't want. And elected officials shouldn't subject their constituents to unexplained and unnecessary charges.