§ 3422 — Hate crimes; coverage refusal

§ 3422. Hate crimes; coverage refusal. (a) For purposes of this\nsection, "insured" means a current policyholder or a person or entity\nthat is covered under an insurance policy.\n (b) This section shall apply to policies of insurance if the insured\nor proposed insured is:\n (1) an individual;\n (2) a business entity that is independently owned and operated and\nemploys one hundred or fewer individuals;\n (3) a religious organization;\n (4) an educational organization; or\n (5) any other nonprofit organization that is organized and operated\nfor religious, charitable or educational purposes.\n (c) An insurer that issues or delivers a policy in this state shall\nnot cancel, refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or increase the premium of\na policy or exclude, limit, restrict, or reduce coverage under such\npolicy solely on the basis that one or more claims have been made\nagainst any policy during the preceding sixty months for a loss that is\nthe result of a hate crime, as defined pursuant to article four hundred\neighty-five of the penal law, committed against the person or property\ninsured if the named insured provides evidence to the insurer that the\nact causing such loss is a result of a hate crime and that an insured\nwas not the perpetrator of the hate crime.\n (d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an insurer from canceling,\nrefusing to renew, increasing the premium of an insurance policy or\nexcluding, limiting, restricting, or reducing coverage under such policy\ndue to other factors that are permitted by any other section of this\nchapter, including the factors set forth in section two thousand three\nhundred three of this chapter.\n