In one of our November 1, 2012 blog posts, we indicated that news reports were advising that New Jersey would not permit the application of hurricane deductibles to insurance claims due to Sandy. Governor Christie has since issued an undated Executive Order 107, which provides the following in relevant part:

• it “shall be a violation of N.J.A.C. 11:2-42.7 [“Hurricane deductibles; standard policy language”] for any insurer to apply mandatory or optional hurricane deductible to the payment of claims for property damage attributable to Sandy;”
• all insurers are to “exercise appropriate forbearances on collection, cancellation, documentation and other regulatory requirements” . . . ;
• insurers may make payments for claims related to Sandy other than those permitted by N.J.A.C. 11:2-17.8(k) if the claimant agrees, alternate payment is not subject to additional fees to the insured, if the insured is permitted to “at any time” convert the balance into cash, and the claimant is notified of applicable terms and conditions;

We will monitor the insurance department websites of affected states and provide further updates as we receive them.