New York insurance agents are lauding Gov. George Pataki for signing into law legislation that will cut in half the time underwriters have to provide agents with information about pending issues with commercial policies that underwriters are not renewing or canceling.

The Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc. in a statement "commended" Gov. Pataki for signing the bill--A.1973-c--which cuts agents' wait time in half for commercial policy "loss run" data. It reduces the maximum time companies are allowed to supply loss runs upon request from the previous 20 to 10 days.

"Loss run" documents any occurrences, such as open claims, closed claims and any payments that have been made on claims on commercial policies, according to Ellen D. Kiehl, Ph.D., CAE, assistant executive director for government and industry affairs for the Professional Insurance Agents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Hampshire.