"There are currently no effective private bad-faith laws for New York corporations, and this bill may turn that around," said Harckham. He and a fellow presenter brought up a Con Edison transformer explosion that occurred during Sandy, plunging lower and upper Manhattan into darkness.

Although the explosion was caught on video and uploaded to the internet, the utility contested that the incident was actually an electric shutdown. Local policyholders were lucky to be located next to Trump property, with the clout to challenge the argument.

Two complementary pieces of legislation in the assembly establish a shortened length of time in which insurers can settle or dispute a claim, respectively.

According to Anderson Kill shareholder Dennis Artese, A 1092A gives insurers 15 days, with the possibility of one 15-day extension, to announce acceptance or rejection of a claim, and then gives them three days to send payment.

The second bill expedites actions involving insurance claims for damages resulting from a state disaster emergency: any action involving an insurance claim for damages occurring to property in a disaster area must be announced within thirty days after filing the initial request for court intervention, and all discovery, (identification and reporting of losses) must be completed within sixty days from the date of the first hearing. Insurers will also enter into a mandatory settlement conference within fourteen days after a note of issue has been filed for settlement of claims.

"The new laws would not apply retroactively to Sandy victims, but it would help a lot of policyholders when the next storm hits," said Harckham.