ALBANY — Two state lawmakers are championing legislation that would forbid insurance companies from exempting lead poisoning claims from policies covering landlords — a move they hope will incentivize the industry to do something about lead hazards in the properties they insure.
Those exemptions are the result of a decades-old policy that allowed New York insurers to leave landlords on the hook for lawsuits brought by children poisoned in their properties. State Sen. Sean Ryan and Assemblyman Jonathan Rivera, both Buffalo Democrats, want to undo that policy and give children injured by lead a better shot at getting compensation from insurers.
Beyond just getting coverage for children already harmed, the legislators argue the change will force the insurance industry to proactively police landlords they work with to mitigate lead poisoning hazards in their units…