5.5 New York Special Provisions & Selected Homeowners and Dwelling Endorsements
Key Takeaways
- Special Provisions — New York endorsements HO 01 31 and DP 01 31 are attached to every New York policy and amend the countrywide form wherever New York law requires something different, including the 24-month suit limitation and the § 3425 cancellation and nonrenewal schedule.
- HO 04 61 Scheduled Personal Property converts scheduled items to open peril, removes the Coverage C special sub-limits for those items, and applies no deductible.
- HO 04 90 converts Coverage C loss settlement from actual cash value to replacement cost, and HO 23 85 buys back the excluded water backup and sump overflow peril.
- HO 24 86 adds personal injury offences to Section II and HO 24 93 supplies statutory workers’ compensation benefits for certain New York residence employees.
- The Dwelling program contains no built-in theft coverage and no built-in liability coverage; DP 04 83 Broad Theft is available only on owner-occupied dwellings, and liability requires the Personal Liability Supplement.
New York Special Provisions & Selected Homeowners and Dwelling Endorsements
Exam Focus: The Series 17-70 outline names specific endorsement form numbers for both the Homeowners (2011) and Dwelling (2014) programs. The Special Provisions — New York endorsements (HO 01 31 and DP 01 31) are the most important, because they are mandatory on every New York policy and they overwrite the countrywide form wherever New York law requires something different. Learn the form numbers and what each one changes.
Why Special Provisions Endorsements Exist
ISO writes its Homeowners and Dwelling forms for use countrywide. New York statute and regulation then require departures — different cancellation rules, a different suit limitation, mandatory personal injury availability, workers' compensation coverage for residence employees, arbitration restrictions. Rather than publish a separate New York form, ISO issues a Special Provisions — New York endorsement that is attached to every policy and amends the base form.
Reading Rule: on a New York claim, read the Special Provisions endorsement before the base form. If the two conflict, the endorsement controls — that is what an endorsement does.
Homeowners: Special Provisions — New York (HO 01 31)
Typical New York amendments carried by HO 01 31:
- Concealment or Fraud is conformed to the New York standard: the misrepresentation or concealment must be material, and the policy language is conformed to Insurance Law § 3404(e) and § 3105.
- Suit Against Us is amended to the New York two-year (24-month) limitation running from the inception of the loss, in place of the countrywide one- or two-year wording.
- Cancellation and Nonrenewal are rewritten to the § 3425 schedule — the 60-day underwriting period, the enumerated post-60-day grounds, and the 45-to-60-day nonrenewal notice.
- Loss Settlement and Appraisal are conformed to the standard fire policy — including the 20-day appraiser and 15-day umpire clocks, and judicial appointment of the umpire.
- Mortgage clause language is conformed to § 3404(e), including the mortgagee's 10-day cancellation notice.
Dwelling: Special Provisions — New York (DP 01 31)
DP 01 31 performs the same function for the Dwelling program, conforming the suit limitation, cancellation and nonrenewal rules, the appraisal clause and the mortgage clause to New York law. Because the Dwelling forms are frequently written on non-owner-occupied rental property, the vacancy and increase of hazard conditions that DP 01 31 conforms to § 3404(e) are heavily litigated — the 60 consecutive days vacancy suspension is a recurring denial ground on landlord claims.
Selected Homeowners Endorsements
| Form | Endorsement | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| HO 04 54 | Earthquake | Adds earthquake, land shock waves and volcanic eruption as a covered peril for Coverages A–D, normally with a percentage deductible (commonly 2%–20% of the Coverage A limit) rather than a flat dollar deductible. All earthquake shocks within a 72-hour period are one occurrence. |
| HO 04 55 | Identity Fraud Expense | Reimburses expenses of restoring identity records — notary and certified mail costs, lost wages, loan re-application fees, attorney fees to defend creditor suits and to remove wrongly entered judgments — subject to a modest aggregate. It does not reimburse the money stolen. |
| HO 04 61 | Scheduled Personal Property | Schedules high-value items (jewelry, furs, silverware, fine art, cameras, musical instruments, golf equipment, stamps and coins) individually. Key effects: coverage becomes open peril, the Coverage C special sub-limits are removed for the scheduled item, and the deductible does not apply. Usually written on an agreed value basis for fine art. |
| HO 04 90 | Personal Property Replacement Cost | Converts Coverage C loss settlement from ACV to replacement cost, subject to stated exclusions such as antiques, fine art, memorabilia and obsolete property that cannot be replaced. |
| HO 07 01 | Home Business | Extends property and liability coverage to a described business conducted from the residence, filling the homeowners business pursuits gaps. |
| HO 23 85 | Water Back Up and Sump Discharge or Overflow | Buys back the excluded peril of water backing up through sewers or drains, or overflowing from a sump or sump pump, subject to a separate sub-limit. This is the single most commonly claimed buy-back on New York homeowners policies. |
| HO 24 86 | Personal Injury — New York | Adds personal injury — false arrest, detention or imprisonment, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction or entry, invasion of privacy, libel, slander and defamation — to Section II. Without it, Coverage E responds only to bodily injury and property damage. |
| HO 24 93 | Workers' Compensation — Certain Residence Employees — New York | Provides the statutory workers' compensation benefits the homeowner owes to a covered residence employee (for example a domestic worker employed 40 or more hours a week) under the Workers' Compensation Law. This is a New York-specific endorsement precisely because New York compels coverage for those employees. |
Homeowners Forms Recap (for endorsement context)
The endorsements above attach to the forms covered in Section 5.1: HO-2 broad form, HO-3 special form, HO-4 contents (tenants), HO-5 comprehensive, HO-6 unit-owners, and HO-8 modified coverage — the form used for older homes where market value is well below replacement cost, settling on a functional replacement cost / repair cost basis with a restricted named-peril list.
Selected Dwelling Endorsements
| Form | Endorsement | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| DP 04 83 | Broad Theft Coverage | Adds theft coverage to the Dwelling program, which otherwise does not include theft. Available only when the dwelling is owner-occupied, with on-premises and optional off-premises limits. |
| DP 11 43 | Dwelling Under Construction | Adapts the Dwelling policy to a structure being built. The amount of insurance is the completed value, and the provisional premium is adjusted; the vacancy condition is suspended for the construction period. |
| — | Personal Liability Supplement | Adds Section II-type personal liability and medical payments to a Dwelling policy, which is otherwise a property-only contract. |
Exam Trap — the Dwelling program has no built-in theft and no built-in liability. If a fact pattern describes a DP-3 landlord whose tenant's dwelling is burgled, or a visitor injured on the premises, the answer depends on whether DP 04 83 or the Personal Liability Supplement was attached. This is the most reliable Dwelling question on the exam.
Applying the Endorsements on a New York Claim
A Rochester homeowner reports: a sewer backup flooded a finished basement, damaging a rug, and an engagement ring is missing.
- Water back up. The base HO-3 excludes water that backs up through sewers or drains. Coverage exists only if HO 23 85 is attached — and then only up to its separate sub-limit.
- Rug. Coverage C applies. Settlement is ACV unless HO 04 90 personal property replacement cost is attached.
- Ring. Coverage C theft of jewelry is capped by a special sub-limit (commonly $1,500 for theft of jewelry, watches and furs). If the ring is scheduled on HO 04 61, the sub-limit and the deductible both disappear and the loss is settled at the scheduled amount on an open-peril basis.
- Timing. The HO 01 31 Special Provisions endorsement governs the suit limitation and the appraisal clocks, and the Regulation 64 deadlines in Section 1.3 govern the file.
A New York homeowner has a $9,000 engagement ring stolen. The HO-3 policy carries a $1,500 special limit on theft of jewelry, a $500 deductible, and endorsement HO 04 61 scheduling the ring at $9,000. What is paid?
Which endorsement provides the statutory workers’ compensation benefits a New York homeowner owes to a covered residence employee?