Acting Superintendent Caitlin Azro told a joint Senate hearing that New York’s residential insurance market faces pressures from multiple structural forces. Azro said climate change has increased the frequency and severity of catastrophes, replacement and repair costs have jumped, and the global reinsurance market has tightened — factors that insurers pass on to policyholders.

Azro described recent DFS steps: issuing guidance encouraging insurers to offer discounts for resiliency measures such as storm shutters, standing up an internal climate modeling team, and prioritizing filings for consumer discounts. She said rate filings and the actuarial methods that underlie them are reviewed by DFS actuaries but acknowledged limits: proprietary catastrophe models are new, and DFS lacks claims‑level data in routine filings, prompting the agency to study whether to require more granular submissions.

Senators pressed Azro on whether insurers are using models to import costs from losses in other states; Azro said statute and filing review require New York‑specific expense allocations but admitted reviewing underlying proprietary models is challenging. Lawmakers asked whether DFS could mandate that carriers advertise discounts or compel them to accept certain mitigation credits; Azro said the department will compile a rubric of existing discounts and partner with the legislature on options. She also said DFS will continue market conduct oversight and is exploring ways to ensure underwriting methods and models meet governance standards.

Azro emphasized the balance DFS must strike between affordability and insurer solvency, noting New York’s market remains more stable than some coastal states but warning that no easy fixes exist. The agency pledged follow‑up on carriers’ filings, discount inventories, and data approaches.