A New York insured asks her producer to exclude her 19-year-old son, who lives at home and has a poor driving record, from coverage on her NY personal auto policy in exchange for a premium reduction. Which response correctly states NY law?

Why this is the answer

Many states permit a 'named driver exclusion' endorsement that lets the insured carve a specific household driver out of coverage in exchange for a premium reduction. New York is among the states that do not permit this on private passenger auto policies — DFS treats resident relatives and household members as insureds by operation of law for the compulsory coverages (BI, PD, PIP, UM). An exclusion endorsement that purports to remove the son is unenforceable as to those compulsory layers and exposes the producer to E&O. The proper advice is to surcharge the risk, increase deductibles on physical damage, or — if appropriate — have the son obtain his own policy and remove him from the household risk pool by changing residency, not by exclusion.