(a) Section 3425(o) of the Insurance Law, as amended by chapter 42 of the Laws of 1996 and continued by chapter 66 of the Laws of 1997, provides that an insurer who intends to materially reduce its volume of homeowners insurance policies written, shall submit to the superintendent a plan for the orderly reduction of the number of policies written. The plan must be approved by the superintendent before it may be implemented.

(b) The purpose of this Part is to establish the standards for the definition of material reduction of volume of policies and to establish standards by which the applications for material reduction of policies shall be approved. Establishing these standards will require the insurer to accomplish an orderly withdrawal from the homeowners market, and help stabilize that market throughout the State, particularly in coastal areas. As a result, it is expected that insureds in those areas should not experience the availability problems they have in the past.