NY TIRSA Joint and Several Liability Endorsement Guideline 1993


Purpose Of Endorsement:
The TIRSA JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY ENDORSEMENT (9/1/93) is available in circumstances where two (or more) companies are co-insuring a transaction, and the insured wants to make sure that it can be paid in the event of a claim. The endorsement contains language capping the dollar amount of the Company’s total liability, but providing for “joint and several” liability on claims up to a specified amount.
This endorsement is not a requirement for co-insurance (see Part 1, §3 of the TIRSA Rate Manual). It does, however, give the insured some comfort in collecting in the event a claim must be paid. If the other insurer has folded or is unable to pay (up to the “joint and several cap”), or if the insured does not want to go through the bother or paperwork of collecting a portion of the claim payment from each insurer, the insured can seek payment from one company (which will have to seek contribution from the other or others). The endorsement does not help the insured much in the event of a total loss, since the amount of the individual insurer’s cap will not be in excess of its own policy amount.

Underwriting Requirements:

Requirements For Issuance:
(a) There must be co-insurance with another title insurance company. (If there is more than one other company involved, the endorsement language can be transferred to a General Endorsement form, and the co-insurers and the amounts that must be filled in can be listed either sequentially or in columnar form.);
(b) The companies involved must, after conducting their independent searches, agree to issue identical preliminary certificate of title (or title commitments) and policies;
(c) The insured must specially request the endorsement.
Issued With The Following Policies:
Owner’s and loan policies, where there is co-insurance and it is requested.
($25.00 for policies issued prior to 8/15/94; $1.00 per thousand dollars, for each company issuing the endorsement, up to the extent of joint and several liability for policies issued on or after 8/15/94.)



This guideline applies to the following form(s):