There’s trouble in New York’s uneasy motor vehicle insurance market, where insurers have refused to handle cover that is approved by a new state law. The Spouse Liability Bill requires car insurers to offer and actively promote “spousal liability insurance”. No way, says the NY Insurance Association, claiming it’s an “open invitation to fraud”. The insurers want Governor George Pataki to veto the bill, which has been approved by both legislative houses.

The current law only allows an injured spouse to have lost wages and medical bills covered by the state’s no-fault system. But under the proposed law the injured spouse could also sue the spouse for “acting in a careless and reckless manner”.