Sometimes a public agency’s defense for not providing records in response to an OPRA request is that the agency isn’t subject to OPRA. However, courts have found that some pseudo-governmental non-profits and so-called “private” organizations are indeed subject to the State’s Records Act. One such instance involves the New Jersey Insurance Underwriting Association (NJIUA), which was created by the State Legislature to increase property insurance availability in high risk urban areas in order to foster development, growth, and employment.
Per the NJIUA’s website, “The NJIUA is an association created by the Legislature of New Jersey in 1968 to provide essential property insurance to any person unable to obtain insurance from a voluntary company. The original name, “FAIR Plan”, stands for Fair Access to Insurance Requirements. Today NJIUA is the Administrator of the Property FAIR Plan and the Crime Indemnity Plan.”
NJ Open Government Notes
Court rules that New Jersey Insurance Underwriting Association is subject to OPRA.
by John Paff
May 1, 2017