Summary
holding that an unexplained delay of forty-one days was unreasonable as a matter of law
Summary of this case from U.S. UNDERWRITERS INSURANCE COMPANY v. ROCA LLCOpinion
Argued October 12, 1999
November 15, 1999
In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 75, inter alia, to permanently stay arbitration of an uninsured motorist claim, the appeal is from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (O'Shaughnessy, J.H.O.), dated November 24, 1998, which denied the petition and directed the parties to proceed to arbitration.
Bryan M. Rothenberg, Mineola, N.Y. (Alan Shushan of counsel), for appellant.
Martin, Fallon Mullé, Huntington, N.Y. (Richard C. Mullé of counsel), for additional respondent State Farm Insurance.
FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, THOMAS R. SULLIVAN, WILLIAM D. FRIEDMANN, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, and the petition is granted.
The 41-day delay of the respondent State Farm Insurance (hereinafter State Farm) in disclaiming coverage for the vehicle of its insured, Chin Hasing L. Ng, based on his failure to provide it with timely notice of an accident, was unreasonable as a matter of law ( see, Matter of Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Steiner, 199 A.D.2d 507). Its attempt to justify that delay is unpersuasive. Since insurance coverage for the Ng vehicle still exists, the petition to stay arbitration of the uninsured motorist claim of Leonid A. Pevzner should have been granted.
SANTUCCI, J.P., THOMPSON, SULLIVAN, and FRIEDMANN, JJ., concur.