Opinion
July 8, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Golden, J.).
Ordered that on the Court's own motion, the notice of appeal is treated as an application for leave to appeal, and leave to appeal is granted (CPLR 5701 [c]); and it is further,
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
We reject the appellant's contention that the stay of arbitration should have been denied because the application was made more than 20 days after service of his demand to arbitrate ( see, CPLR 7503 [c]). A stay application filed after the statutory time period may be entertained where it is based on the contention that the parties did not agree to arbitrate a claim for which no coverage was provided under the policy ( see, Matter of Matarasso [Continental Cas. Co.], 56 N.Y.2d 264; Matter of Aetna Cas. Sur. Co. v. Cartigiano, 178 A.D.2d 472). Here, the petitioner United Community Insurance Company is claiming that the respondent's injuries occurred as a result of an assault rather than a motor vehicle accident, and thus, there was no coverage. Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly directed a hearing on this issue (see, Matter of Aetna Cas. Sur. Co. v Cartigiano, supra). Mangano, P.J., Thompson, Florio and McGinity, JJ., concur.