Abbey Richmond Ambulance Service, Inc. v. Northbrook Property & Casualty Insurance

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Abbey Richmond Ambulance Service, Inc. v. Northbrook Property & Casualty Insurance

281 A.D.2d 501, 721 N.Y.S.2d 796, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4195

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided March 19, 2001·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

—In an action for a judgment declaring that the defendants are obligated to defend and indemnify the plaintiff in an action entitled Nichols v Abbey Richmond Ambulance Serv., pending in the Supreme Court, Westchester County, under Index No. 6427/96, the defendants appeal from a judgment of the same court (Donovan, J.), entered September 14, 2000, which, inter alia, made the declaration.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.

“ ‘An insured’s good faith belief in nonliability, when reasonable under the circumstances, may excuse a delay in notifying his * * * insurer of an accident’ ” (Chimenti v Allstate Ins. Co., 253 AD2d 534; see, Argentina v Otsego Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 207 AD2d 816, affd 86 NY2d 748). The Supreme Court properly found that the plaintiff demonstrated a good faith, reasonable belief in nonliability so as to excuse its eight-month delay in notifying the defendants of the underlying accident. Neither the manner in which the accident occurred, the apparently [502]*502trivial nature of the injury, nor the medical treatment rendered would have made a prudent person believe that a personal injury claim would be pursued (see, Briggs v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 176 AD2d 1113; cf., New York Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v Riley, 234 AD2d 279). O’Brien, J. P., Krausman, Florio and Schmidt, JJ., concur.

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—In an action for a judgment declaring that the defendants are obligated to defend and indemnify the plaintiff in an action entitled Nichols v Abbey Richmond Ambulance Serv., pending in the Supreme Court, Westchester County, under Index No. 6427/96, the defendants appeal from a judgment of the same court (Donovan, J.), entered September 14, 2000, which, inter alia, made the declaration.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.

“ ‘An insured’s good faith belief in nonliability, when reasonable under the circumstances, may excuse a delay in notifying his * * * insurer of an accident’ ” (Chimenti v Allstate Ins. Co., 253 AD2d 534; see, Argentina v Otsego Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 207 AD2d 816, affd 86 NY2d 748). The Supreme Court properly found that the plaintiff demonstrated a good faith, reasonable belief in nonliability so as to excuse its eight-month delay in notifying the defendants of the underlying accident. Neither the manner in which the accident occurred, the apparently [502]*502trivial nature of the injury, nor the medical treatment rendered would have made a prudent person believe that a personal injury claim would be pursued (see, Briggs v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 176 AD2d 1113; cf., New York Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v Riley, 234 AD2d 279). O’Brien, J. P., Krausman, Florio and Schmidt, JJ., concur.

Abbey Richmond Ambulance Service, Inc. v. Northbrook Property & Casualty Insurance, 281 A.D.2d 501, 721 N.Y.S.2d 796, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4195 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2001).

Pincite

281 A.D.2d 501 (Abbey Richmond Ambulance Service, Inc. v. Northbrook Property & Casualty Insurance) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Opinion

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