Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2002

West 16th Street Tenants Corp. v. Public Service Mutual Insurance

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided January 10, 2002

290 A.D.2d 278; 736 N.Y.S.2d 34; 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 161

Cases that cite this one

45 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Crescent Beach Club LLC v. Indian Harbor Insurance Company (District Court, E.D. New York 2020)
United Specialty Ins. Co. v. Premier Contracting of N.Y., Inc. (District Court, S.D. Illinois 2019)
Admiral Insurance Company v. Builders Choice of New York, Inc. (District Court, S.D. New York 2024)
Vargas v. City of New York (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
U.S. Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Image By J&K, LLC (District Court, E.D. New York 2018)
Jewish Community Center v. Trumbull Insurance (District Court, E.D. New York 2013)
Fulton Boiler Works, Inc. v. American Motorists Insurance (District Court, N.D. New York 2011)
New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Ramirez (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2010)
Scott Hammersmith v. Tig Insurance Company (w.d. Of Pa. Civil Nos. 02-Cv-01829 & 03-Cv-01333) (3d Cir. 2007)
105 Street Associates, LLC v. Greenwich Insurance (District Court, S.D. New York 2007)
McAlpin v. RLI Insurance (District Court, W.D. New York 2007)
Allstate Insurance v. Cruz (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2006)
Lake Carmel Fire Dept., Inc. v. Utica First Ins. Co. (New York Supreme Court, Queens County 2004)
New York Mar. & Gen. Ins. Co. v. Rockingham Ins. Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2025)
Titan Indus. Servs. Corp. v. Navigators Ins. Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2024)
Wesco Ins. Co. v. Fulmont Mut. Ins. Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2023)
Certain Underwriters At Lloyds, London v. Midvale Indemnity Company (District Court, E.D. New York 2023)
Southwest Marine and General Insurance Company v. United Specialty Insurance Company (District Court, S.D. New York 2022)
Southwest Marine and General Insurance Company v. United Specialty Insurance Company (District Court, S.D. New York 2022)
Golden Insurance Company v. Ingrid House, Inc. (District Court, S.D. New York 2021)
Matter of Government Empls. Ins. Co. v. Pellot (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2020)
Matter of Government Empls. Ins. Co. v. Pellot (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2020)
The City of New York v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company (District Court, S.D. New York 2020)
Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Navigators Ins. Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
Black Bull Contracting, LLC v. Indian Harbor Insurance (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Marilyn Shafer, J.), entered March 22, 2001, which granted plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment pursuant to CPLR 3215, and denied defendant’s cross motion to compel plaintiff to accept late service of the answer pursuant to CPLR 3012 (d), unanimously affirmed, with costs. Appeal from order, same court and Justice, entered on or about June 15, 2001, which, inter alia, denied defendant’s motion for reargument, unanimously dismissed, without costs, as taken from a nonappealable order.

*279This is an action for, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that defendant insurer is obligated to defend and indemnify plaintiff cooperative corporation against a personal injury claim under primary and umbrella commercial general liability policies. The accident giving rise to the claim occurred on October 11, 1999, but plaintiff did not give defendant notice of the occurrence until more than five months later, after it was served with the summons and complaint in the underlying personal injury action. Defendant received notice of the claim on March 28, 2000, and disclaimed coverage on April 27, 2000 on the ground that plaintiff had not complied with policy conditions requiring it to give notice of any occurrence that might give rise to a claim “as soon as practicable.” After this action was commenced, defendant inadvertently served its answer on the attorney for the plaintiff in the underlying personal injury action, and plaintiff subsequently moved for entry of a default judgment herein.

Although defendant’s default was excusable (see, CPLR 2005), the motion court correctly granted the motion for a default judgment on the ground that defendant failed to demonstrate a meritorious defense. Plaintiff's delay in notifying defendant of the occurrence giving rise to the claim, the sole ground on which defendant disclaimed coverage, was obvious from the face of the notice of claim and the accompanying complaint, and defendant had no need to conduct an investigation before determining whether to disclaim. Defendant’s 30-day delay in disclaiming coverage was therefore unreasonable as a matter of law under Insurance Law § 3420 (d) (see, City of New York v Northern Ins. Co., 284 AD2d 291, lv dismissed 97 NY2d 638; Matter of Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v Steiner, 199 AD2d 507). Concur — Nardelli, J.P., Williams, Saxe, Wallach and Friedman, JJ.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.