Insured's Late Notice Vitiates Coverage
In York Specialty Food, Inc. v. Tower Ins. Co. of New York (NY App., 1st Dept., Jan. 31, 2008), a New York appellate court has held that an insured, who became aware of the claimant’s accident within three days, but did not notify its insurer of the accident until eight months later, breached the notice requirements of its liability policy. The court rejected the insured’s excuse for delay premised upon an alleged good-faith belief in non-liability because the insured never investigated the possibility of its liability for the accident. The court found that an investigation by the insured that included interviews of employees who witnessed the accident would have revealed that the claimant, after falling in front of the insured's premises, had been taken from the scene in an ambulance. Since no investigation was conducted, the insured could not claim a good-faith belief in non-liability. As continues to be the law in New York, the insured was not required to demonstrate prejudice to invoke the late notice defense.
