Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP Blog

Late-Notice Rule in New York is now in the hands of the Insurer

In 2009, no longer will New York allow a personal injury or wrongful death insurer to file to claim coverage because of a late notice. This new rule will stand despite the fact or not if the insurer experienced harm by the postponement. Governor David Paterson signed the bill that also permits an injured party to seek a judgment for either personal injury or wrongful death. This would allow the petitioner to determine if the extent of the insurance coverage would be worth pursing.  Those who opposed the bill said, “it will somewhat level the playing field between insurers and consumers when insures fail to file claims for injuries deemed late for coverage.” This latest law will not allow insurers to disclaim coverage for claims that are past their term, however if they can prove that they were “materially prejudiced” by the postponement they may be able to get out of the new law.

            The bill however only has been put into effect in the following states: New York, Nevada, Illinois, Mississippi, Colorado, Arkansas, and Georgia. Theses are the only states that support the law to have a “no predujice” rule disclaiming coverage for claims made past their allotment of time."It was anomalous for so long that New York would allow denial of coverage for claims considered late by insurance companies," said attorney Marshall Gilinsky of Anderson Kill & Olick. "We always thought of it here as a trap door, as a 'gotcha' defense." Those who are in favor of the bill comment that the old way was unfair to those holding that specific policy. This new law has also been revised to lessen the amount of people looking to seek damages that have been denied coverage for having late notices.

The new law will enforce a way of proof in which the responsibility will be on both the insurers and those who hold the insurance policies. Within the first two year of the happenings of the accident the insurer will have to prove how they were prejudiced by claims. And after two years of the accident, the policy holder will have to prove that insurers were not biased by the postponement. A main condition of the new law was made to lessen the number of times the injured party continue on with the claim based on little substance. This new law is going to apply to wrongful death or personal death coverage and nothing else.  The new law will also forbid disclaiming coverage relying on late notices unless insurers could prove that they experienced biased tendencies because of the postponement.

Personal injury lawsuits can get lengthy and become costly therefore it’s crucial to hire an attorney that knows the industry well. Personal injury lawyers, Napoli Bern Ripka LLP, have the experience necessary to take your case forward and enable you to understand how to proceed. They have access to the top resources needed to get the settlement you deserve, not what is offered.