Stracar Med. Servs. v New York Cent. Mut. Ins. Co., 2014 NY Slip Op 50263(U)(App. Term 1st Dept. 2014) (sorry – this was a first department case – perhaps it was wishful thinking that the judges at 141 Livingston Street would follow this)
Not only were the ATIC declaratory judgment actions that were filed en masse from 2011-2013 potent, but they created great case law. Now, I am proud to say that the case law I created has now found its way into Appellate Term orders in Civil Court cases, where most non-arbitrated no-fault matters call home.
“Defendant-insurer demonstrated its entitlement to summary judgment dismissing this action for first-party no-fault benefits by submitting the affidavit of its no-fault litigation examiner demonstrating that the notices scheduling the assignor’s independent medical examinations (IMEs) were timely and properly mailed, as well as the sworn affidavits of the scheduled examining physician and her employee that the assignor failed to appear at the scheduled IMEs (see American Tr. Ins. Co. v Lucas, 111 AD3d 423 [2013]; American Tr. Ins. Co. v Solorzano, 108 AD3d 449 [2013]). In opposition, plaintiff did not specifically deny the assignor’s nonappearance or otherwise raise a triable issue with respect thereto, or as to the mailing or reasonableness of the underlying notices (see Unitrin Advantage Ins. Co. v Bayshore Physical Therapy, PLLC, 82 AD3d 559, 560 [2011], lv denied 17 NY3d 705 [2011]). “Accordingly, when [plaintiff’s] assignor[] failed to appear for the requested medical exams, [defendant] had the right to deny all claims retroactively to the date of loss, regardless of whether the denials were timely issued” (American Tr. Ins. Co. v Lucas, 111 AD3d at 424 [2013]; see Unitrin at 560).”
2 Responses
This a first department case, not second department.
Citing Unitrin in the second department… hmmmm