New Millennium Med. Imaging, P.C. v GEICO, 2022 NY Slip Op 22300 (App. Term 2d Dept. 2022)
Here is an issue I have not countenanced often. When a denial is issued prior 30-days after a bill is received, does the SOL time period run from date of denial or bill + 30 days? The answer is neither. In this case, the time to commence the action would be when Applicant received the denial.
“Here, defendant mailed its denial of claim form on Monday, October 3, 2011, from Woodbury, New York, to Flushing, New York, and plaintiff commenced this action on October 6, 2017. In order to hold that the commencement of this action occurred after the statute of limitations had expired, this court would have to find that it is reasonable to presume that plaintiff received the denial of claim form by October 5, 2011—two days after it was mailed. In [*3]the circumstances presented on this record, we do not find that to be a reasonable presumption.”
You should note that CPLR 2103(b) is still applicable “[noting that the CPLR time period was extended “from three to five days in 1982 because the existing three-day (period) was seen as inadequate”]). Thus, CPLR 2103 (b) (2) may be useful as a guide to help determine the presumptive reasonable date of receipt; however, a properly-mailed item should not automatically be presumed to be received exactly five or six days thereafter. Rather, receipt can, based on the particular facts presented, be presumed to be less than five or six days (for example if it was mailed from the same zip code as the addressee’s) or greater than five or six days after mailing, depending on the factors outlined above.”
You know what? I agree with this decision.
