Akai Acupuncture, P.C. v Foremost Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. (2024 NY Slip Op 50630(U))

The Rybak Firm, PLLC (Damin J. Toell of counsel), for appellant. Law Offices of Rothenberg & Romanek (Kenneth F. Popper of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Rupert V. Barry, J.), entered December 7, 2022. The order, insofar as appealed from, granted the branch of defendant’s motion seeking to dismiss the complaint and implicitly denied plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment.

ORDERED that the order, insofar as appealed from, is modified by providing that the branch of defendant’s motion seeking to dismiss the complaint is denied; as so modified, the order, insofar as appealed from, is affirmed, without costs.

In this action by a provider to recover assigned first-party no-fault benefits for services rendered to its assignor as a result of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on April 23, 2014, plaintiff appeals from so much of an order of the Civil Court (Rupert V. Barry, J.) as granted the branch of defendant’s motion seeking to dismiss the complaint and implicitly denied plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment.

It is undisputed that the vehicle in question was insured by defendant under a Florida automobile insurance policy. According to an affidavit submitted by an employee of defendant, the policy had been cancelled, prior to the accident at issue, by letter sent to the insured on February 24, 2014, effective March 8, 2014, for nonpayment of the premium.

On appeal, neither party disputes that Florida law applies, which law requires that a notice of cancellation of a policy for nonpayment of an insurance premium be “mailed or delivered” to the insured 10 days prior to the effective cancellation date (see Fla Stat Ann § 627.728 [3] [a]). In 2014, Florida Statutes § 627.728 (5) provided as follows:

“United States postal proof of mailing or certified or registered mailing of notice of cancellation, of intention not to renew, or of reasons for cancellation, or of the intention of the insurer to issue a policy by an insurer under the same ownership or management, to the first-named insured at the address shown in the policy shall be sufficient proof of notice.”

For purposes of this statute, “United States postal proof of mailing . . . means a United States postal proof of mailing which conforms to the requirements of United States postal regulations” (Aries Ins. Co. v Cayre, 785 So 2d 656, 658 [Fla Dist Ct App, 3d Dist 2001]).

In support of its motion, defendant submitted a “Certificate of Mail List” which lists various mailings, including one to the insured; however, that list is not date-stamped or signed or otherwise marked in any way by the USPS. The only proof of mailing submitted by defendant that was certified by the USPS is a Certificate of Bulk Mailing, which shows that over 2,000 pieces of mail were sent on the day in question. Defendant failed to show that this form constituted “proof of mailing which conforms to the requirements of United States postal regulations” (Aries Ins. Co., 785 So 2d at 658). Indeed, according to the USPS website, a Certificate of Bulk Mailing “is used to specify only the number of identical-weight pieces mailed; it does not provide evidence that a piece was mailed to a particular address” (see Munger v Infinity Ins. Co., 2015 WL 5922185, *6, 2015 US Dist LEXIS 138294, *14-15 [MD Fla, Oct. 9, 2015, No. 8:14—cv—914—T—36JSS] [“a Certificate of Bulk Mailing for the Nonpay Notice . . . does not qualify as a United States postal proof of mailing, since it only acknowledges that a certain number of pieces of mail were included in a particular bulk mailing”]). Similarly, the affidavit submitted by defendant in support of its claim of having provided notice to its insured failed to demonstrate actual mailing or that defendant had mailed the cancellation notice in accordance with its standard office practices and procedures (see Aries Ins. Co., 785 So 2d at 660; see also St. Vincent’s Hosp. of Richmond v Government Empls. Ins. Co., 50 AD3d 1123 [2008]; Residential Holding Corp. v Scottsdale Ins. Co., 286 AD2d 679 [2001]). Consequently, the Civil Court should have denied the branch of defendant’s motion which sought to dismiss the complaint on the ground that defendant had properly cancelled the policy and that there was, therefore, no coverage at the time of the accident at issue.

Plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment was properly denied, as the affidavit plaintiff submitted in support of its cross-motion failed to establish that the claim at issue had not been timely denied (see Viviane Etienne Med. Care, P.C. v Country-Wide Ins. Co., 25 NY3d 498 [2015]), or that defendant had issued denials that were conclusory, vague or without merit as a matter of law (see Westchester Med. Ctr. v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 78 AD3d 1168 [2010]; Ave T MPC Corp. v Auto One Ins. Co., 32 Misc 3d 128[A], 2011 NY Slip Op 51292[U] [App Term, 2d Dept, 2d, 11th & 13th Jud Dists 2011]).

Accordingly, the order, insofar as appealed from, is modified by providing that the branch of defendant’s motion seeking to dismiss the complaint is denied.

TOUSSAINT, P.J., BUGGS and OTTLEY, JJ., concur.