October 27, 2004

Matter of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Mutual Serv. Cas. Ins. Co. (2004 NY Slip Op 51293(U))

https://www.beynensonlaw.com/case-law/matter-of-state-farm-mut-auto-ins-co-v-mutual-serv-cas-ins-co-2004-ny-slip-op-51293u/

Court: Appellate Term, Second Department
Decided: October 27, 2004
Citation: 2004 NY Slip Op 51293(U)
Posture: Article 75 petition
Issues: Statute of limitations CPLR article 75 (arbitration awards)

Cite as

Matter of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Mutual Serv. Cas. Ins. Co., 2004 NY Slip Op 51293(U) (App Term, 2d Dept, 2d & 11th Jud Dists 2004)

Posture, outcome, issues and treatment by other decisions are Beynenson Law’s classification. Treatment labels are assigned by a language model reading the citing decision; negative and appeal-history labels are checked by a second reader.

Summary

Editorial summary by Beynenson Law, not part of the court’s decision.

The petitioning insurer's reimbursement demand was timely because it was made within three years of its first no-fault payment. In mandatory arbitration under Insurance Law § 5105, the arbitrator dismissed the demand as time-barred, and the Civil Court denied vacatur for lack of proof of payment dates. The Appellate Term, Second Department, found that the claims representative's affidavit and supporting documents supplied documentary proof under CPLR 4518 (a). The demand satisfied CPLR 214 (2), making the limitations dismissal unsupported by the evidence and arbitrary and capricious. The court reversed, granted the petition, vacated the award, and remanded for arbitration. It also noted that CPLR 411 requires a special proceeding to terminate in a judgment.

Reported in New York Official Reports at Matter of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Mutual Serv. Cas. Ins. Co. (2004 NY Slip Op 51293(U))

[*1]

Matter of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Mutual Serv. Cas. Ins. Co.

2004 NY Slip Op 51293(U)

Decided on October 27, 2004

Appellate Term, Second Department

Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.

This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on October 27, 2004

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

APPELLATE TERM: 2nd and 11th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS

PRESENT: ARONIN, J.P., PATTERSON and GOLIA, JJ.
2003-1422 Q C

IN THE MATTER OF STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant,
against
MUTUAL SERVICE CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent.

Appeal by petitioner from an order of the Civil Court, Queens County (A. Agate, J.), entered August 4, 2003, denying its petition to vacate an arbitrator’s award.

Order unanimously reversed without costs, petition granted, arbitrator’s award vacated and matter remanded for arbitration.

Pursuant to the mandatory arbitration provisions of Insurance Law § 5105 et seq., petitioner State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm) filed a demand for arbitration in April 2002 seeking reimbursement of no-fault payments it made to its subrogor commencing in May 1999. Arbitration Forums, Inc. denied the claim on the ground that the three year statute of limitations had expired. State Farm commenced a special proceeding to vacate the arbitrator’s award. The court below denied the petition, finding that petitioner “did not specify the dates of the payments to the claimant or include any documentary proof. Rather, [petitioner] attached its demand for arbitration and the decision, neither of which indicate the dates of the initial payments.”

Contrary to the determination of the court below, we find that petitioner submitted documentary proof as to the payments it made to its subrogor by its submission of the affidavit of its claims representative, as well as the other documents included in Exhibit D which was attached to its petition (see CPLR 4518 [a]; People v Kennedy, 68 NY2d 569 [1968]). We [*2]further find that the arbitrator’s award dismissing the claim as barred by the statute of limitations was not based on the evidence, and it was arbitrary and capricious for the arbitrator to dismiss the claim since petitioner timely made its demand for arbitration within three years of its first no-fault payment (see CPLR 214 [2]; Matter of Motor Vehicle Acc. Indem. Corp. v Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 89 NY2d 214, 219-220 [1996]; Matter of Budget Rent-A-Car [State Ins. Fund], 237 AD2d 153 [1997]; Empire Ins. Co. v Eagle Ins. Co., 4 Misc 3d 25 [2004] [App Term, 2d & 11th Jud Dists]; Allcity Ins. Co. v Eagle Ins. Co., 1 Misc 3d 41 [2003] [App Term, 2d & 11th Jud Dists]; Allcity Ins. Co. v GEICO, 2003 NY Slip Op 50898 [U] [App Term, 2d & 11th Jud Dists]).

Accordingly, the petition seeking to vacate the arbitrator’s award is granted and the matter is remanded for arbitration.

We note that a special proceeding should terminate in a judgment, not an order (see CPLR 411).
Decision Date: October 27, 2004

Cited in this decision

Matter of Empire Ins. Co. v Eagle Ins. Co. (2004 NY Slip Op 24146)The petitioning insurer timely demanded loss-transfer arbitration within three years of its first no-fault payment.

Cited by

RDK Med. P.C. v General Assur. Co. (2005 NY Slip Op 51281(U))The master arbitration award lacked competent evidence that the billed services were not rendered and was vacated.

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