October 10, 2007

Superior Med. Equip. & Supply, Inc. v Country-Wide Ins. Co. (2007 NY Slip Op 51993(U))

Headnote

The main issues in this case were a denial of a claim for first-party no-fault benefits by an insurance company, and a petition to vacate the master arbitrator's award upholding the denial. The court considered the rational basis for the determination of the master arbitrator in upholding the denial of benefits. The holding of the case was that there was a rational basis for the master arbitrator's determination, and the court properly denied the petition to vacate the award. However, the court also modified the judgment by confirming the master arbitrator's award, as required by the CPLR, thus affirming the denial of the first-party no-fault benefits.

Reported in New York Official Reports at Superior Med. Equip. & Supply, Inc. v Country-Wide Ins. Co. (2007 NY Slip Op 51993(U))

Superior Med. Equip. & Supply, Inc. v Country-Wide Ins. Co. (2007 NY Slip Op 51993(U)) [*1]

Superior Med. Equip. & Supply, Inc. v Country-Wide Ins. Co.

2007 NY Slip Op 51993(U) [17 Misc 3d 131(A)]

Decided on October 10, 2007

Appellate Term, Second Department

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

As corrected in part through November 4, 2011; it will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on October 10, 2007

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

APPELLATE TERM: 2nd and 11th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS

PRESENT: : PESCE, P.J., GOLIA and RIOS, JJ
2006-891 K C.

Superior Medical Equipment & Supply, Inc. a/a/o VIVIAN MACK, Appellant,
against
Country-Wide Insurance Company, Respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Robin S. Garson, J.), entered March 23, 2006. The judgment denied the petition to vacate the master arbitrator’s award.

Judgment modified by adding thereto a provision confirming the master arbitrator’s award; as so modified, affirmed without costs.

Upon a review of the record, we find a rational basis for the determination of the master arbitrator upholding the arbitrator’s award which denied petitioner’s claim for first-party no-fault benefits (see e.g. Matter of Petrofsky [Allstate Ins. Co.], 54 NY2d 207 [1981]; Matter of Adams v Allstate Ins. Co., 210 AD2d 319 [1994]; Matter of Shand
[Aetna Ins. Co.], 74 AD2d 442 [1980]). Consequently, the court below properly denied the petition to vacate the master arbitrator’s award. However, upon denying the petition, the court was required, pursuant to CPLR 7511 (e), to confirm the award (see Matter of Exclusive Med. & Diagnostic v Government Empls. Ins. Co., 306 AD2d 476 [2003]), and we modify the judgment accordingly.

Pesce, P.J., Golia and Rios, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: October 10, 2007