Late Notice

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Notice provisions in property insurance policies typically require the insured to promptly provide notice of a loss to the insurer. Despite the plain language requiring prompt notice, some jurisdictions require that an insured’s late notice cause some prejudice to the insurer in order to make a finding of no coverage. The court’s decision in De La Rosa v. Fla. Peninsula Ins. Co., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 6893 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. May 16, 2018), demonstrates the consequences of failing to provide prompt notice that resulted in prejudice to the insurer. 
Continue Reading Late Notice in Florida: Appellate Court Affirms Finding of No Coverage Where Insurer Prejudiced In Determination of Extent of Damage

We have written on the topic of late notice a number of times. Typical property insurance policies require that the insured notify its carrier of a loss promptly. The purposes of such a provision include allowing an insurer to investigate a claim close in time to the occurrence so as to ensure that it is able to gather all the relevant facts associated with the reported loss and to ensure that it has adequate reserve funds in place. A federal court in New York recently determined that a four month delay in notifying an insurer of a loss was too late and that the insurer need not establish that it suffered prejudice as a result of the delay.
Continue Reading Late Notice in New York: Federal Court Finds No Prejudice Required In First Party Context

Property insurance policies typically require that, once an insured suffers a loss, the insured report the loss to the insurance carrier promptly. The purpose of such a provision is to allow an insurer to investigate a claim close in time to the occurrence so as to protect itself from fraud, take early control of the direction of the claim to anticipate where that claim might lead, and to ensure that it has adequate reserve funds in place.  Naturally, the question often becomes how much time may elapse after a loss to make a delay in reporting unreasonable, and whether an insured may be excused from compliance with such late notice provisions by pleading lack of prejudice to the insurer, lack of sophistication, or some other, similar, mitigating factor. In Minasian v. IDS Prop. Cas. Ins. Co., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 1079 (2d Cir. Jan. 19, 2017), the Second Circuit found that a reporting delay of three months ran afoul the policy’s reporting requirement, and resoundingly rejected the insureds’ arguments that certain extenuating circumstances should excuse their compliance with the policy’s post-loss notice requirements.
Continue Reading What Is Prompt Notice? Second Circuit Analyzes Late Notice In New York

In insurance fraud cases involving actual or alleged destruction of evidence by the insured, an issue often arises regarding whether an adverse inference instruction is appropriate, and, if so, what form it should take. The Second Circuit recently approved a “light” form of adverse inference instruction that allowed the jury to make an adverse inference…

As we have indicated in prior blog posts on the Soronson, Slominski, and 1500 Coral Towers cases, late notice issues have been cropping up consistently in Florida in the context of Hurricane Wilma claims being reported years after the storm. Although the above-cases were decided by Florida appellate courts, the latest case to…

In 1500 Coral Towers Condominium Association, Inc. v. Citizens Property Ins.Co., No. 3D12-132 (3rd DCA April 3, 2013), upon rehearing and de novo review, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal withdrew its February 6, 2013 late notice ruling (see our analysis of that decision in the February 11 posting), and affirmed the…

As we have indicated in prior blog posts on the Soronson and Slominski cases, late notice issues have been cropping up consistently in the Florida appellate courts in the context of Hurricane Wilma claims being reported years after the storm.  Cooperation clauses requiring prompt notice and sworn proof of loss are implicated, and the issue,…

Late notice issues have been cropping up consistently in the Florida appellate courts in the context of Hurricane Wilma claims being reported years after the storm.  The latest decision, Slominski v. Citizens Property Ins. Corp., 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 16730 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 3, 2012) attempts to reconcile other recent Fourth District…

We have seen several recent cases in Florida addressing prompt notice requirements in property policies, many of which are related to Hurricane Wilma claims. This latest decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Leben v. State Farm Florida Ins. Co. 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 12522 (Aug. 1, 2012) seems to be contrary to the…