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.
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