(Download) "Worcester Insurance Co. v. Bettenhauser" by Court of Appeals of New York # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Worcester Insurance Co. v. Bettenhauser
- Author : Court of Appeals of New York
- Release Date : January 20, 2000
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 62 KB
Description
While driving his own automobile on November 22, 1995, appellant Thomas Bettenhauser was seriously injured in a two-car accident. The other driver's insurance policy had a $10,000 limit, and Bettenhauser's policy did not include underinsurance coverage. Accordingly, on February 1, 1996, Bettenhauser, who lived with his parents at the time of the accident, filed an underinsurance claim pursuant to their policy with respondent Worcester Insurance Company. Over the next several months, Bettenhauser responded to Worcester's demands for discovery and for a medical examination. In December 1996, with Worcester's consent, Bettenhauser settled his negligence action against the other driver for the policy limit of $10,000. After settlement negotiations on the underinsurance claim stalled, Bettenhauser served Worcester with a demand for arbitration, and the arbitration was set down for March 24, 1997. Worcester then commenced this special proceeding to permanently stay arbitration, urging for the first time that ""no coverage exists in respect to Thomas Bettenhauser's claim for underinsured motorist benefits in that [he] was operating his own vehicle at the time of the accident and was not operating a vehicle owned by the policyholder."" Supreme Court granted the stay, concluding that the policy did not provide coverage ""for family members driving an automobile not covered by [the] policy."" A divided Appellate Division affirmed. Because Worcester failed to timely deny coverage, we now reverse.