A post over at Roy Mura’s CoverageCounsel put me to thinking: Is there a set of circumstance that would allow a plaintiff to request, and be entitled to receive, an insurance company’s “Claim Procedure Guide”? In State Farm Ins. Co. v Aracena-Almonte, 2008 NY Slip Op 04861 (App. Div., 2d), the Appellate Division, Second Department, held:
In this action for a declaratory judgment, the plaintiff alleged that an automobile collision was intentional and not an accident. The defendant Laneide Montero (hereinafter the defendant) failed to establish the relevancy of the plaintiff’s “Claims Procedure Guide” to the issues to be decided in this action.
The Court eventually found that because the defendant was not entitled to it, its motion to dismiss should have been denied.
Now, what if a plaintiff in a no-fault case maintained a bad faith cause of action?1 Is that enough to establish the relevancy of a “Claims Procedure Guide”? Would that plaintiff be entitled to anything else?
Could this case have any impact on discovery in no fault cases? Will relevancy take on new importance?
It just might:
In this action for a declaratory judgment, the plaintiff alleged that an automobile collision was intentional and not an accident. The defendant Laneide Montero (hereinafter the defendant) failed to establish the relevancy of the plaintiff’s “Claims Procedure Guide” to the issues to be decided in this action. (emphasis mine)
It could very well be the case that this case both expands and restricts the scope of discovery in no-fault actions.
1 See, Bi-Economy Mkt., Inc. v Harleysville Ins. Co. of N.Y., 2008 NY Slip Op 01418 (Court of Appeals); Hoffman v Unionmutual Stock Life Ins. Co. of N.Y., 2008 NY Slip Op 04318 (App. Div., 2d)