CGL and Garage Insurers Found to Owe Policy Limit Coinsurance to Employers' Liability Insurer

CGL – GARAGE POLICY – EMPLOYER'S LIABILITY POLICY – COINSURANCE CONTRIBUTION – UNTIMELY DISCLAIMER
State Ins. Fund v. American Hardware Mut. Ins. Co.
(2nd Dept., decided 7/7/2009)

Question:  In New York, when does a CGL or a garage policy apply to cover a garage employee's injuries sustained during employment?  Answer:  When  the insurers wait more than four months to disclaim coverage based on those policies' employee injury exclusions, that's when. 

The parties in this coinsurance contribution action insured World of Hitches N Rentals in North Bellmore, New York -- the State Fund (SIF) under a WC/EL policy; and American Hardware under a $300K CGL policy and a $300K garage policy.  An employee of the insured was burned when a container he was filling with kerosene exploded.  He sued various defendants, three of which impleaded the insured, World of Hitches, in a third-party action.  Although both insurers initially assumed World of Hitches' defense, SIF took over that defense after American Hardware disclaimed coverage under both policies more than four months after receiving notice of the third-party action, based on the policies' employee injury exclusion.

Then underlying action eventually settled for $1,475,000, with SIF contributing $750,000 and agreeing to waive its $225,000 WC lien in the amount of $225,000. SIF then brought this action for a proportionate coinsurance contribution towards its defense and indemnification costs relative to the underlying action and successfully moved for summary judgment, the trial court awarding SIF $650,000 in principal, representing approximately two-thirds of its combined indemnity contribution of $975,000, and two-thirds of its defense costs in the underlying personal injury action.

On appeal, the Second Department agreed with the trial court's determinations that "[s]ince the disclaimer was based on policy exclusions, the defendants were required to provide World of Hitches with timely notice of its disclaimer under Insurance Law § 3420(d)", and American Hardware's disclaimer,  issued more than four months after receiving notification of the third-party action, was untimely as a matter of law.  The Second Department rejected the defendants' contention that SIF was obligated to demonstrate prejudice from their delay in disclaiming.

The Second Department also rejected the defendants' argument that that even if the disclaimer was untimely, no coverage was provided under the garage policy because the employee was not injured while engaged in garage operations:

The record establishes that the employee's actions were taken in furtherance of the garage business (compare Lancer Ins. Co. v Whitfield,AD3d, 2009 NY Slip Op 02975 [2d Dept 2009]; Singh v Allcity Ins. Co., 1 AD3d 501; Minerva v Merchants Mut. Ins. Co., 117 AD2d 720).

The Second Department did, however, MODIFY the trial court's ruling to reduce the indemnification coinsurance award from $650,000 down to $300,000, holding:

Although the defendants were obligated to defend and indemnify World of Hitches in the underlying action (see Moore v Ewing, 9 AD3d 484), and thus must pay their proportionate share of the settlement (see Hawthorne v. South Bronx Community Corp., 78 NY2d 433) and defense costs incurred in the underlying action, their contribution may not exceed the limits of the policies. Here, both policy limits were $300,000 per accident. Moreover, the garage policy provided that all of the defendants' policies were mutually exclusive in that if more than one policy applied to the same accident, the maximum limit of liability under all the policies would not exceed the highest applicable limit under one policy. Thus, the maximum amount the defendants were required to contribute to the settlement was $300,000, and the judgment must be modified accordingly. 

This aspect of the Second Department's decision is noteworthy in standing for two propositions:  that an untimely disclaimer under Insurance Law § 3420(d) does not: (1) increase the disclaiming insurer's coinsurance obligation above policy limits; or (2) preclude the disclaiming insurer from later relying on policy conditions that limit such coinsurance contributions.