Consequence of Rate Evasion on a No-Fault Claim

Over at our sister blog, Arbiters of NY No-Fault, my associate Bethany Mazur reports on a recent arbitration decision we obtained for an insurer client in which Arbitrator Veronica O’Connor ruled that the assignor's proven participation in rate evasion disqualified the assignee from recovery of no-fault benefits, and that the rate evasion/application misrepresentation or fraud defense was not subject to the 30-day preclusion rule, citing A.B. Medical Services, PLLC a/a/o Yevgenya Ioffe v. Commercial Mut. Ins. Co., 12 Misc.3d 8 (App. Term, 2nd Dept., 2006), in which the Appellate Term stated:

Contrary to plaintiffs' contention, the defense of fraudulent procurement of an insurance policy, which is nonwaivable and hence exempt from the 30-day preclusion rule, may be asserted as against plaintiffs providers in this action seeking to recover assigned no-fault benefits (cf. Matter of Metro Med. Diagnostics v Eagle Ins. Co., 293 AD2d 751, 751-752 [2002]). 

You can read Bethany's post about the arbitration decision here.