Opinion
January 5, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Jacqueline W. Silbermann, J.).
Absent a valid excuse, failure to satisfy an insurance policy notice requirement vitiates coverage (Matter of Allcity Ins. Co. [Jimenez], 78 N.Y.2d 1054, 1055-1056, affg 170 A.D.2d 238). Nevertheless, respondents argue, citing Matter of Merchants Mut. Ins. Co. (Anziano) ( 59 Misc.2d 673), their sworn statement should be deemed timely even though not filed with petitioner within 90 days of the accident, as required by the endorsement, since petitioner had earlier and timely notice of the accident as a result of receiving medical reports and a motor vehicle accident report in connection with respondents' claim for no-fault benefits. As the IAS Court pointed out, this argument overlooks that in Merchants Mut. (supra, at 676), the endorsement provided that a claim had to be filed "`[w]ithin 90 days or as soon as practicable'", whereas here the 90 day notice requirement is unqualified. Accordingly, arbitration was properly stayed.
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Carro, Wallach, Asch and Rubin, JJ.