Summary
In Matter of Panton v Allstate Ins. Co. (173 A.D.2d 831) the insured sought no-fault benefits for expenses incurred more than five years prior to the filing of the claim.
Summary of this case from Matter of Howard v. Cigna Insurance CompanyOpinion
May 31, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (I. Aronin, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
In reviewing an arbitrator's award, a court will not set it aside for errors of law or fact unless the award is so irrational as to require vacatur (see, Matter of Empire Mut. Ins. Co. v Jones, 151 A.D.2d 754). Short of complete irrationality, arbitrators may do justice and fashion the remedy to fit the facts before them, subject of course to the interdictions of public policy as set forth in the Constitution, statutes and decisional law (see, Board of Educ. v Yonkers Fedn. of Teachers, 46 N.Y.2d 727; Matter of Fallek v City School Dist., 145 A.D.2d 482). Since the arbitrators' refusals to grant the petitioner's claims for no-fault benefits arising from expenses incurred more than five years prior to the filing of the claims on the ground that the respondent would be unable to verify them cannot be considered to have been completely irrational or contrary to public policy, those determinations will not be disturbed. Brown, J.P., Sullivan, Lawrence and Ritter, JJ., concur.