Lead Practice Area: Insurance Litigation
Summary: Our client, a major automobile insurance company, denied claims for medical services submitted by the plaintiff in connection with treatment rendered to its assignor. The medical provider sued to recover first party no-fault benefits in the Bronx Civil Court. In an effort to maximize efficiency, ICRH made creative use of CPLR 3211(a)(7), used in conjunction with subsection (a)(1), to have the matter dismissed without requiring an answer to the complaint or a discovery phase. We were able to successfully counter common arguments made by plaintiffs in these cases. Most notably, that the recent opinion letter issued by the NYS Department of Insurance, eliminating an insurer's ability to designate a specific individual from a medical provider to submit to an examination under oath, did not render our clients' scheduling letters defective. The court agreed that dismissal of the action was warranted.
The interpretation of this June 24, 2009, Opinion Letter could have posed serious consequences to examination under oath scheduling letters issued by insurance companies in the preceding years. Our motion successfully generated favorable case law that will protect our client and other insurance companies in future litigation.