Question of Fact Raised About Whether Any Delay In Insured’s Notifying the Insurer of the Accident Was Attributable to the Insured’s “Good-Faith Belief of Non-Liability”

The Second Department determined a question of fact had been raised about whether any delay in notifying the insurer of the accident was the result of a good-faith belief of non-liability:

“A provision that notice be given as soon as practicable' after an accident or occurrence, merely requires that notice be given within a reasonable time under all the circumstances” … . An insured's failure to provide the insurer notice within a reasonable period of time constitutes “a failure to comply with a condition precedent which, as a matter of law, vitiates the contract” … .

However, there may be circumstances that will explain or excuse a delay in giving notice and show it to be reasonable, such as an insured's “good-faith belief of nonliability” … . The insured's belief of nonliability “must be reasonable under all the circumstances, and it may be relevant on the issue of reasonableness, whether and to what extent, the insured has inquired into the circumstances of the accident or occurrence” … . “Ordinarily, the question of whether the insured had a good-faith belief in nonliability, and whether that belief was reasonable, presents an issue of fact and not one of law” … . “It is only when the facts are undisputed and not subject to conflicting inferences that the issue can be decided as a matter of law” … . Integrated Constr Servs Inc v Scottsdale Ins Co, 2014 NY Slip Op 08606, 2nd Dept 12-10-14