INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Singh, in a matter of first impression, determined that the insurer of a New York State driver (Country-Wide) did not have sufficient contacts with North Carolina, where a U-Haul vehicle driven by the New York driver rear-ended the injured parties, to provide New York with jurisdiction. The insurer of the U-Haul vehicle (Repwest) sought to recover, in New York, the amount of the settlement after Country-Wide failed to appear in North Carolina:
On this appeal we are asked to consider an issue that we have never directly addressed: whether an automobile liability policy's territory of coverage clause that covers any accident within the United States and the occurrence of the accident in the forum state are sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction over the primary insurer of the offending vehicle. We find that the connection is not sufficient to comport with federal due process, and that this renders the foreign judgment unenforceable. * * *
We find that minimum contacts has not been established on this record. Countrywide did not purposefully avail itself of conducting activities within North Carolina. It is undisputed that Countrywide has never been licensed or authorized to do business in any capacity in North Carolina. At all times relevant to this suit, Countrywide has only been licensed to issue insurance policies within New York State. Countrywide has never maintained an office or employees in North Carolina. It is a company incorporated under the laws of Delaware, with its principal place of business in New York. Countrywide has never conducted or solicited business in or from North Carolina. There is a qualitative distinction between contracting to cover an insured under a territory of coverage clause and the insurer of the policy being amenable to being haled into court anywhere in the United States in a dispute with another insurer. Countrywide cannot reasonably foresee being haled into court in a state where it did not purposefully direct its activities … . Repwest Ins. Co. v Country-Wide Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 06505, First Dept 10-2-18
INSURANCE LAW (INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (INSURANCE LAW, LONG-ARM JURISDICTION, INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT))/LONG-ARM JURISDICTION (INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT))/CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (CIVIL PROCEDURE, LONG-ARM JURISDICTION, INSURANCE LAW, (INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT))/TERRITORY OF COVERAGE CLAUSE (INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT))/TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (INSURER OF NEW YORK DRIVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WHILE DRIVING A U-HAUL VEHICLE IN NORTH CAROLINA DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CONTACTS WITH NORTH CAROLINA TO WARRANT THE IMPOSITION OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION IN A NORTH CAROLINA ACTION, THE NEW YORK ACTION SEEKING DOMESTICATION OF A NORTH CAROLINA DEFAULT JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT))