PETITION SEEKING A STAY OF ARBITRATION AND A FRAMED-ISSUE HEARING ON WHETHER THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT WAS STAGED SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined that the petition to temporarily stay arbitration of the claim for uninsured motorist benefits pending a framed-issue hearing addressing whether the collision was an accident or intentional should have been granted. The insurer, Global, presented evidence the traffic accident involving an uninsured vehicle was staged. The injured passenger, Eveillard, submitted sufficient evidence to rebut the insurer’s position:
As the party seeking a stay of arbitration based upon a lack of coverage, Global bore the initial burden of “showing the existence of sufficient evidentiary facts to establish a preliminary issue which would justify the stay” … . Here, contrary to the Supreme Court’s determination … , Global set forth evidentiary facts and submitted documentary evidence sufficient to establish a preliminary issue as to whether the collision giving rise to the claim for uninsured motorist benefits was an accident or an intentional act orchestrated, in part, by Eveillard … . Since Eveillard submitted evidence sufficient to rebut Global’s evidentiary showing, a temporary stay of arbitration pending a framed-issue hearing is warranted … .
… Supreme Court should have granted that branch of the petition which was to temporarily stay arbitration of the claim for uninsured motorist benefits pending a framed-issue hearing as to whether the collision was the result of a covered accident or an intentional act, and we remit the matter to the Supreme Court … for a hearing on the issue of insurance coverage and a new determination thereafter on that branch of the petition which was to permanently stay arbitration. Matter of Global Liberty Ins. Co. v Eveillard, 2019 NY Slip Op 02521, Second Dept 4-3-19