New York

Insurance Coverage Opinion from Appellate Division, Third Department Raises Eyebrows

By Matthew Lerner

Back in 2005, the Appellate Division, Third Department in Elacqua v. Physicians' Reciprocal Insurers held that an insurer has a duty to inform its insured that he or she has the right to independent counsel paid for by the insurer where a matter concerns some covered causes of action and some that are not.  The Third Department recently had a chance to address a slightly different issue in Elacqua II.  The Third Department in Elacqua II held that the insurer's failure to inform the insureds that they had a right to select independent counsel of their choosing at defendant's expense pursuant to a company policy not to inform their insureds of that right constituted a deceptive practice under General Business Law sec. 349.

Full post as published by New York Civil Law on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).