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The appellant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Jacques Laguerre et al. Are listed as defendants and Petter A. Gozzi is named as a respondent.
Results
The initial order from the original suit was reversed as was appealed for in regards to the portion of the original complaint. The plaintiff looked for summary judgment that would remove any obligation to defend and provide liability coverage to Jacques Laguerre. This defense was to have been in regards to a car crash that occurred on February 11, 1999. Petter A. Gozzi also filed a cross-motion that would force the plaintiff to defend and indemnify Laguerre in the action regarding the crash. This case, Index Number 111255/01 was pending in New York County. However, a New York Injury Lawyer said the motion to force State Farm to defend and indemnify Jacques Laguerre was subsequently denied.
Insurance Law
Jacques Laguerre was initially issues insurance policies on automobiles which were provided by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Weeks after those policies were issued; three collisions took place involving the insured vehicles. One car accidentinvolved Laguerre’s car hitting the vehicle driven by Peter A. Gozzi. This took place on the 11th of February, 1999. Gozzi began an action that sought damages for personal injuries against the driver in the car which hit him. An investigation was conducted that examined the circumstances of the collision; however, the findings indicated that the accidents were caused on purpose. Allegedly, this was done to collect insurance benefit money.
After this discovery, State Farm began an action seeking a ruling that would eliminate any onus on its behalf to provide liability coverage for collisions involving the Laguerre owned vehicles. The Supreme Court felt that two collisions were clearly intentional, and ruled that State Farm did not have to provide coverage in those instances. However, a Queens Personal Injury Lawyer said the February 11th crash presented with facts that were deemed triable.
Gozzi had also made a motion that requested that State Farm be required to defend and indemnify Laguerre in the action in regards to the February 11th accident, which was granted.
Insurance Law
According to Insurance Law, accidents that are arranged in order to commit fraud are not covered by automobile insurance policies. State Farm was able to prove that the accident in question was caused deliberately in order to commit fraud for the purposes of collecting insurance payouts. Gozzi was not able to present any issue which was triable in order to oppose the motion put forward by State Farm. A Staten Island Personal Injury Lawyer said the distinction is that there is no exclusion provision in the policy which prevents coverage in this type of incident. Instead, the incident is not covered at all due to its intentional nature. This means that the Plaintiff, under Insurance Law 3420 (d) is not required to issue any type of disclaimer.
Stephen Bilkis & Associates specialize in helping clients in legal situations determine what types of legal action options they have available to them. Free telephone consultations are available to help lay out these options for you. Your specific circumstances are understood by our team of highly trained lawyers. They will work with you to ensure that the outcome you end up with is the best possible one. You can find our offices throughout greater metropolitan New York.