After nine successful years, Bowitch & Coffey is closing its doors. Starting August 1, 2021, Gary Bowitch and Dan Coffey will be practicing law in their own law firms and will continue to provide clients with the same high quality legal services in their areas of expertise. Their new contact information is:
Gary S. Bowitch
Attorney at Law
13 Willow Street
Castleton, NY 12033
Phone: 518-527-2232
Email: gbowitch@bowitchlaw.com
Bowitch Law New Website
Daniel Coffey
Coffey Law PLLC
17 Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 518-813-9500
Email: Dan@coffeylawny.com
Coffey Law New Website
Court Denies Insureds’ Attempt to “Piggyback” Claims Onto Carrier’s Subrogation Action
Mr. and Mrs. Erlich purchased a water cooler from Greenway in April 2008 and installed it in the basement of their Brooklyn residence. A few days later, the water cooler malfunctioned and caused a fire, which damaged their home and contents. Their carrier, NHIC, paid $124,123.81, to or on behalf of the Erliches as the actual cash value (“ACV”) of their damages and the Erliches suffered a $1,000 deductible. NHIC held back $11,167.20 in replacement cost, which was available if the Erliches timely rebuilt and/or replaced contents.
Governor Signs Law Affecting Health Care Subrogation
In 2009, New York passed a law whose intent was to eliminate the right of health care insurers to subrogate and assert a lien or otherwise encumber a personal injury or wrongful death action. The law did not affect the ability of property insurance carriers to subrogate. In the opinion of the New York Assembly, health insurers were “imperiling and preventing” the settlement of lawsuits by accident victims and others, which in turn “caus[ed] undue burdens and pressures upon the court system.” Consequently, this 2009 legislation added provisions to New York’s General Obligations Law [1] to “protect parties to a personal injury or wrongful death settlement from lien, reimbursement and subrogation claims.” The law contained an exception for “payments as to which there is a statutory right of reimbursement.” Thus, for example, workers compensation carriers could still assert liens on tort actions notwithstanding the 2009 law, because the NY workers compensation law contains a statutory right of reimbursement.
Statute of Limitations and the “Relation Back” Doctrine
Last month’s newsletter discussed a recent case out of Westchester Supreme Court involving a puff back that occurred at the home of Victoria Subin. Ms. Subin thought she had retained Castle Oil to perform service work on her oil boiler and burner prior to the loss; but in fact, Castle Oil had made arrangements to have a separate company, “Dynamic Plumbing and Heating Incorporated” (“Dynamic”) to actually do the work. Dynamic was instructed to use an unmarked vehicle when performing its service work (presumably, so as to keep Dynamic’s name a secret to the customer).
More Articles...
- Recovering from the General Contractor for Negligence of a Subcontractor
- Insured Not Entitled to Sue for “Loss of Resale Value” of Repaired Auto
- Court Rules on Venue in a Subrogation Action
- NYS Legislature Passes Legislation Limiting Health Insurer Subrogation
- Carrier Permitted to Consolidate its APIP Subrogation Action With its Insured's Personal Injury Action
