From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Paramount Communications, Inc. v. Gibraltar Casualty Co.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
May 31, 1994
204 A.D.2d 241 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)

Opinion

May 31, 1994

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Fingerhood, J.).


The IAS Court erred in denying Paramount's motion for summary judgment against Gibraltar. Paramount provided Gibraltar with timely notice of its 1984 claim in accordance with the express terms of its policy. Pursuant to the terms of the policy, Paramount was obligated to give notice to excess insurer Gibraltar as soon as practicable, but only after Paramount's Director of Risk Management reasonably concluded that damages would be large enough to reach the 1984 Gibraltar policies in the excess layers. It was not until April, 1987 when owners of the Nine Mile Point II Nuclear Power Plant and the Beaver Valley Unit No. 2 notified Paramount that the potential liability for the defective valves would reach tens of millions of dollars that Paramount's Director of Risk Management was able to certify to Gibraltar and its other excess insurers that coverage under their policies would be triggered. Therefore, Paramount's notice to Gibraltar dated April 20, 1987 was timely, and summary judgment should have been granted to Paramount.

We have examined the remainder of the issues raised on the appeals and cross-appeal and find them to be without merit.

Concur — Carro, Asch, Nardelli and Williams, JJ.

Murphy, P.J., dissents as to the order and judgment and would affirm for the reasons stated by Fingerhood, J.


Summaries of

Paramount Communications, Inc. v. Gibraltar Casualty Co.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
May 31, 1994
204 A.D.2d 241 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
Case details for

Paramount Communications, Inc. v. Gibraltar Casualty Co.

Case Details

Full title:PARAMOUNT COMMUNICATIONS, INC., Appellant-Respondent, v. GIBRALTAR…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: May 31, 1994

Citations

204 A.D.2d 241 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
612 N.Y.S.2d 156

Citing Cases

Park Cont. Corp. v. Union Fire

The burden is on the insured to show the reasonableness of its belief, and whether that belief is reasonable…

Owens-Corning Fiberglas v. Am. Centennial

Some jurisdictions have found that notice was timely even when the insured waited until it could certify that…