Opinion
October 6, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Lockman, J.).
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs the motion is denied, the cross motion is granted, the complaint is dismissed, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Nassau County, for the entry of a judgment declaring that the defendant is not obligated to reimburse the plaintiff under an automobile insurance policy issued to Dawn Brennan.
The Supreme Court should have granted the cross motion of the defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (hereinafter State Farm), for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. State Farm established that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law and the plaintiff, Reliance Insurance Company (hereinafter Reliance), failed to refute that showing ( see, Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557). Specifically, State Farm demonstrated that Reliance was a "mere volunteer or intermeddler" with no right to seek indemnification for a loss it was not obligated to pay in the first instance ( Koehler v. Hughes, 148 N.Y. 507, 511; see also, National Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Ranger Ins. Co., 190 A.D.2d 395). Accordingly, the complaint should have been dismissed.
The parties' remaining contentions either lack merit or need not be addressed in light of the foregoing determination.
Bracken, J.P., Copertino, Sullivan and McGinity, JJ., concur.