New York, NY (July 23, 2008) – Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C., a national law firm that regularly represents policyholders in insurance coverage disputes congratulates New York Governor David A. Paterson and the New York State legislature on their decision to correct an aberrant aspect of New York’s insurance law.

The New York State legislature and Governor Paterson today enacted an important insurance bill, which corrects a longstanding injustice for policyholders under New York law.  This legislation makes it much harder for insurance companies to deny coverage on grounds that a policyholder failed to provide timely notice of a claim. For years, New York law stood nearly alone among its sister states regarding its approach to late notice law.  Under this system, insurance companies often argued that a policyholder’s failure to comply with what often amounts to a technicality by providing delayed notice – even by a short period of time – operated as a complete bar to coverage.  Insurance companies often denied coverage without demonstrating that they were prejudiced by the policyholder’s delay in notice.  The new law establishes a “material prejudice” rule in connection with delayed or “late” notice under all liability insurance policies other than “claims-made” policies.  Under the new law, an insurance company cannot effectively deny coverage based on delayed notice unless the delay has caused material prejudiced to the insurance company.  By ratifying the present legislation, Governor Paterson and the legislature have taken a substantial step toward abolishing New York’s past draconian approach to late notice  This legislation helps restore faith in the intentions of parties purchasing insurance policies.William Passannante, Co-Chair of Anderson Kill’s insurance coverage group, stated:  “The legislature and the Governor have recognized that New York’s treatment of late notice was unfair to policyholders, and they have acted to uphold insurance coverage.  While far from perfect, this legislation represents a substantial improvement for policyholders under New York’s late notice law and is a long overdue step in the right direction for New York’s insurance law in general.”Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C practices law in the areas of Insurance Recovery, Commercial Litigation, Corporate & Securities, Employment & Labor Law, Real Estate, Tax, Trusts & Estates, and Bankruptcy.  The firm's senior attorneys maintain national and international practices from offices in New York City, Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, PA and Washington, D.C. For more information, please contact:William G. Passannante(212) 278-1328wpassannante@andersonkill.comMarshall Gilinsky(212) 278-1513mgilinsky@andersonkill.com