Case Name: Strauss Painting, Inc., Appellant-Respondent, v. Mt. Hawley Insurance Company, Respondent-Appellant, and Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc., Respondent
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2014-11-24
Citations: 24 N.Y.3d 578
Docket Number: 
Parties: Strauss Painting, Inc., Appellant-Respondent, v Mt. Hawley Insurance Company, Respondent-Appellant, and Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc., Respondent.
Judges: Judges Graffeo, Smith, Pigott, Rivera and Abdus-Salaam concur; Judge Read dissents in part in an opinion in which Chief Judge Lippman concurs.
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 24
Pages: 578–602

Head Matter:
[26 NE3d 218, 2 NYS3d 390]
Strauss Painting, Inc., Appellant-Respondent, v Mt. Hawley Insurance Company, Respondent-Appellant, and Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc., Respondent.
Argued October 22, 2014;
decided November 24, 2014
POINTS OF COUNSEL
Richard Janowitz, Mineóla, for appellant-respondent.
The courts below erred in deciding that, as a matter of law, Strauss Painting, Inc.’s notice to Mt. Hawley Insurance Company was not given as soon as was practicable under the circumstances, and/or that the untimeliness of Strauss’s notice was not reasonably excused under the facts and circumstances of this case, rather than allowing the issue to be decided by a jury. (Mighty Midgets v Centennial Ins. Co., 47 NY2d 12; Battle v State of New York, 257 AD2d 745; Gerdes v Canales, 74 AD3d 1017; Accetta v Simmons, 108 AD3d 1096; Yu v Vantage Mgt. Servs., LLC, 85 AD3d 564; Siwek v Phillips, 71 AD3d 469; Rodriguez v Dixie N.Y.C., Inc., 26 AD3d 199; Seccombe v Serafina Rest. Corp., 2 AD3d 516; Abetta Boiler & Welding Serv., Inc. v American Intl. Specialty Lines Ins. Co., 76 AD3d 412; Matter of Cohalan, 71 Misc 2d 196.)
Crowell & Moring LLP, New York City (Clifton S. Elgarten, Stuart C. Levene and Jared A. Levine of counsel), for respondent-appellant.
I. The lower courts failed to apply the plain language of the construction contract and Mt. Hawley Insurance Company’s comprehensive general liability policy. (Jacobson v Sassower, 66 NY2d 991; Revson v Cinque & Cinque, P.C., 221 F3d 59; Vermont Teddy Bear Co. v 538 Madison Realty Co., 1 NY3d 470; NML Capital v Republic of Argentina, 17 NY3d 250; Greenfield v Philles Records, 98 NY2d 562; Matter of Salvano v Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, 85 NY2d 173; Hooper Assoc. v AGS Computers, 74 NY2d 487.) II. Mt. Hawley Insurance Company properly denied coverage to the Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc. based on late notice. (Webster ex rel. Webster v Mount Vernon Fire Ins. Co., 368 F3d 209; Roofing Consultants v Scottsdale Ins. Co., 273 AD2d 933; Dryden Mut. Ins. Co. v Brockman, 259 AD2d 947; City of New York v St. Paul Fire & Mar. Ins. Co., 21 AD3d 978; Tower Ins. Co. of N.Y. v Rong Rong Sun, 105 AD3d 561; Excelsior Ins. Co. v Antretter Contr. Corp., 262 AD2d 124; Zappone v Home Ins. Co., 55 NY2d 131; Commercial Union Ins. Co. v International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 822 F2d 267; QBE Ins. Corp. v Jinx-Proof Inc., 102 AD3d 508; Estee Lauder Inc. v OneBeacon Ins. Group, LLC, 62 AD3d 33.) III. The lower courts correctly determined that Strauss Painting, Inc.’s notice was inexcusably late. (Security Mut. Ins. Co. of N.Y. v Acker-Fitzsimons Corp., 31 NY2d 436; Gershow Recycling Corp. v Transcontinental Ins. Co., 22 AD3d 460; Blue Ridge Ins. Co. v Biegelman, 36 AD3d 736; Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v Baseball Off. of Commr., 236 AD2d 334; Paul Developers, LLC v Maryland Cas. Ins. Co., 28 AD3d 443; 319 McKibben St. Corp. v General Star Natl. Ins. Co., 245 AD2d 26; Mighty Midgets v Centennial Ins. Co., 47 NY2d 12; U.S. Underwriters Ins. Co. v Manhattan Demolition Co., 250 AD2d 600; Nowicki v Insuramerica, 103 AD2d 1013.)
Ahmuty, Demers & McManus, Albertson (William J. Mitchell of counsel), for respondent.
I. Mt. Hawley Insurance Company did not disclaim coverage for late notice. (Chelsea Vil. Assoc. v U.S. Underwriters Ins. Co., 82 AD3d 617; United States Underwriters Ins. Co. v City Club Hotel, LLC, 369 F3d 102; J.T. Magen v Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 64 AD3d 266; Admiral Ins. Co. v State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 86 AD3d 486; Industry City Mgt. v Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co., 64 AD3d 433; Presbyterian Hosp. in City of N.Y. v Maryland Cas. Co., 90 NY2d 274; Matter of Allcity Ins. Co. [Jimenez], 78 NY2d 1054; Greater N.Y. Mut. Ins. Co. v Chubb Indem. Ins. Co., 105 AD3d 523; Sierra v 4401 Sunset Park, LLC, 101 AD3d 983; Hartford Ins. Co. v County of Nassau, 46 NY2d 1028.) II. The Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc. is an additional insured on Strauss Painting, Inc.’s liability policy. (Long Is. Light. Co. v Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., 76 Misc 2d 832; Rentways, Inc. v O’Neill Milk & Cream Co., 308 NY 342; Pecker Iron Works of N.Y. v Traveler’s Ins. Co., 290 AD2d 426, 99 NY2d 391; Mallad Constr. Corp. v County Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn., 32 NY2d 285; Santamaria v 1125 Park Ave. Corp., 238 AD2d 259; Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557; Brown Bros. Elec. Contrs. v Beam Constr. Corp., 41 NY2d 397; Technicon Elecs. Corp. v American Home Assur. Co., 74 NY2d 66; Sincoff v Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 11 NY2d 386; National Screen Serv. Corp. v United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 364 F2d 275.)

Opinion:
OPINION OF THE COURT
Per Curiam.
By agreement dated September 3, 2008, Strauss Painting, Inc. (Strauss)/Creative Finishes, Ltd. (Creative) contracted with the Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc. (the Met) to perform work on the Met's premises; specifically, to strip and repaint the rooftop steel carriage track for the opera house's automated window-washing equipment (hereafter, generally referred to as the contract). The contract was a tailored version of the American Institute of Architects' "Abbreviated Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor For CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF LIMITED SCOPE where the Basis of Payment is a STIPULATED SUM" (AIA Document A107 [1978 ed]), with the parties' attached exhibits A through D made a part thereof. The first page of the contract designates the Met as "the Owner" and Strauss/Creative as "the Contractor."
I
Indemnification and Insurance Requirements
The contract mandates that Strauss/Creative indemnify and hold the Met harmless, "[t]o the fullest extent permitted by law," from and against all claims and damages attributable to bodily injuries "arising out of or resulting from" work performed by Strauss/Creative or any of its subcontractors "caused in whole or in part by [their] negligent act or omission," and "regardless of whether or not. . . caused in part by [the Met]." The contract's provisions addressing insurance obligate Strauss/ Creative to purchase and maintain contractors liability insurance to protect the Met from claims under workers' compensation and other employee benefit acts, and "claims for damages because of bodily injury . . . which may arise out of or result from [Strauss/Creative's] operations" under the contract, whether undertaken by Strauss/Creative, any of its subcontractors or "anyone directly or indirectly employed by any of them." Additionally, the insurance "shall include contractual liability insurance" applicable to Strauss/Creative's contractual duty to indemnify and hold the Met harmless; and "[certificates of such insurance shall be filed with [the Met] prior to the commencement of' the construction project.
Importantly, exhibit D, entitled "INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS," fleshes out Strauss/Creative's insurance obligations. This contract document requires Strauss/Creative to procure three types of insurance: (1) workers' compensation insurance (para [a]); (2) owners and contractors protective liability (OCP) insurance with a combined single limit of $5 million (para [b]); and (3) comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance, with combined coverage for property and bodily injury with a minimum single limit of $5 million, which might be met by umbrella coverage (para [c]). As relevant to this appeal, paragraph (b) of exhibit D, after identifying OCP coverage as an insurance requirement, specifies that " [Liability should add [the Met] as an additional insured and should include contractual liability and completed operations coverage"; paragraph (e) directs Strauss/Creative to "furnish [the Met] [with] an Original Owners and Contractors policy," and also to "provide certificates of insurance for the [Workers'] Compensation, the [CGL] and the 'Umbrella' Policy, prior to the commencement of the contract."
The contract was signed on behalf of the Met as "OWNER" by the opera house's manager, and on behalf of Strauss as "CONTRACTOR" by Ralph Drewes (Drewes) as "VP" Strauss and Creative, although separately owned, shared the same ad dress and some of the same employees. At his deposition, Drewes testified that he ran the day-to-day operations of both companies, and reported to both Victor Strauss, the owner and president of Strauss, and Hillary J. Klein, the owner and president of Creative. Strauss did not have an agreement with District Council 9, the painters' union, while Creative did, and the contract between Strauss/Creative and the Met required the construction project to be carried out by "fully insured union painters." For this reason, Strauss subcontracted the labor to Creative by agreement dated September 3, 2008, consisting of an unaltered standard form contract with an agreed-upon rider and attachments, and the underlying construction contract between Strauss/Creative and the Met (hereafter, the subcontract).
The subcontract designates Strauss as "the Contractor" and Creative as "the Subcontractor," and generally requires Creative to undertake the construction project in accordance with the terms of the contract, and to provide specified insurance and indemnify and hold harmless the Met and/or Strauss. The subcontract makes Creative solely responsible for work site safety. Victor Strauss signed the subcontract on behalf of Strauss; Drewes testified that he "believe[d] that [he] signed it on behalf of Creative."
Creative began work on the construction project on September 4, 2008. At some point, the Met was supplied with a certificate of insurance for a CGL policy issued by Nova to Creative, stating that the Met and Strauss were additional insureds under the policy. The Met was never furnished an original OCP policy covering the construction project, and, as it turned out, neither Strauss nor Creative actually purchased an OCP policy to protect the Met.
Strauss's CGL Policy with Mt. Hawley
At the time Strauss/Creative contracted with the Met, Strauss had in place a CGL policy issued by Mt. Hawley Insurance Company (Mt. Hawley) for the policy period of November 7, 2007 to November 7, 2008. The policy included ISO (Insurance Services Office, Inc.) form endorsement CG 20 33 07 04 ("ADDITIONAL INSURED — OWNERS, LESSEES OR CONTRACTORS — AUTOMATIC STATUS WHEN REQUIRED IN CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT WITH YOU"), which specifies as follows:
"WHO IS AN INSURED is amended to include as an additional insured any person or organization for whom [Strauss is] performing operations when [Strauss] and such person or organization have agreed in writing in a contract or agreement that such person or organization be added as an additional insured on [Strauss's] policy" (emphasis added).
Under the policy, "such person or organization" would be an additional insured with respect to liability for bodily injury so long as the injury was caused, at least in part, by Strauss's acts or omissions or "[t]he acts or omissions of those acting on [Strauss's] behalf."
Regarding notice, the policy specifies that bodily injury "will be deemed to have been known to have occurred at the earliest time when any insured listed under . . . WHO IS AN INSURED or any employee authorized by [an insured] to give or receive notice of an occurrence or claim . . . [b]ecomes aware . . . that bodily injury . . . has occurred or has begun to occur" (internal quotation marks omitted). Further, the insured "must see to it that [Mt. Hawley is] notified as soon as practicable of an occurrence or an offense which may result in a claim" (internal quotation marks omitted).
The Accident, the Personal Injury Lawsuit and Notice to the Insurers
On September 16, 2008, Manuel Mayo (Mayo), a Creative employee, was injured when he fell from a fixed ladder located on the sixth floor of the opera house. This 15-foot ladder led to a hatch door in the ceiling, which provided access to the rooftop and thus the steel carriage track. Mayo was trying to close the hatch door at the end of his shift when he lost his footing. Drewes first learned of Mayo's accident when the receptionist/ office manager at Creative's office fielded a telephone call late in the workday on September 16th from someone at the opera house. The caller (not identified in the record) reported that Mayo had been injured and was being transported to the hospital by ambulance. Drewes happened to be in the office at the time the call was received.
The next day Drewes called his "primary contact" at I. Dachs & Sons, Inc. (Dachs), the insurance broker for both Creative and Strauss, to discuss upcoming liability insurance renewals. During this conversation, Drewes brought up Mayo's accident, and was "[led] to believe by [the broker] that there was no reason to notify the carrier, general liability carrier, because it was a workers' compensation claim."
Creative timely filed an "EMPLOYER'S REPORT OF WORK-RELATED ACCIDENT/OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE" (Form C-2) to notify the Workers' Compensation Board and Creative's compensation carrier about Mayo's accident. "A couple of days later" or perhaps "a week after" Mayo's accident while Drewes was at the opera house to check on how the construction project was coming along, he mentioned to the Met's house manager that "[t]here was an accident, the man was hurt and he [i.e., Drewes] expected him [i.e., Mayo, the injured worker] to come back to work, [and] at that point it was a worker's comp claim."
By complaint dated November 19, 2008, Mayo and his wife sued the Met and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. (Lincoln Center), asserting causes of action for negligence, violations of the Labor Law and loss of consortium in connection with Mayo's work-related injuries (hereafter, the Mayo lawsuit). Mayo alleged that the hatch door was broken and in disrepair, the ladder's rungs were worn and not skid-resistant, and there were no proper safety devices such as a cage, safety belt or safety line. The Met received the summons and complaint in the Mayo lawsuit from the Secretary of State on December 5, 2008.
That same day, the Met's in-house attorney wrote to Strauss and Creative, with a copy to Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers), the Met's primary liability carrier, forwarding the summons and complaint. The attorney advised Strauss that the Met expected to be indemnified and held harmless to the fullest extent permitted by law, as agreed to by Strauss in the contract. This December 5th letter also referred to the certificate of insurance provided the Met, which "evidenced] General Liability coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate from [Nova] and Excess/Umbrella Liability coverage issue[d] by RSUI Indemnity Co[.] in the amount of $5,000,000 per occurrence and in the aggregate." Asserting that the Met was an additional insured under these policies, the attorney asked Strauss to "immediately notify these carriers that the Met expect[ed] them to provide, without cost to the Met, a defense in this lawsuit as well as indemnification." On December 11, 2008, the Met received another copy of the summons and complaint by mail, this time from the Mayos' lawyer. The Met's in-house attorney again wrote Strauss and Creative, with a copy to Travelers, forwarding the summons and complaint and requesting that "the necessary actions" be taken.
On December 29, 2008, a representative of Travelers wrote to Strauss, Creative, Nova and Dachs. She stated that Travelers was the general liability insurer for the Met and Lincoln Center, and that Travelers had received a complaint alleging that Mayo had been injured while working for Creative at the opera house; she then recited Strauss's obligation under the contract to indemnify and hold the Met harmless from claims such as the Mayo lawsuit, and to "procure insurance naming [the Met] as an additional insured." The Travelers representative enclosed copies of the lawsuit, contract and certificate of insurance, and asked for written confirmation that "a defense and indemnification will be provided, and [for] the identity of counsel assigned to the defense." On January 12, 2009, Mt. Hawley's broker received notice of the Met's claim (including a copy of Travelers' December 29th letter) from Dachs. Mt. Hawley's broker then faxed the Met's claim to Mt. Hawley, which acknowledged receipt on January 14, 2009.
Mt. Hawley's Response to Strauss's and the Met's Tenders and the Met's Third-Party Action
On February 3, 2009, Mt. Hawley wrote to Strauss to deny coverage on the basis of late notice because Strauss "was aware of this occurrence on the date it occurred[,] which was September 16, 2008"; and to inform Strauss that Mt. Hawley was "reviewing the information as to whether [the Met] and/or [Lincoln Center] qualify as additional insureds under the terms of [the] policy." Finally, Mt. Hawley let Strauss know that it had tendered the defense of the Mayo lawsuit to Nova on its behalf; i.e., by letter dated February 2, 2009, with copies to Drewes and Dachs, Mt. Hawley asked Nova to defend and indemnify the Met and Lincoln Center in the Mayo lawsuit, and to defend and indemnify Strauss in any third-party action brought by the Met and Lincoln Center.
In a letter to Travelers, also dated February 3, 2009, Mt. Hawley first observed that the contract between the Met and Strauss/Creative nowhere stated that Lincoln Center was to be indemnified or made an additional insured under any policy issued to Strauss and/or Creative. Accordingly, Mt. Hawley denied Travelers' tender as to Lincoln Center. Mt. Hawley continued that it was "attempting to determine" whether the Met qualified as an additional insured under the terms of its CGL policy with Strauss.
Referring to the C-2, which showed that Mayo was employed by Creative, Mt. Hawley requested "copies of checks [that] [the Met] issued for payment of the work required in the contract," adding that "[i]t [was] questionable as to whether [Strauss] was actually involved in this work." Mt. Hawley noted that, in light of the additional insured endorsement in its CGL policy with Strauss, "we need to determine whether [Strauss] was actually involved in this work in order to determine whether [the Met] is added as an additional insured"; and that "[a]t this point in time, [Mt. Hawley] reserves the right to assert that [the Met] is not an additional insured under the Policy . . . issued to [Strauss] [;] [h]owever, we continue to ask for more information and it may take further discovery to determine our obligations." Summing up, Mt. Hawley told Travelers that
"[a]s we have denied coverage for contractual indemnification to [Strauss] and have reserved our rights as to whether [the Met] is an additional insured under the policy issued to [Strauss], we will not be taking over the defense and/or indemnification of [the Met] at this time. As stated above, we have denied coverage for contractual indemnification as to [Lincoln Center]."
On March 4, 2009, Mt. Hawley again wrote Travelers, this time stating that the information requested in the February 3rd letter (i.e., copies of checks issued by the Met to Strauss to pay for the construction project) had not been received, and that its "investigation [had] yielded information that [the Met] was aware of this loss on the date that it occurred . . . [since] [apparently . . . [the Met] contacted [Drewes] at [Strauss] to inform him of the accident." Mt. Hawley added that "[s]hould the information that we have been provided be correct, no coverage would apply to [the Met] in this lawsuit," and requested an affidavit as to when the Met "first became aware" of Mayo's accident. Mt. Hawley further declared that "[u]ntil such time as we can review the affidavit being provided, [Mt. Hawley] reserves the right to assert that no coverage would apply based on" the CGL policy's notice provision. Both the Met and Lincoln Center are shown as copied on this letter. That same day, March 4, 2009, Mt. Hawley wrote to Strauss's attorney, reiterating its denial of coverage to Strauss on the ground of late notice.
Meanwhile, on January 28, 2009, Nova responded to Travelers' December 29th letter by disclaiming coverage of the Met as an additional insured on Creative's CGL policy due to late notice (see Mayo v Metropolitan Opera Assn., Inc., 2011 NY Slip Op 32943[U], *12 [Sup Ct, NY County 2011]). The Met was not copied on this disclaimer letter sent to Travelers.
On February 6, 2009, the Met brought a third-party action in the Mayo lawsuit against Strauss, Creative and Nova. The Met alleged causes of action against Strauss and Creative for common-law and contractual indemnification, and for breach of contract for failure to purchase the OCP policy required by exhibit D of the contract, and alleged a cause of action against Nova for breach of contract for denying coverage.
Strauss's Lawsuit against Mt. Hawley and the Met and the Decisions Below
By complaint filed on March 16, 2009, Strauss commenced this action against Mt. Hawley and the Met, seeking a declaration that Mt. Hawley was obligated to defend and indemnify it in the Met's then just-filed third-party action. On June 16, 2010, 15 months later, the Met cross-claimed against Mt. Hawley, asking in its first cross claim for a declaration that it was an additional insured on Strauss's CGL policy, thereby requiring Mt. Hawley to defend and indemnify it in the Mayo litigation; on July 9, 2010, the Met moved for summary judgment on this cross claim. On July 14, 2010, Mt. Hawley moved to dismiss the Met's cross claims as untimely, and on July 30, 2010, Mt. Hawley cross-moved for summary judgment against the Met, seeking a declaration that it was not obligated to defend and indemnify the Met in the Mayo lawsuit. Then on July 26, 2010, Mt. Hawley moved for an order granting summary judgment to dismiss Strauss's complaint and to declare that it was not obligated to defend and indemnify Strauss in the Mayo lawsuit.
Supreme Court disposed of these motions and cross motion in a decision and order dated October 13, 2011 (2011 NY Slip Op 32706[U] [Sup Ct, NY County 2011]). Addressing the Met's motion and Mt. Hawley's cross motion, the Judge determined that the Met was an additional insured on Strauss's CGL policy, and that while the Met's three-month (counting from the date of the lawsuit) or four-month (counting from the date of the accident) delay in notifying Mt. Hawley was unreasonable as a matter of law, Mt. Hawley did not comply with its statutory duty under Insurance Law former § 3420 (d) to promptly disclaim coverage, as the letters from Mt. Hawley to Travelers and/or the Met only reserved Mt. Hawley's right to do so. Consequently, the Judge ruled that Mt. Hawley was precluded from disclaiming coverage to the Met. Relatedly, Supreme Court denied Mt. Haw ley's motion to dismiss the Met's cross claim due to untimeliness, chalking up any delay to Mt. Hawley's neglect to disclaim coverage promptly; and dismissed Strauss's complaint against Mt. Hawley on the basis of its late notice to Mt. Hawley of Mayo's accident.
In its decision and order dated April 11, 2013, the Appellate Division agreed with Supreme Court that Mt. Hawley was required to defend the Met in the Mayo lawsuit because the contract directed Strauss to purchase liability insurance naming the Met as an additional insured, and the CGL policy issued by Mt. Hawley to Strauss contained an additional insured endorsement (105 AD3d 512, 513 [1st Dept 2013]). The court also agreed with Supreme Court that Mt. Hawley had not timely disclaimed coverage; rather, its letters were only "intended to preserve its right to disclaim," and thus were "insufficient to actually disclaim coverage" (id.). Finally, the Appellate Division rejected Strauss's claim that its notice to Mt. Hawley was timely, opining that
"[Strauss's] notice of the accident to Mt. Hawley was untimely as a matter of law, and Mt. Hawley timely disclaimed coverage on that ground. [Strauss's] notice to its broker did not provide timely notice to Mt. Hawley. There is no indication that [Strauss's] broker acted as an agent for Mt. Hawley or that the CGL policy listed [Strauss's] broker as its agent" {id. at 514).
Strauss now appeals and Mt. Hawley cross-appeals pursuant to leave granted by the Appellate Division on August 20, 2013, asking us whether its order in this matter was properly made (2013 NY Slip Op 82536[U] [1st Dept 2013]).
II
In this long-running coverage dispute, Strauss's appeal calls upon us to decide whether Strauss timely notified Mt. Hawley of Mayo's accident. Mt. Hawley's cross appeal poses the threshold question of whether the Met is an additional insured on Strauss's CGL policy with Mt. Hawley; and then, if it is, whether Mt. Hawley promptly notified the Met that it was disclaiming coverage on account of untimely notice.
Strauss's Appeal
Strauss argues that the lower courts erred when they concluded that its notice to Mt. Hawley was untimely as a mat ter of law. Relying on Mighty Midgets v Centennial Ins. Co. (47 NY2d 12 [1979]), Strauss takes the position that whether it gave notice to Mt. Hawley "as soon as practicable" or, alternatively, whether its late notice was excusable are questions for the trier of fact and may not be decided as a matter of law. This is so, Strauss contends, because Drewes followed his usual and customary practice of promptly notifying Dachs, Strauss's broker, of Mayo's accident, with every reasonable expectation that Dachs, in turn, would timely notify the proper insurer.
We have long held that a policyholder's timely notice to a broker does not "constitute the notice contemplated by the [insurance] policy since a broker is normally the agent of the insured and notice to the ordinary insurance broker is not notice to the liability carrier" (Security Mut. Ins. Co. of N.Y. v Acker-Fitzsimons Corp., 31 NY2d 436, 442 n 3 [1972]; see also Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v Baseball Off. of Commr., 236 AD2d 334, 334 [1st Dept 1997] [late notice was not excused even though the policyholders "instructed their broker to inform (the primary and excess insurers) about the lawsuit shortly after its commencement"], lv denied 90 NY2d 803 [1997]; Gershow Recycling Corp. v Transcontinental Ins. Co., 22 AD3d 460, 462 [2d Dept 2005] [a policyholder's "timely notice of the action to its broker is of no consequence" and thus does not excuse the failure to comply with notice obligations under an insurance policy]). Our decision in Mighty Midgets does not alter this fundamental principle.
Mighty Midgets was a nonprofit corporation organized to encourage, manage and otherwise support boys' football teams in Orangetown in Rockland County. The Dunn & Fowler Division of Frank B. Hall & Company (Dunn) secured two insurance policies for the Orangetown Midgets: a liability policy from Centennial Insurance Company (Centennial) and a policy providing accident and health protection with the Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company (the Hartford). We described Dunn as "a leading specialist in athletic team insurance and apparently the organization upon which the more than 2,500 teams enrolled in the national program of which the Midgets were a part would rely for guidance in insurance matters" (Mighty Midgets, 47 NY2d at 17).
The roles of Dunn and Centennial were uncommonly intertwined; specifically, in addition to being the solicitor of liability policies with Centennial, Dunn collected the premiums and was designated by the policy as "agent or broker." Dunn wrote most of its athletic team business with Centennial, which entrusted Dunn with large batches of blank policies already executed by Centennial-authorized signatories, leaving it completely up to Dunn to fill in policy numbers, names of insureds, premiums and the date a policy was to go into effect.
On October 18, 1970, a nine-year-old boy, a member of a Midgets-sponsored team, was injured when, right after a game in which he had played, a large pot of boiling water which rested on the counter of an improvised hot dog stand operated by the Midgets as a fundraising activity was "caused to pour over him" (id.). Robert Halle (Halle), the 21-year-old volunteer president of the Midgets, was not present at the time, but he learned of the accident before the day was out and called Dunn to ask "whether he should 'put it under a medical or [a] liability claim' " (id.). The Dunn representative instructed Halle to notify the Hartford, and Halle dutifully filed a claim with the Hartford, on a form supplied by Dunn.
Then on April 7, 1971, the Hartford notified the Midgets that its policy did not cover the accident because it happened after the game in which the nine year old had played. Although the nine year old's father, "an avid supporter of the Midgets," had never before exhibited the slightest inclination to pursue a liability claim, the Hartford's refusal to pay his son's medical claim caused him to consult a lawyer, who wrote the Midgets a letter dated May 25, 1971, indicating that a liability suit was "in the offing" (id. at 18).
Halle immediately forwarded the lawyer's letter to Centennial in care of Dunn. This was the Midgets' first written notice to Centennial. The liability policy required notice of an occurrence to be made to the insurer in writing and "as soon as practicable." In light of the seven-month delay, Centennial disclaimed coverage due to untimely notice, and the Midgets brought a declaratory judgment action.
On this record, the trial judge, sitting without a jury, found as a fact
"(1) that Dunn's handling of the communications from Halle was negligent; (2) that, 'under the circumstances', including Halle's 'limited . . . understanding of insurance matters' and the relationship between Dunn and Centennial, the Midgets acted reasonably in that they did all that they 'could do' until the arrival of the letter on May 25 first disabused them of the misinformation Dunn had imparted; and (3) that the letter transmitting the . . . lawyer's liability claim letter constituted written notice given 'as soon as practicable' after the claim was made" (id. at 18-19 [footnote omitted]).
The Appellate Division affirmed, with two Justices dissenting (62 AD2d 1014 [2d Dept 1978]). There was no disagreement about the facts; the dissenters simply would have held the written notice to be untimely.
Sitting as a six-Judge Court, we also affirmed, by a margin of four to two. The dissenters commented that "it [was] especially difficult to conclude that it was not 'practicable' to give notice long before the expiration of seven months when the insured gave the agent oral notice the day after the accident" (47 NY2d at 23 [Jones, J, dissenting]). The majority ruled, however, that "in the facts and circumstances" presented,
"there was enough evidence from which it could be found that the Midgets' failure to notify the insurer before it did was not unreasonable and that, consequently, Centennial was not entitled to disclaim. Since our review is limited to determining whether the conclusion of the fact-finding courts finds support in the evidence, we must uphold their determination" (id. at 16, 21).
Like the lower courts, the "facts and circumstances" that we considered particularly compelling were not just Halle's youth and "limited personal and vocational background[ ] [which was] totally alien to either the world of insurance or that of the law" (id. at 18), but also the unusually close ties between Centennial and Dunn, which reasonably caused Halle to solicit and blindly follow Dunn's advice.
Here, by contrast, although Dachs may have long been Strauss's insurance broker, nothing in this record reveals the kind of close relationship between Dachs and Mt. Hawley that existed between Dunn (which was also Centennial's agent for receipt of notice of claim) and Centennial. The record here does not support the proposition that the insurer and broker had a relationship sufficiently close to suggest that service to the broker was effectively service to the insurer. By contrast, in a situation more akin to Mighty Midgets it might be possible for even a relatively sophisticated representative of an insured to have a good faith, reasonable belief that notice to the broker is sufficient if the insurer's own actions hold the broker out to be its agent for the purpose of giving notice. In such a case, if the effect of the insurer's representations is to lull the insured into a false belief that notice had been provided through the agent, the insurer should not be able to raise the insured's failure to provide an earlier notice as a defense to coverage.
Further, it should be noted that Drewes was not an unsophisticated 21 year old like Halle, unusually dependent upon Dunn, the insurance broker, for advice and guidance. Rather, Drewes was the longtime day-to-day operations manager of two construction contractors in New York City. Indeed, by virtue of Drewes's experience in the construction industry, it is a wonder that he did not grasp the overwhelming probability that Strauss would be drawn into a Labor Law lawsuit immediately upon learning that Mayo had suffered an elevation-related injury while on the job. In short, the outcome in Mighty Midgets turned on unusual and extenuating facts, not remotely comparable to the circumstances of this case.
Mt. Hawley's Cross Appeal
Under the additional insured endorsement of Strauss's CGL policy, whether the Met was an additional insured hinges on whether Strauss and the Met "have agreed in writing in a contract or agreement that [the Met] be added as an additional insured on [Strauss's] policy." The Met argues that the second sentence of paragraph (b) of the contract's exhibit D contains the requisite agreement in writing. Paragraph (b), in its entirety, requires Strauss/Creative to procure the following insurance:
"b. Owners and contractors protective liability insurance with a combined single limit of $5,000,000.00. Liability should add the Metropolitan Opera Association as an additional insured and should include contractual liability and completed operations coverage" (emphasis added).
Mt. Hawley counters that paragraph (b) simply reflects the Met's considered choice to require Strauss to purchase OCP coverage to protect the Met from risks arising out of Strauss's work, rather than mandating that Strauss include the Met as an additional insured on its CGL policy. Mt. Hawley observes that the OCP policy specified in this paragraph would have provided the Met with an unshared $5 million limit; by contrast, as an additional insured on Strauss's CGL, the Met would have to have shared the policy limits with Strauss and any other insureds on the policy.
We agree with Mt. Hawley that the second sentence in paragraph (b) can only refer to the OCP coverage that Strauss promised to purchase for the Met in the first sentence — but never actually acquired. This conclusion is buttressed by paragraph (c) of exhibit D, which sets out Strauss's insurance commitments to the Met with respect to CGL coverage, stating as follows:
"Comprehensive General Liability. Combined coverage for property and bodily injury with a minimum single limit of $5,000,000.00 (Limits may be met with an 'Umbrella Policy'D]."
Notably, this provision — the only paragraph in exhibit D addressing Strauss's insurance obligations with respect to CGL coverage — says nothing about including the Met as an additional insured on Strauss's CGL policy. We therefore conclude that the Met is not an additional insured on the CGL policy issued to Strauss by Mt. Hawley.
Finally, because the Met is not an additional insured under Strauss's CGL policy, we do not reach and need not decide the question of whether Mt. Hawley promptly notified the Met that it was disclaiming coverage under that policy due to untimely notice (see Zappone v Home Ins. Co., 55 NY2d 131, 134 [1982] ["failure to disclaim coverage does not create coverage which (a liability) policy was not written to provide"]).
Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be modified, without costs, by denying defendant Metropolitan Opera Association's motion for summary judgment on its first cross claim and, as so modified, affirmed, and the certified question answered in the negative.
. In other words, although the first page of the contract designates Strauss/Creative as "the Contractor," Drewes executed the contract on a signature line identifying only Strauss as "CONTRACTOR" (see Mayo v Metropolitan Opera Assn., Inc., 108 AD3d 422, 424 [1st Dept 2013] [concluding, in the Met's third-party action against Strauss, Creative and Nova Casualty Company (Nova), Creative's CGL insurer, that an issue of fact exists with respect to whether Drewes had authority or intent to bind Creative to the contract]). Throughout this opinion, we have generally identified "Strauss/ Creative" as the contractor because this is what the contract's first page says. We do not intend thereby to imply that Creative is bound to the contract, an issue which has yet to be resolved. But, of course, whether or not Creative is bound to the contract, Strauss surely is.
. In its corporate disclosure statement filed in this Court, Strauss identifies Creative as an "affiliated corporation."
. The subcontract bears the handwritten signature "Hillary J. Klein" with Drewes's initials.
. The record does not include a copy of this policy, or of the certificate of insurance.
. Deposition testimony included in the record, although incomplete, makes clear that the Met's house manager, assistant director of security and an in-house nurse knew about Mayo's accident just after it occurred.
. The December 29th letter from Travelers did not purport to ask Mt. Hawley to defend and indemnify Lincoln Center, the Met's landlord. Lincoln Center, the organization (as opposed to Lincoln Center, the Met's address), is not mentioned in either the contract or the subcontract.
. The Mayo lawsuit settled on October 16, 2013. The Met's third-party action, which had previously been severed from the underlying personal injury lawsuit, remains pending. According to the Met's counsel, the settlement "preserved the third-party actions and all insurance coverage and contractual indemnity rights among all of the defendant parties and their carriers."
. This provision specified that
"[i]f under a liability policy delivered or issued for delivery in this state, an insurer shall disclaim liability or deny coverage for death or bodily injury arising out of a motor vehicle accident or any other type of accident occurring within this state, it shall give written notice as soon as is reasonably possible of such disclaimer of liability or denial of coverage to the insured and the injured person or any other claimant" (Insurance Law former § 3420 [d]).
In response to our decision in Preserver Ins. Co. v Ryba (10 NY3d 635, 642 [2008] [under Insurance Law former § 3420 (d), a policy is "issued for delivery" in New York only if it "covers both insureds and risks located in this state"]), the legislature struck "issued for delivery" from section 3420 (d), which now covers liability policies that are "issued or delivered in this state" (see Insurance Law § 3420 [d] [2]; see also L 2008, ch 388 [eff Jan. 17, 2009 for policies issued or delivered in New York on or after that date and any action maintained under such a policy]).