Opinion ID: 1390684
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Sufficiency of Proof of Uninsured Motorist

Text: At the hearing on September 14, 1973, the trial court ruled as a matter of law that the driver of the other vehicle, Downey, was an uninsured motorist. Defendant now contends there was not sufficient evidence to justify that ruling. The evidence offered by plaintiff in support of her motion, and subsequently relied on by the trial court, consisted of a journal entry of the summary closing of Downey's estate as well as certain admissions by defendant. The journal entry contained the probate court's finding that after a diligent search, the administrator has not found any assets or property belonging to the decedent nor has he uncovered any automobile liability insurance policies providing coverage for the decedent. The admission relied on by the court consisted of an answer to an interrogatory wherein defendant indicated one of its agents was informed by Downey's mother that her son was single and to the best of her knowledge uninsured. The court took judicial notice of both items of evidence and ruled there was no genuine issue of any material fact as to whether Downey was an uninsured motorist. At no time did defendant produce any evidence tending to show that Downey was insured. The question of the burden of proof to establish that a motorist is uninsured is one of first impression with this court. The majority of jurisdictions which have considered the question have consistently placed the initial burden of proving the motorist was uninsured on the claimant. Mindful of the difficulty of proving a negative, many courts have relaxed the burden by adjusting the quantum of proof necessary. For a discussion of the nature of the problem and an analysis of the recent decisions, see Widiss, A Guide to Uninsured Motorist Coverage, § 2.39, p. 77. Typical of the reasoning adopted by many courts is the following statement in Mtr. of Merchants Ins. Co. (Schmid), 56 Misc.2d 360, 288 N.Y.S.2d 822: Since the absence of insurance upon the offending vehicle and its driver is a condition precedent to the applicability of the uninsured driver indorsement, we hold that the burden of proving such absence is upon the claimant. However, we must keep in mind that proving a negative is always difficult and frequently impossible and that, consequently, the quantum of proof must merely be such as will convince the trier of the facts that all reasonable efforts have been made to ascertain the existence of an applicable policy and that such efforts have proven fruitless. In such an event, and absent any affirmative proof by petitioner, the inference may be drawn that there is in fact no insurance policy in force which is applicable. (pp. 362, 363.) In the instant case, plaintiff has offered evidence of defendant's investigation into the matter as well as the efforts of the administrator of Downey's estate. Both sources stated they were unable to locate any insurance policies of the deceased. Under the circumstances, plaintiff has made a reasonable effort to uncover any policies held by the deceased and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary we must conclude the deceased, Sammy Downey, was an uninsured motorist. There was substantial competent evidence to support the finding of the trial court.