Court Opinion

ID: 9712807
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:00:28.717005+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:14.518395
License: Public Domain

WAHL, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. I cannot conclude, as does the majority opinion, that the legislature intended to sanction an absolute limitation period within which notice of accidents must be given merely because Minn.Stat. § 65B.55, subd. 1 (1982) permits a plan of reparation security to prescribe a period “of not less than six months” (emphasis added) after the date of the accident within which notice is to be given. Appellant agrees in its brief, as do I, that the legislature did not intend, by this section, to create a six-month statute of limitations relative to claims for basic economic loss benefits. Subdivision 1 does make clear that any notice provision of less than six months will not be sanctioned. It also recognizes the need of insurers for notice within a reasonable time of the occurrence from which a claim may arise so that they may make prompt investigations and defend themselves against fraudulent or invalid claims. Reliance Insurance Co. v. St. Paul Insurance Companies, 239 N.W.2d 922, 924 (Minn.1976).
It may be inferred from the statute, and on this the parties do not disagree, that a six-month notice provision is reasonable. Nevertheless, if the intent of the legisla*153ture in enacting the notice provision was, as I take it to be, to avoid prejudice to the insurer, it is difficult to impute to the legislature the further intent to absolutely bar a claim for economic loss benefits for which premiums have been paid when failure to give timely notice has not resulted in prejudice to the insurer. Such an intent would be contrary to an avowed purpose of the No-Fault Act, which is to ensure that every person suffering loss from injury arising out of maintenance or use of a motor vehicle in this state is entitled to basic economic loss benefits. Minn.Stat. § 65B.46, subd. 1 (1982). Rather than impute such a contrary intent to the legislature, this court should join those courts which refuse to give a technical interpretation of notice provisions in order to avoid forfeiture of insurance coverage unless the insurer has been materially prejudiced because of late notice.1 Travelers Insurance Co. v. Feld Car & Truck Leasing Corp., 517 F.Supp. 1132 (D.Kansas 1981); Brakeman v. Potomac Insurance Co., 472 Pa. 66, 371 A.2d 193 (1977). We should follow the reasoning of the Brakeman court and require an insurance carrier seeking to avoid coverage already paid for by premiums because of late notice to show a sound reason for doing so. Id., 472 Pa. at 75, 371 A.2d at 197. We should, in a word, once rejecting a technical interpretation of the notice provision of section 65B.55, subd. 1, follow, extend if necessary, our decisions in Reliance and Farrell v. Nebraska Indemnity Co., 183 Minn. 65, 235 N.W. 612 (1931), and require a showing of insurer prejudice. Only thus, as the majority opinion notes, can injustice be avoided.
I would hold that the policy provision here at issue and Minn.Stat. § 65B.55, subd. 1 do not absolutely bar a claim for economic loss benefits for which a premium has been paid when failure to give timely notice has not resulted in prejudice to the insurer. I would affirm the trial court.

. As the Travelers court stated, "when an insurance carrier's interests have not been materially prejudicial because of late notice, the purpose of the notice requirement is non-existent.” 517 F.Supp. at 1135.