Court Opinion

ID: 9539698
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:08:38.090348+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:14.346994
License: Public Domain

Judge Johnson
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. I disagree with the majority’s interpretation of the precedential effect of the holding in Great American I on the case sub judice.
The majority opinion stated that the Court in Great American I “held that an insured’s failure to comply with the notice requirements of a liability insurance policy did not result in a forfeiture of the insured’s rights under the policy if the failure was in good faith and the insurer was not materially prejudiced in its ability to investigate and defend.” The issue decided and the Court’s holding in Great American I is narrower than the majority opinion indicates.
The Court in Great American I held “that an unexcused delay by the insured in giving notice to the insurer of an accident does not relieve the insurer of its obligation to defend and indemnify unless the delay operates materially to prejudice the insurer’s ability to investigate and defend.” Great American Ins. Co. v. C. G. Tate Constr. Co., 303 N.C. 387, 390, 279 S.E. 2d 769, 771 (1981) (emphasis supplied). I believe that the Court in Great American I held the foregoing mindful of the “injuries sustained by innocent members of the public.” Id. at 395, 279 S.E. 2d at 774. Moreover, the case sub judice does not involve an innocent third party, an insurer’s ability to defend the insured, or the insurer’s obligation to indemnify. Plaintiff submitted a woefully inadequate proof of loss form which raises an entirely different issue than that stated by the Court in Great American I, id., at 390, 279 S.E. 2d at 771. I therefore vote to affirm.