Bauso v. Allstate Insurance
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; May 28, 1996; New York; State Appellate Court
In this case, the defendant appeals a Supreme Court order denying its motion to dismiss a complaint related to an underinsured motorist claim. The order is reversed, granting the defendant's motion to dismiss and confirming an arbitration award of $10,000. The plaintiff was involved in a car accident and, with Allstate Insurance Company's consent, settled a claim against the other driver for $50,000. The plaintiff then sought underinsured motorist coverage from Allstate, leading to arbitration due to a disagreement over compensation amount. The arbitration awarded the plaintiff $60,000, explicitly stating it did not account for offsets or other payments. According to the Allstate policy, a trial de novo can be requested if the arbitration award exceeds New York's Financial Responsibility Limits, set at $10,000. Allstate moved to dismiss, arguing the award did not exceed this threshold due to the $50,000 already received by the plaintiff. The court confirmed that Allstate's liability for the underinsured motorist claim is $10,000, given the offset for the prior settlement. The court noted that Allstate did not waive its right to this offset, and the combination of uninsured/underinsured motorist provisions allows for enforceable offsets. Therefore, as the confirmed amount of $10,000 does not trigger the trial de novo provision, the dismissal of the complaint was warranted. The decision was concurred by other justices.