New York’s Highest Court Expands the Phrase “Issued or Delivered” Under N.Y. Ins. Law § 3420(a)(2)

In a broad-reaching decision issued late last month, New York’s highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, clarified that the phrase “issued or delivered” in New York Insurance Law Section 3420 applies not only to policies issued by New York insurers or to New York insureds, but also to any policies insuring risks in the state.

Following a fatal automobile accident involving his wife, the plaintiff, Michael Carlson – individually, as the administrator of his wife’s estate, and as an assignee of the underlying individual tortfeasor who was a driver for an express shipping company – brought suit against the shipping company and it’s insurers pursuant to New York Insurance Law § 3420(a)(2) and (b) to collect on multiple insurance policies. Section 3420(a)(2) provides, in relevant part, that liability insurance “issued or delivered in this state” must contain certain provisions “that are equally or more favorable to the insured and to judgment creditors so far as such provisions relate to judgment creditors,” including the right of a direct action. Subsection (b) provides, subject to certain limitations that such actions may be brought by personal representatives of a judgment creditor and assignees of judgments obtained against an insured.

Because a plaintiff must establish that the policy sued upon was “issued or delivered” in New York in order to recover under the law, one insurer argued that the statute failed to apply where its policy was issued in New Jersey and delivered in Washington and then Florida. The court disagreed, stating that its prior decision in Preserver Insurance Company v. Ryba, 10 N.Y.3d 635 (2008) resolved the question in deciding that Section 3420 applies to policies that cover insureds and risks located in New York.

In Preserver the Court concluded that Section 3420(d) required insurers to provide written notice when disclaiming coverage under policies “issued for delivery” in New York. Preserver held that “issued for delivery” referred to the location of the insured risk, and not where the policy document itself was handed over or mailed to the insured. Applying this ruling to all subparts of Section 3420, the New York Court of Appeals thus held in its recent decision that a plaintiff can collect against an insurer if its insured has a “substantial business presence” in New York that “creates risks in New York,” and such an insurer must adhere to the requirements of New York Insurance Law § 3420.

Moreover, Carlson noted that the original legislative intent of Section 3420 was to protect tort victims in New York State. Further amendments to the statute in 2008 expanded the law’s reach. Those amendments also altered the “issued for delivery” language in Section 3420(d) to match the “issued or delivered” language elsewhere in the statute, but there is no indication that the legislature’s minor change to Section 3420(d) was intended to overturn the holding in Preserver. Carlson ruled that interpreting “issued or delivered in this state” narrowly, to apply only to policies issued by an insurer located in New York or by an insurer who mails a policy to a New York address, would undermine the legislative intent of the statute. The Court noted, however, that its interpretation of “issued or delivered” applies only to New York Insurance Law § 3420 and does not apply to other statutes.

In sum, Carlson held that the plaintiff was able to maintain his cause of action under New Yok Insurance Law § 3420 even though the insurer issued the policy in New Jersey and delivered it in Washington and Florida. The insured at issue in Carlson had a substantial business presence and created risks in New York, and therefore the insurer was subject to New York Insurance Law § 3420. The phrase “issued or delivered” in New York will continue to cover both insureds and risks located in the state.

Insurers in all jurisdictions should take note of this decision. As the dissent in Carlson observes, the majority’s ruling as to the meaning of “issued or delivered” in Section 3420(a) “enacts sweeping change across the Insurance Law, generating substantial implications, both known and unknown.” An insurer located outside of New York issuing a policy outside of New York may now be subject to New York law, whether or not a policy is issued in New York or to a New York-based insured.

A link to the decision (Carlson v. American Int’l Group, Inc., 2017 N.Y. LEXIS 3280, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 08163 (N.Y. Nov. 20, 2017)) is available on the New York State website: http://nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_08163.htm.