Judge Denies Harner's Summary Judgment Request Related to Failure to Pay Claims
August 6, 2012

by Casey Neeley, cneeley@glass.com

A New York judge has denied David Harner’s motion for summary judgment filed in the case he filed against several insurers and third-party administrators in May 2011, charging the companies with failure to pay assigned claims, fraud or intentional misrepresentation, deceptive acts, restraint of trade and unfair business practices and tortious interference. Harner is the owner of Auto Glass of Westchester Windshield Doctor in Westchester, N.Y.

Harner had requested summary judgment specifically related to the first cause of action of his amended complaint, filed earlier this year.  The first cause of action charges the insurers with “failure to pay claims,” and lists more than 40 instances of work he has completed dating back to 2009 for which he alleges he has not been paid. His first cause of action names Allstate, Geico, Hanover, Hartford, Liberty Mutual, Merchants, Metropolitan, Nationwide, Peerless, Progressive, State Farm, Travelers, and USAA as insurers having failed to pay assigned claims.

Judge Cathy Seibel noted that the motion had been improperly filed and that a pre-motion conference would be required for further consideration of summary judgment.

“Nothing has been filed with the Court or received in chambers,” writes Seibel. “I doubt I would entertain a summary judgment motion while the motions to discuss are pending, and I certainly would require a pre-motion conference first.”

Counsel for Peerless Insurance Company and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, two of the insurers named in the suit, had brought the improper filing to the Court’s attention; as a result, Harner’s notice of the motion has been terminated.

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