Nationwide v. Smith

Supreme Court grants HLG’s motion for Summary Judgment where listed driver was found not be a resident relative

Lower Court Index No. 158399/2019

Supreme Court – State of New York- New York County

Nationwide sought a Declaratory Judgement that the injured party, Jeffrey Smith (“Smith”) was not entitled to No-Fault reimbursement from Nationwide because Smith was injured while occupying an MTA bus, was not Nationwide’s named insured and was not a resident relative of Nationwide’s insured when the accident occurred.  Although Smith himself did not seek benefits through the insured’s policy, numerous medical providers that allegedly rendered treatment to Smith subsequent to the loss, submitted claims seeking reimbursement through Nationwide’s insured’s policy.

Nationwide thereafter moved for summary judgement on the “resident relative issue” seeking judgement that Smith does not qualify as an eligible injured party.  Despite opposition from various medical providers seeking reimbursement, the Supreme Court, New York County concluded that simply because Smith was originally listed as an “insured driver” on the policy did not make him an eligible injured party – especially since Smith was divorced from the insured and lived elsewhere for 3 years prior to the loss.

»View Decision