Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corp. v. United States Liability Insurance
This case concerns the validity of an insurance carrier's disclaimers based on delayed notice of an accident. The court reversed a prior judgment, finding that the notice given by injured passengers, Carmen Quinones and Ventura Solis, to the defendant insurance carrier was not unreasonably delayed. Ventura Solis provided notice approximately four months after the 1962 accident, after being informed there was no insurance and retaining an attorney who subsequently discovered coverage. Although Quinones' notice came a year and a half later, the court ruled Solis's prior notice was applicable to Quinones. Furthermore, the court found the defendant's disclaimers, issued over seven months for Solis and three months for Quinones after receiving notice, were unreasonably delayed and thus invalid.