Although the terms of the insurance policy may be mandated by various provisions of the Insurance Law, this does not alter the fact that the dispute is fundamentally contractual in nature and not a creature of statute. Accordingly, the six-year statute of limitations set forth in CPLR 213(2) applies to this action ….

Since it is undisputed that there existed no contract between plaintiff's assignor and the NYCTA, the common carrier's obligation to provide no-fault benefits arises out of the no-fault statute. Therefore, the three-year statute of limitations as set forth in CPLR 214(2) is applicable here.

The no-fault benefits in dispute are not provided by a contract with a private insurer. Instead defendant has met its statutory obligation by self-insuring. No-fault is a creature of statute (see Aetna Life Ins. Co. v Nelson, 67 NY2d 169, 175 [1986] ["the No-Fault law does not codify common-law principles; it creates new and independent statutory rights and obligations in order to provide a more efficient means for adjusting financial responsibilities arising out of automobile accidents"]). Our holding in Aetna Life Ins. Co. is directly applicable here. As we stated in that case, "first-party benefits are a form of compensation unknown at common law, resting on predicates independent of the fault or negligence of the injured party" (id. at 175). In the absence of private law requiring defendant to pay first-party benefits (that is, in the absence of a contract for insurance), the only requirement that defendant provide such remuneration to the assignee as a result of the accident appears in relevant parts of the Vehicle and Traffic Law and the Insurance Law. Consequently, the source of this claim is wholly statutory, meaning that the three-year period of limitations in CPLR 214 (2) should control this case.

Finally, we note that our holding here does not reduce the no-fault liability or obligations of self-insurers, or curtail the substantive no-fault rights of injured parties or their assignees as against such self-insurers. “Statutes of limitations are considered procedural because they are deemed as pertaining to the remedy rather than the right” (Portfolio Recovery Assoc. v. King, 14 N.Y.3d 410, 416, 901 N.Y.S.2d 575, 927 N.E.2d 1059 [2010] [internal quotation marks omitted] ). Therefore, applying the three-year statute of limitations set forth in CPLR 214(2) does not alter the substantive protections afforded under the no-fault law to those with a claim against a self-insurer.

The decision to grant severance (see CPLR 603) is an exercise of judicial discretion which, in the absence of a party's showing of prejudice to a substantial right, should not be disturbed on appeal (see King's Med. Supply v, GEICO Cas. Ins. Co., 14 Misc 3d 136[A], 2007 NY Slip Op 50232[U] [App Term, 2d Dept, 2d & 11th Jud Dists 2007]). In the instant matter, while the assignors were injured in separate accidents and defendant interposed 48 defenses in its answer, these two facts do not demonstrate that resolution of the claims for services rendered to [first injured person] and [second injured person] will involve different questions of fact and law. As such, the record does not establish that the Civil Court's denial of defendant's motion was an improvident exercise of discretion.