In this edition of our column, we revisit an issue we addressed for the first time almost two years ago—the critical importance in insurance litigation of furnishing copies of the subject insurance policy to the court.1 Although, as we then noted, the obligation to provide the court with the opportunity to read and analyze the policy it is being asked to construe is, or should be, obvious, it is all too often observed in the breach. Thus, in numerous cases, the courts have denied petitions to stay arbitration or motions for summary judgment made by insurers where a copy of the pertinent policy was not furnished.2
In those cases, the courts recognize that the existence and submission of the policy are essential elements of the movant’s burden of proof.3 As the court aptly stated in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Ganesh, 8 Misc.3d 922 (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co., 2005), “Without the insurance contract itself, any recitation of the contract’s terms through testimony or other documents in evidence is rank hearsay and contrary to the best evidence rule.”4
