Generally, the statute of limitations for commencing an action to recover no-fault insurance benefits is six years from the date the claim becomes overdue, based on the fact that the action arises out of an alleged breach of the insurance contract. What happens when the action is against a self-insured entity in which there is no insurance contract to speak of? In 2007, the Second Department held that CPLR 213(2) (breach of contract) rather than CPLR 214(2) (liabilities imposed by statute without specific limitations) applied to self-insured entities, in Matter of ELRAC v. Suero.1 The court’s rationale was that such an action “against a self-insured vehicle owner,” while statutorily mandated, remains “contractual rather than statutory in nature.”

The Appellate Term in both the First and Second departments subsequently applied the rationale of ELRAC, which concerned an uninsured/underinsured claim, to no-fault actions involving self-insureds. The only exception to this was the Appellate Term, Second Department’s holding that the statute of limitations for a no-fault action against the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) is three years.2 In 2011, the Appellate Division, First Department, switched gears and held that the statute of limitations for no-fault actions against self-insured entities is three years.3

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]