ALBANY – A two-year deadline for insurance policy holders to sue their insurer for the costs of replacing a damaged building, when coupled with another provision that makes it impossible to fix the damages in 24 months, is “unreasonable and unenforceable” in New York, the state’s Court of Appeals determined Thursday.
“It is neither fair nor reasonable to require a suit within two years from the date of the loss, while imposing a condition precedent to the suit— in this case, completion of replacement of the property—that cannot be met within that two-year period,” Judge Robert Smith (See Profile) wrote for the unanimous court in Executive Plaza v. Peerless Insurance Company, 2.
