Positive Signs in the Enforcement of Late Notice Provisions

This year was off to a positive start in the realm of property insurance with a decision out of the Second Circuit upholding an at times embattled policy provision that is found in nearly every property insurance policy: the late notice provision. Courts’ varying enforcement of such provisions has hindered insurers from enforcing rights vital to protecting their ability to start investigating a loss as quickly as possible. The opinion in Minasian v. IDS Prop. Cas. Ins. Co., 676 F. App’x 29 (2d Cir. 2017) was thus welcome news for the insurance industry, with the appeals court enforcing the late notice provision in a series of property policies which required that the insured provide its carrier prompt notice of a loss.…