American Transit Ins. Co. v. Brown, 2009 Slip Opinion 07207 (1st Dept. 2009) involved satisfaction of a default judgment obtained by defendant Brown against American Transit’s insured, Batista. The underlying action arose from a motor vehicle accident which occurred on November 12, 2002. Brown forwarded copies of the summons and complaint to American Transit in January, 2006 at the address previously used in correspondence between American Transit and Brown. Unbeknownst to Brown, American Transit had moved its offices in November 2003. When Batista did not appear in the action, Brown moved for a default judgment and obtained a judgment following an inquest in the amount of $81,830. When the judgment remained unsatisfied, Brown served copies of the unsatisfied judgment on American Transit and Batista on August 9, 2007. American Transit disclaimed coverage and commenced the declaratory judgment action asserting late notice of the lawsuit. The motions were denied by the trial court and on appeal, the Appellate Division reversed and granted Brown’s motion for summary judgment finding that Brown demonstrated a reasonable excuse for his failure to satisfy the notice condition of the policy because the address used by Brown was the address that had been included on American Transit’s earlier correspondence. Justice Catterson dissented noting that American Transit’s address could have been verified on the internet in approximately 3/10 of a second!