Thirteen months after he got into a fight with a letter carrier, Pablo Aponte filed a claim with General Employees Insurance Company ("GEICO"). When his insurer later denied coverage--because it hadn't received timely notification of the incident--Aponte filed suit in Bronx County Supreme Court.
Because he was supposedly acting in self-defense, Aponte attributed the notification delay to his belief that the letter carrier wouldn't sue him. But the Appellate Division, First Department, thought Aponte's position was "unreasonable as a matter of law"--particularly given that it was Aponte, and not the letter carrier, who got arrested and later indicted for assault.
Talk about going postal.
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Aponte v. Government Empls. Ins. Co.