 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Henderson v. Herman12/23/2004
03).]
The public entity advised that it had completed its investigation and had concluded, without consideration of the supplemental form or any additional information, that it was not responsible for plaintiffs' loss. At that juncture, plaintiffs could understandably assume the supplemental form was superfluous and that its submission would be a futile and vein gesture. In fact, the motion judge made the following observation:
When the plaintiff served the notice of claim complying with the statute, the Old Bridge defendants through its third-party claims adjustor, Quality Claims, served a request for supplemental information pursuant to the statute. Quality Claims stated that the Old Bridge defendants had no jurisdiction in the letter of July 31st over the First Aid Rescue Squad and denying the plaintiff's claim to closing the file.
Presumably, Quality Claims, as an agent of Old Bridge, had enough information from the traditional notice of claim to reach an opinion as to the liability and close the -- its file, and the Old Bridge defendants should be estopped from complaining that the supplemental information forms were not completed and filed within the 90 days. (emphasis added.)
The grant of summary judgment is inconsistent with that observation by the motion judge. The purpose of the provision is to"assure the fair and full disclosure of information necessary to the orderly and expedient administrative disposition of claims." Margolis and Novack, Claims Against Public Entities, comment to N.J.S.A. 59:8-6 (2004).
Based upon the record as a whole, it is not disputable that plaintiffs' notice of claim was submitted within ninety days of the occurrence and was timely. The information specified in N.J.S.A. 59:8-4 was provided and afforded an ample basis for the investigation and evaluation of the information, as contemplated by N.J.S.A. 59:8-8. To the extent there was any non-compliance, it was excused under the unique set of circumstances presented.
We reverse the orders of partial summary judgment and remand for further proceedings in the Law Division.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|