Napolitano v. Ace American Ins. Co.

Summary

The court held that statutory compliance with the workers’ compensation cancellation statute does not replace an insurer’s separate contractual duty to give the insured definite, certain, and unambiguous notice of cancellation. In assessing that duty, a court must consider all relevant communications between the insurer and insured, and the conflicting notices and follow-up communications here made the cancellation objectively ambiguous. The court therefore reversed the intermediate appellate judgment and directed reinstatement of the trial court’s summary judgment for the insured.