The record demonstrates that the summons and complaint in the underlying action were served on the Secretary of State, who forwarded a copy to the insured at the same address where the notice of default in that action was admittedly received approximately one year later. Concededly, if received, this was the first notice of the accident to the insureds. Having failed to establish that the signature on the certified mail receipt pertaining to the Secretary of State's mailing did not belong to one of their employees or a person authorized to accept on their behalf (see Metropolitan Steel Indus. v. Rosenshein Hub Dev. Corp., 257 A.D.2d 422), the insureds are unable to provide an excuse for their failure to comply with the policy's notice provisions (see Security Mut. Ins. Co. v. Acker-Fitzsimons Corp., 31 N.Y.2d 436, 440; Travelers Ins. Co. v. Volmar Constr. Co., 300 A.D.2d 40, 42-43).
Unlike Matter of Brandon v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. ( 97 N.Y.2d 491), this is not a case where the carrier had prior notice of the claim before the action was commenced.
We have considered plaintiffs' other arguments and they are unavailing.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.