Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs payable to the plaintiff-respondent, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Nassau County, for the entry of a judgment declaring that the defendant State Farm Insurance Company is obligated to defend and indemnify the defendants Kenny Hernandez and Francis Castillo in personal injury actions relating to an automobile accident which occurred on August 22, 1994.
The Supreme Court correctly determined that the properly-executed affidavit of service raised a presumption of proper service, and that the conclusory claim made by the appellant's counsel failed to raise any issue of fact sufficient to rebut the presumption ( see, CPLR 317; Citibank v. Schimkus, 231 A.D.2d 486; Matter of Baer v. Lipson, 194 A.D.2d 787). In the absence of a reasonable excuse for the appellant's failure to timely serve an answer, the court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in granting the plaintiff's motion for a judgment against the appellant upon its default in appearing in the action ( see, CPLR 5015; Hugyecz v. 99 Commercial St., 222 A.D.2d 405).
We decline to reach the appellant's remaining contentions as they are raised for the first time on appeal ( see, Matter of Allstate Ins. Co. v. Bieder, 212 A.D.2d 693).
We note that since this is a declaratory judgment action, the Supreme Court should enter an appropriate declaration against the appellant ( see, Lanza v. Wagner, 11 N.Y.2d 317, 334, appeal dismissed 371 U.S. 74, cert denied 371 U.S. 901).
Mangano, P. J., Joy, Friedmann and Goldstein, JJ., concur.