Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with costs, the application is denied, and the proceeding to stay arbitration is dismissed.
On May 9, 1995, the appellant's deceased, William McDonnell, served Nationwide Insurance Company (hereinafter Nationwide) with a demand for arbitration of an uninsured motorist benefits claim. After its investigation indicated that there had been no physical contact between the vehicle of the deceased claimant and the alleged hit-and-run vehicle, Nationwide denied the claim and, in March 1997 made an application to stay arbitration pending a judicial determination of the issue of physical contact.
Because the issue of physical contact with the uninsured vehicle relates to whether certain conditions of coverage have been satisfied, Nationwide's application to stay arbitration should have been brought within the 20-day limitation period set out in CPLR 7503 (c) ( see, Matter of Steck [State Farm Ins. Co.], 89 N.Y.2d 1082; Matter of CNA Ins. Co. v. Carsley, 243 A.D.2d 474). The application was therefore untimely, and should have been denied.
Mangano, P. J., Bracken, Copertino and Santucci, JJ., concur.