Ordered that the order is reversed, as a matter of discretion, with costs, the motion is granted, the cross motion is denied, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for an inquest on damages.
The Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying the plaintiff's motion and granting the defendants' cross motion. It was incumbent upon the defendants to present a reasonable cause for the more than four-month delay in serving their answer ( see, CPLR 3012 [d]; 5015 [a]; Pumarejo-Garcia v. McDonough, 242 A.D.2d 374). The only excuse offered was that "the file which was opened for this claim was misplaced and could not be located". That excuse is insufficient under the circumstances of this case ( see, Martyn v. Jones, 166 A.D.2d 508; Peters v. Pickard, 143 A.D.2d 81).
Rosenblatt, J. P., O'Brien, Thompson, Friedmann and Goldstein, JJ., concur.