304 MEAT v. NEW YORK PROP. INS. UNDERWRITING

Defendant insurer's burden of showing plaintiff insured's lack of cooperation while "a heavy one indeed" (Thrasher v United States Liab. Ins. Co., 19 N.Y.2d 159, 168), was met here upon proof of plaintiff's evasive or unsupported claims concerning the availability of various relevant items of information demanded by defendant, including the address of its accountant, the existence of other insurance policies and tax returns, and an inventory of damaged items. Plaintiff's persistent failure to fulfill its contractual and statutory obligation to cooperate warrants dismissal of the action (see, Lentini Bros. Moving Stor. Co. v New York Prop. Ins. Underwriting Assn., 76 A.D.2d 759, 761, affd 53 N.Y.2d 835; Pioneer Food Stores Coop. v Federal Ins. Co., 169 A.D.2d 430, 431-432).

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Carro, Rosenberger, Asch and Kassal, JJ.