Hanover Insurance Co. v. Carroll

In Hanover Insurance Co. v. Carroll (1966) 241 Cal.App.2d 558, an employee was inside his employer's vehicle when it was struck by an uninsured driver. The employee was injured. The employer's automobile insurance policy named the employee as an additional insured, but the employee was unaware of this coverage at the time of the accident. Thus, he did not notify the insurer of his injuries within 30 days of the accident as required by the policy's uninsured motorist coverage. The appellate court held that, in these circumstances, the insurer cannot assert the delay in notification "to defeat recovery under the policy unless there is prejudice to the insurer." (Id., at p. 566.) The court reasoned: "In the case of uninsured motor vehicle coverage, as herein, where the claimant is an additional insured, there may be considerable delay before the injured person discovers that the coverage is available." (Ibid.) The court never considered whether the uninsured motorist coverage was analogous to a claims-made policy or an occurrence policy.