McGlinchey v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co

In McGlinchey v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 224 Conn. 133, 617 A.2d 445 (1992), the plaintiff exhausted the limits of the tortfeasor's liability insurance more than two years after the date of the accident. Id., 134, 135 n.3. The plaintiff thereafter filed a claim with her insurer for benefits under the uninsured motorists coverage section of her policy. The plaintiff claimed that she had waited until she had exhausted the tortfeasor's insurance before filing the claim with her insurer because of the Supreme Court's holding in Continental Ins. Co. v. Cebe-Habersky, 214 Conn. 209, 212-13, 571 A.2d 104 (1990). McGlinchey v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 224 Conn. at 138-39. The Court while agreeing that Continental Ins. Co. required the plaintiff to liquidate her claim against the tortfeasor before claiming under her uninsured motorist coverage, disagreed with the plaintiff's contention that this requirement permitted her to wait until she had liquidated her claim against the tortfeasor before bringing her claim for arbitration under the insurance contract, notwithstanding the contract provision that all legal action be brought within two years from the date of the accident. McGlinchey v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., supra, 224 Conn. 138-40.