Standing; CPLR R. 3211

The defendant William Steely sought insurance coverage for a boating
accident pursuant to, inter alia, a homeowner's policy issued to him by
the defendant New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company
(hereinafter NY Mutual), and an umbrella policy issued to him by the
plaintiff, RLI Insurance Company. NY Mutual allegedly denied coverage
on the ground that, inasmuch as Steely owned the boat on the date of
the accident, there was no coverage because of a specific exclusion
under its policy. The plaintiff commenced this action for a judgment
declaring, inter alia, that NY Mutual was obligated to provide coverage
to Steely because he did not, in fact, [*2]own
the boat on the date of the accident, and that any such coverage
provided by the plaintiff's policy was excess to any coverage provided
by NY Mutual's policy.

NY Mutual moved, inter alia, pursuant to CPLR 3211 to dismiss
the complaint for lack of standing insofar as asserted against it. NY
Mutual argued, among other things, that the plaintiff lacked standing
to challenge its disclaimer of coverage to its insured. The Supreme
Court, inter alia, granted that branch of NY Mutual's motion which was
to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against it. We reverse the
order insofar as appealed from.

We find that the plaintiff has standing to challenge NY
Mutual's disclaimer of coverage to its insured. "A plaintiff need not
be privy to an insurance contract to commence a declaratory judgment
action to determine the rights and obligations of the respective
parties, so long as the plaintiff stands to benefit from the policy" (Mortillaro v Public Serv. Mut. Ins. Co., 285 AD2d 586, 587). Here, the plaintiff clearly stands to benefit from NY Mutual's policy.