KSENIA PAVLOVA v. NATIONWIDE INS (2019)

ORDERED that the order entered March 27, 2018 is affirmed, with $25 costs.

In this action by a provider to recover assigned first-party no-fault benefits, plaintiff appeals from an order of the Civil Court which denied plaintiff's motion to vacate the order of that court entered October 6, 2016 granting, on default, defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

“Pursuant to CPLR 5015 (a) (1), a court may vacate a default in opposing a motion where the moving party demonstrates both a reasonable excuse for the default and the existence of a meritorious defense to the motion” (SS Constantine & Helen's Romanian Orthodox Church of Am. v. Z. Zindel, Inc., 44 AD3d 744, 744-745 [2007]). “The determination of what constitutes a reasonable excuse lies within the sound discretion of the ․ [c]ourt” (Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v. Saketos, 158 AD3d 610, 612 [2018]). We find that the Civil Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in finding that plaintiff had failed to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for its default.

Accordingly, the order is affirmed.

PESCE, P.J., ALIOTTA and SIEGAL, JJ., concur.