Defendant appeals from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Eileen A. Rakower, J.), entered November 15, 2005, which denied its motion to vacate a default judgment.

PER CURIAM

Order (Eileen A. Rakower, J.), entered November 15, 2005, affirmed, with $10 costs.

"In order to qualify for relief under CPLR 317, one must demonstrate both a lack of personal notice of the summons in time to defend and the existence of a meritorious defense" (Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher v Global Nuclear Servs. & Supply, 280 AD2d 360, 362 [2001]).
Defendant here failed to show either. The summons and complaint were properly served on the corporate defendant by service upon the Secretary of State. Defendant's insurance company was not only notified of the claim immediately after the accident, but was subsequently served with a copy of the summons and complaint, and informed that defendant had not answered. Furthermore, plaintiff mailed a notice of inquest to defendant's address as listed on the accident report. In these circumstances, defendant may not now be heard to argue that it did not obtain personal notice of the action in time to defend. Moreover, the affirmation of defendant's attorney, who did not have personal knowledge of the facts and circumstances surrounding the underlying automobile accident, was insufficient to establish a potentially meritorious defense (see Figueroa v Luna, 281 AD2d 204, 205 [2001]). Nor was the proffered accident report competent evidence since it was prepared by a police officer who was not an eyewitness to the facts sought to be established (see Jupa v Zaidi, 309 AD2d 606 [2003]). Lastly, the affidavit submitted by the driver of defendant's vehicle did not address how the accident occurred.

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.
I concur I concurI concur
Decision Date: March 20, 2007