Memorandum.
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.
During a business trip, plaintiffs president noticed that a bag containing jewelry was missing from his personal effects. He was unable to say how or where the loss occurred. Plaintiff thereafter submitted a claim to defendants, the issuers of its primary and excess "jewelers block” insurance policies. Defendants, however, disclaimed liability for the loss, relying on the clauses in their policies that excluded from coverage "[unexplained loss, mysterious disappearance or loss or shortage disclosed on taking inventory.”
Plaintiff commenced the present action, arguing that the exclusionary clause on which defendants relied is ambiguous because it could be construed to apply only to losses discovered "on taking inventory” rather than to all mysterious and unexplained losses regardless of how such losses are discovered. Both courts below rejected plaintiffs argument and granted defendants summary judgment dismissing the complaint. We now affirm.
Where the provisions of an insurance contract are clear and unambiguous, the courts should not strain to superimpose an unnatural or unreasonable construction (see, e.g., Government Empl. Ins. Co. v Kligler,
Equally unpersuasive is plaintiffs argument that the ruling of the courts below improperly shifted the burden of proof from the insurer to the insured. While it is true that an insurer generally has the burden of proving that a loss is within the scope of a policy exclusion (Facet Indus, v Wright,
Acting Chief Judge Simons and Judges Kaye, Titone, Hancock, Jr., Bellacosa and Smith concur.
Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.