yesterday testified against the insurance company which has denied him disability compensation.

David Boyd, the one-time president and managing director of the Sonesta Hotel in Southampton, was the first witness in his Supreme Court civil case against Colonial Insurance.

Mr. Boyd, who currently resides in South Carolina, filed a suit against the insurance company after they refused to provide him with disability insurance following his resignation from the hotel's top post nearly two years ago.

At issue, according to Mr. Boyd's lawyer Jai Pachai, is the interpretation of a 1996 amendment clause to the hotel's insurance policy.

"The issue in this case is whether or not this policy, as it is finally to be interpreted by the court, does or does not include an exclusion for pre-existing medical conditions,'' Mr. Pachai said.

Mr. Boyd, who was also the executive at the Grotto Bay Hotel, told the court that he first noticed his illness, which started off as an ear ache, in June 1986.

By June of 1987 he was to have the first of four inner cranial operations. As a result of his fourth operation, Mr. Boyd said he incurred more severe head, face and neck pain. A 1991 bout with the disease shingles left Mr. Boyd suffering chronic back, knee and calf problems where he would experience acute episodes of pain.

He also told Mr. Justice Vincent Meerabux that he suffers from fluctuating high and low blood pressure.

Despite various medical treatments, including steroid therapy and hospitalisation, Mr. Boyd said he decided he could not carry out his duties at the hotel.

Mr. Boyd insisted that he made it clear to Colonial that any insurance policy would have to cover everyone regardless of their medical history.

Mr. Boyd testified that he also told Colonial that he had a neurological problem which caused daily chronic pain and that he was concerned about long-term disability.