Morand v. Farmers New Century Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 24 April 2019 |
| Docket Number | Index No. 605710/14,2016–13314 |
| Parties | Gig Klein MORAND, et al., Appellants, v. FARMERS NEW CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
171 A.D.3d 1167
99 N.Y.S.3d 346
Gig Klein MORAND, et al., Appellants,
v.
FARMERS NEW CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent.
2016–13314
Index No. 605710/14
Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.
Argued—January 31, 2019
April 24, 2019
Merlin Law Group, P.A., New York, N.Y. (Verne A. Pedro of counsel), for appellants.
Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, Melville, N.Y. (Daniel W. Levin of counsel), for respondent.
REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, JEFFREY A. COHEN, ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER
In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for breach of contract, the plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (George R. Peck, J.), entered November 18, 2016. The order denied the plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend the complaint.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiffs filed a claim with their homeowner's insurer, the defendant, for damages to their home caused by the wind from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. According to the plaintiffs, the defendant "underpaid certain portions of the claim and denied others." The plaintiffs commenced this action to recover full payment for damages to the premises. Nearly two years later, the plaintiffs moved for leave to amend the complaint to recover damages for contents within the home and additional living expenses. The plaintiffs also sought to recover consequential and punitive damages. The Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs' motion, stating that the plaintiffs' delayed attempt to add new damage claims constituted an "unfair surprise" to the defendant. The plaintiffs appeal.
Leave to amend pleadings " ‘should be freely given provided that the amendment is not palpably insufficient, does not prejudice or surprise the opposing party, and is not patently devoid of merit’ " ( Krigsman v. Cyngiel , 130 A.D.3d 786, 786, 14 N.Y.S.3d 94, quoting Gitlin v. Chirinkin , 60 A.D.3d 901, 901–902, 875 N.Y.S.2d 585 ). " ‘In exercising its discretion, the court should consider how long the party seeking the amendment was aware of the facts upon which the motion was predicated [and] whether a reasonable excuse for the delay was offered’ " ( Yong Soon Oh v. Hua Jin , 124 A.D.3d 639, 640, 1 N.Y.S.3d 307,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Apollo Glob. Mgmt. v. Cernich
...entities, and not the parent, the defendants cannot now complain about their addition in the Proposed AC. Morand v Farmers New Century (171 A.D.3d 1167, 1168 [2d Dept 2019]), Spiegel v Kempner (145 A.D.3d 505, 506 [1st Dept 2016]) and Pecora v Pecora (204 A.D.3d 611, 612 [1st Dept 2022]) do......
-
Ferretti v. Vill. of Scotia
...discretion in allowing such amendments should be discrete, circumspect, prudent, and cautious" ( Morand v. Farmers New Century Ins. Co. 171 A.D.3d 1167, 1167, 99 N.Y.S.3d 346 [2019] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; see Velez v. South Nine Realty Corp., 57 A.D.3d 889, 892, 8......
-
Itzkowitz v. Ginsburg
...discretion in determining whether to grant leave to amend pleadings will not be lightly disturbed" ( Morand v. Farmers New Century Ins. Co., 171 A.D.3d 1167, 1167, 99 N.Y.S.3d 346 ). Here, the defendants did not allege prejudice, and the respondents' proposed amendment was not palpably insu......
-
Schlusselberg v. N.Y. Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co.
...to vindicate a public right (see New York Univ. v Continental Ins. Co., 87 N.Y.2d 308, 315; Morand v Farmers New Century Ins. Co., 171 A.D.3d 1167). "Punitive damages are available only in those limited circumstances where it is necessary to deter defendant and others like it from engaging ......