INSURANCE AGENCY ALLEGED FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE INSURED WHICH RESULTED IN A LOWER PREMIUM, THE COMPLAINT ADEQUATELY ALLEGED A FRAUD CAUSE OF ACTION (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the complaint stated a cause of action for fraud and should not have been dismissed. The plaintiff, an insurance agency, alleged the defendant insured (Aminov) misrepresented its gross income, and therefore paid a lower premium:
“The elements of a cause of action to recover damages for fraud are (1) a misrepresentation or a material omission of fact which was false, (2) knowledge of its falsity, (3) an intent to induce reliance, (4) justifiable reliance by the plaintiff, and (5) damages” … . “In actions for fraud, corporate officers and directors may be held individually liable if they participated in or had knowledge of the fraud, even if they did not stand to gain personally” … .
In addition to alleging all of the elements of a fraud cause of action, CPLR 3016(b) provides that “the circumstances constituting the wrong shall be stated in detail.” The purpose of this heightened pleading requirement “is to inform a defendant with respect to the incidents complained of” and “should not be confused with unassailable proof of fraud” … .
Here, contrary to the Supreme Court's conclusion, the complaint, as amplified by the plaintiff's submission in opposition to the motion, alleged all of the elements constituting fraud, and further stated “the basic facts to establish [those] elements,” as required by CPLR 3016(b) … . In particular, the plaintiff alleged a specific misrepresentation, intentionally made by Aminov … , in the context of applying for a policy of insurance from the plaintiff, and that the plaintiff relied upon that misrepresentation to its detriment, as it consequently charged and collected a lower premium than it otherwise would have for the instant insurance policy. Assuming the facts alleged to be true and according the plaintiff the benefit of every favorable inference, these allegations set forth a cognizable cause of action alleging fraud, and stated in sufficient detail the facts constituting the wrong … . Moreover, the fraud cause of action is not duplicative of the breach of contract cause of action, as it does not relate to a failure to perform under the insurance policy, but, rather, to an alleged misrepresentation made in applying for the policy … . Minico Ins. Agency, LLC v B&M Cleanup Servs., 2018 NY Slip Op 06729, Second Dept 10-10-18
FRAUD (INSURANCE AGENCY ALLEGED FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE INSURED WHICH RESULTED IN A LOWER PREMIUM, THE COMPLAINT ADEQUATELY ALLEGED A FRAUD CAUSE OF ACTION (SECOND DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (FRAUD, INSURANCE AGENCY ALLEGED FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE INSURED WHICH RESULTED IN A LOWER PREMIUM, THE COMPLAINT ADEQUATELY ALLEGED A FRAUD CAUSE OF ACTION (SECOND DEPT))/INSURANCE LAW (FRAUD, (INSURANCE AGENCY ALLEGED FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE INSURED WHICH RESULTED IN A LOWER PREMIUM, THE COMPLAINT ADEQUATELY ALLEGED A FRAUD CAUSE OF ACTION (SECOND DEPT))