GENERAL BUSINESS LAW 349 RENDERS UNFAIR, DECEPTIVE OR ABUSIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES UNLAWFUL; THE STATUTE APPLIES ONLY TO CONSUMER ORIENTED CONDUCT; HERE THE DISPUTE OVER A PRIVATE INSURANCE CONTRACT FOR A RACING YACHT WAS NOT WITHIN THE AMBIT OF THE STATUTE (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the dispute about insurance coverage for a racing yacht was not the type of consumer-related activity to which General Business Law 349 applies:

General Business Law § 349(a) declares unlawful all “[u]nfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the conduct of any business, trade or commerce or in the furnishing of any service in this state” … . “To successfully assert a claim under General Business Law § 349(h), ‘a plaintiff must allege that a defendant has engaged in (1) consumer-oriented conduct that is (2) materially misleading and that (3) plaintiff suffered injury as a result of the allegedly deceptive act or practice'” … . “‘[P]arties claiming the benefit of [General Business Law § 349(h)] must, at the threshold, charge conduct that is consumer oriented'” … . “The conduct need not be repetitive or recurring but defendant’s acts or practices must have a broad impact on consumers at large” … . “Private contract disputes, unique to the parties, . . . [do] not fall within the ambit of the statute” … .

The plaintiff failed to allege that the defendant’s acts or practices had a broad impact on consumers at large, and the plaintiff did not assert any facts that would support such an allegation. The allegations in the complaint merely refer to a private contract dispute over the procurement of insurance coverage and the processing of a claim that is unique to these parties … . USMMA Sailing Found., Inc. v Hilb Group of N.Y., LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op 05824, Second Dept 10-7-26

Practice Point: Consult this decision for insight into the nature of “consumer oriented conduct” which is within the ambit of General Business Law 349.​