Summary
involving "assertion that the new account would be profitable and would double the brokers' account"
Summary of this case from Silvercreek Mgmt., Inc. v. Citigroup, Inc.Opinion
January 30, 2001.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Elliott Wilk, J.), entered on or about December 27, 1999, which, to the extent appealed from, as limited by the brief, granted counterclaim-defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the third through sixth counterclaims, and denied counterclaim plaintiffs' motion to amend the answer to assert a seventh counterclaim, for negligent misrepresentation, unanimously affirmed, with costs.
Thomas D. Hughes for defendants/counter-plaintiffs-appellants.
Monte E. Sokol for counter-defendants-respondents.
Before: Williams, J.P., Mazzarelli, Lerner, Rubin, Buckley, JJ.
Counterclaim-defendants, as the insurance broker for the proposed insured, owed the insured, not counterclaim-plaintiff insurers, a duty of care (see, Am. Motorists Ins. v. Salvatore, 102 A.D.2d 342, 345). In any event, the brokers did not possess knowledge superior to that of the insurers, and the brokers' assertion that the new account would be profitable and would double the brokers' account with the insurers was nonactionable opinion or mere puffery (see, Jacobs v. Lewis, 261 A.D.2d 127). The insurers' failure to conduct their own thorough investigation into the financial stability of the proposed insured further precludes their claim of detrimental reliance on the purportedly inadequate investigation by the brokers (see, id.).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.