Maroney v. New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance

839 N.E.2d 886, 5 N.Y.3d 467
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 27, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by72 cases

This text of 839 N.E.2d 886 (Maroney v. New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Maroney v. New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance, 839 N.E.2d 886, 5 N.Y.3d 467 (N.Y. 2005).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

ClPARICK, J.

The issue presented by this appeal is the meaning of the words “arising out of ’ in an “uninsured premises” exclusion contained in a homeowners insurance policy. Here we hold that “arising out of’ includes use of the premises (as urged by the insurer), and is not limited to the physical condition of the premises (as urged by the insured).

On June 19, 1997, a horse being led by Deborah Morris kicked the six-year-old plaintiff, Mark Maroney, in the forehead. Deborah Morris was an owner of Soft Meadow Stables, a business that boarded horses for a fee. The barn and stable had been built on property owned by the Morrises, located across the road from their residence. Before the establishment of Soft Meadow Stables, that property had been insured as part of a homeowners policy secured from defendant, New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company (NYCM). In May 1997, once the Morrises began boarding horses for a fee, the policy was amended to remove coverage for the property where the barn and stable were located. The Morrises obtained a separate prop[471]*471erty and liability policy covering the barn and stable from Broome County Cooperative Fire Insurance Company (BCC). The agent who placed the insurance was Deborah Morris’s mother; she testified that the change was made because of the horse-boarding business on the property, explaining that NYCM does “not do that type of insurance.”

Fourteen-year-old Ashley Hoke, daughter of insured Deborah Morris, had agreed to care for the infant plaintiff during the summer of 1997. On the day of his injury, coincidentally the first day Ashley was to care for the child, Mark and his mother arrived at the Morris residence at about 6:30 a.m. While Ashley was getting herself ready for the day, Deborah Morris took the child across the road to the barn and stable where she proceeded to feed and turn out two boarded horses. As Deborah Morris was leading one of the horses to pasture, the horse kicked the infant plaintiff in the forehead, causing serious injury.

After the accident, Deborah Morris notified both BCC and NYCM of the injury. NYCM subsequently disclaimed coverage based on the policy’s “business pursuits,” “uninsured premises” and “home day care services” exclusions. The infant plaintiff, represented by his mother, Marsha Maroney, initiated a personal injury action against the Morrises. Marsha Maroney then brought suit against NYCM seeking a declaration that NYCM had a duty to defend and indemnify the Morrises in the underlying personal injury action. NYCM counterclaimed and commenced a third-party action against the Morrises, also seeking a declaration of its obligations under the policy.

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Bluebook (online)
839 N.E.2d 886, 5 N.Y.3d 467, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maroney-v-new-york-central-mutual-fire-insurance-ny-2005.