NN&R, Inc. v. One Beacon Insurance Group

362 F. Supp. 2d 514, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9496, 2005 WL 730349
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedMarch 15, 2005
DocketCIV.03-5011(JBS)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 362 F. Supp. 2d 514 (NN&R, Inc. v. One Beacon Insurance Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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NN&R, Inc. v. One Beacon Insurance Group, 362 F. Supp. 2d 514, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9496, 2005 WL 730349 (D.N.J. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

SIMANDLE, District Judge.

Plaintiff, a New Jersey corporation, has brought this action against Defendants One Beacon Insurance Group (“One Beacon”) and Triester, Rossman & Associates, Inc. (“Triester”), alleging claims for breach of contract, bad faith dealing and common law fraud, as well as claims under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -20, and the New Jersey Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Act, N.J.S.A. 17B:30-13.1. (Am.Compl.) Defendant One Beacon has moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint and to strike certain portions therefrom. 1 [Docket Item 26.]

I. BACKGROUND

This action arises from the structural collapse of a building at 326 Market Street, Camden New Jersey. Plaintiff, the alleged owner and operator of a small restaurant and apartment units located at that address, alleges that the building was severely damaged in February 2000 when the contiguous property was legally demolished. Prior to that event, CGU Insurance, One Beacon’s predecessor, issued insurance policies through Triester, Ross-man & Associates, Inc. providing property and liability coverage to Plaintiff. A dispute involving one of those policies, Number CPLP 53356 (the “Policy”), has given rise to this action.

Plaintiff, together with William Rosenberg, filed its original complaint against Defendant One Beacon in Superior Court, Camden County, New Jersey, alleging claims of breach of contract and common law fraud, as well as claims under the Consumer Fraud Act. (Compl.) The case was properly removed to this Court, [Docket Item 1], and Defendants subsequently moved for dismissal and a more particularized pleading of the fraud claims asserted by NN & R.

By Order dated May 7, 2004, this Court dismissed all claims asserted by William Rosenberg individually, and granted One Beacon’s motion for a more particularized pleading, requiring Plaintiff to file and serve an Amended Complaint which clarified the basis for:

(1) its common law fraud claim;
(2) its claim of violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, providing special emphasis in the amendment on allegations involving pre-insurance events and insurance adjustment practices; and
(3) its claim regarding a breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, providing special emphasis in the amendment on allegations involving a delay in payments under the policy.

[Docket Item 16.] Plaintiff then filed the Amended Complaint which is the subject of the instant motions.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

A. 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted must be denied “unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). A dis *518 trict court must accept any and all reasonable inferences derived from those facts. Unger v. Nat’l Residents Matching Program, 928 F.2d 1392 (3rd Cir.1991); Glenside West Corp. v. Exxon Co., U.S.A., 761 F.Supp. 1100, 1107 (D.N.J.1991); Gutman v. Howard Sav. Bank, 748 F.Supp. 254, 260 (D.N.J.1990). Further, the court must view all allegations in the Complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Jordan v. Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien & Frankel, 20 F.3d 1250, 1261 (3d Cir.1994).

It is not necessary for the plaintiff to plead evidence, and it is generally not necessary to plead the facts that serve as the basis for the claim. Bogosian v. Gulf Oil Corp., 561 F.2d 434, 446 (3d Cir.1977); In re Midlantic Corp. Shareholder Litigation, 758 F.Supp. 226, 230 (D.N.J.1990). The question before the court is not whether plaintiffs will ultimately prevail; rather, it is whether they can prove any set of facts in support of their claims that would entitle them to relief. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). Therefore, in deciding a motion to dismiss, a court should look to the face of the complaint and decide whether, taking all of the allegations of fact as true and construing them in a light most favorable to the nonmovant, plaintiffs allegations state a legal claim. Markowitz, 906 F.2d at 103.

In an action for fraud, though, the plaintiff is subject to heightened pleading requirements. Specifically, “[i]n all averments of fraud or mistake, the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with particularity.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 9(b). To be sure, Rule 9(b) does not require that a plaintiff claiming fraud plead the date, place or time of the fraud so long as she uses “alternative means of injecting precision and some measure of substantiation into their allegations of fraud.” Mardini, 92 F.Supp.2d at 385 (quoting Rolo v. City Investing Co. Liquidating Trust, 155 F.3d 644, 658 (3d Cir.1998)). However, in order to satisfy the “required level of specificity articulated in Rule 9(b),” a plaintiff may not rely merely on “conelusory statements.” Mardini, 92 F.Supp.2d at 385. Instead, the plaintiff must indicate at the very least who made the material representation giving rise to the claim and what specific representations were made. Id.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Dismiss

1. Count I — Common Law Fraud and Breach of Contract

(a) Common Law Fraud

Plaintiff claims in Count I that Defendant One Beacon fraudulently misrepresented to Plaintiff that incremental increases in premiums under the Policy would be accompanied by increases in coverage when, in fact, that was not the case.

“In order to articulate a cause of action for fraud, a plaintiff must show that the defendant made ‘a material representation of a presently existing or past fact, ... with knowledge of its falsity and with the intention that the other party rely thereon, resulting in reliance by that party to his detriment.’ ” Mardini v. Viking Freight, Inc., 92 F.Supp.2d 378, 385 (D.N.J.1999) (quoting Nappe v. Anschelewitz, Barr, Ansell & Bonello, 97 N.J. 37, 477 A.2d 1224, 1232 (1984)).

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362 F. Supp. 2d 514, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9496, 2005 WL 730349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nnr-inc-v-one-beacon-insurance-group-njd-2005.