Office Furniture Rental Alliance, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance

981 F. Supp. 2d 111, 2013 WL 5934049, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157263
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedNovember 1, 2013
DocketCivil No. 3:11cv1889 (JBA)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 981 F. Supp. 2d 111 (Office Furniture Rental Alliance, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Office Furniture Rental Alliance, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance, 981 F. Supp. 2d 111, 2013 WL 5934049, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157263 (D. Conn. 2013).

Opinion

RULING ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JANET BOND ARTERTON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Office Furniture Rental Alliance, LLC (“OFRA”) brought this suit against Defendant Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (“Liberty Mutual”) stating claims for breach of contract (Count One), negligent misrepresentation (Count Two), and reformation (Count Three), arising out the failure of Defendant’s property insurance policy to provide blanket coverage as Plaintiff had requested. (See Am. Compl. [Doc. # 44].) Defendant now moves [Doc. # 61] for summary judgment, arguing that Plaintiff has failed to establish sufficient facts to support its claims. For the following reasons, Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

OFRA was founded in 1998. (See Orenstein Dep. Tr., Ex. B to Def.’s Loe. R. 56(a)l Stmt. [Doc. # 61-2] at 25-26.) It sells and rents office furniture, and leases a number of warehouses throughout the country in which it stores its inventory of [115]*115furniture. (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 6-7; see also Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 42.) Starting in 1998, Plaintiff began purchasing insurance policies from Defendant, through its agent James Lavangie. (See Lavangie Dep. Tr., Ex. 2 to Pl.’s Loe. R. 56(a)2 Stmt. [Doc. # 63] at 55; Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 38-39.) When OFRA was first formed, Robert Orenstein, a member of OFRA, met with Lavangie to discuss the purchase of property insurance for OFRA. (See Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 13, 42-43; Lavangie Dep. Tr. at 55.) Lavangie explained the difference between blanket insurance coverage and per location coverage to Orenstein, and recommended that Plaintiff purchase blanket insurance coverage, which would cover the totality of its inventory, regardless of fluctuations in inventory in specific warehouse locations. (See Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 42-43; Orenstein Aff., Ex. 3 to PL’s 56(a)2 Stmt. ¶¶ 3, 7.)1 Based on this recommendation, Plaintiff purchased a blanket property insurance policy from Defendant each year from 1998 to 2001. (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 11-12; Orenstein Aff. ¶ 3.)

During the 2001 to 2002 policy period, Plaintiff chose not to renew its insurance with Defendant, and instead purchased a blanket property insurance policy from a different company. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 14; see also Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 45-47.) However, in 2002, Lavangie asked Orenstein for an opportunity to provide a quote for the 2002 to 2003 policy year. (See Orenstein Dep. at 47-48.) Orenstein asked Lavangie to give him “comparable coverage” to what Plaintiff had purchased from 1998 to 2001, and to what Plaintiff had under its current policy. (See id. at 48-49.) They discussed that if Defendant wanted to win back Plaintiffs business, it would have to be under the same terms and conditions as the policies Defendant had previously provided. (See id. at 97.) No one else at OFRA besides Orenstein discussed the specifics of purchasing the 2002 to 2003 policy with Lavangie. (See id. at 49.) Lavangie understood that Orenstein was requesting a quote for blanket coverage for the 2002 to 2003 policy period. (See Lavangie Dep. Tr. at 80.) On March 27, 2002, Lavangie emailed an insurance quote to Orenstein. (See Mar. 27, 2002 Email, Ex. C to Def.’s 56(a)l Stmt, at OFR001790.) The quote was for property insurance coverage on a per location limit, rather than a blanket limit basis. (See id. at OFR001792-OFR001793.) Orenstein does not recall whether he read the quote, but his normal practice would have been to review at least the portion of the quote setting out the premium, rather than to read the quote from “beginning to end.” (See Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 58-59.) Although Lavangie does not recall any specific conversation with Orenstein regarding the quote, he believes that he would have explained to Orenstein that the quote was on a per location limit, rather than on a blanket limit basis because it was his normal practice not to leave it to Orenstein to identify changes in the policy for himself. (See Lavangie Dep. Tr. at 89-92, 185-86.) Orenstein avers that Lavangie never informed him that Defendant was not able to sell OFRA property insurance on a blanket limit basis, or explained to him how to identify the difference between the two coverages in the terms of a quote or policy, and states that he was not aware that he was buying property insurance only on a per location limit basis in 2002. (See Orenstein Aff. ¶¶ 4-5, 7.) Plaintiff purchased property insurance from Defendant on a per location limit basis for the 2002 to 2003 policy year. (See 2002 to 2003 Policy, Ex. D to Def.’s 56(a)l Stmt.) [116]*116From 2003 to 2009, Orenstein requested renewal of OFRA’s policy from Defendant on the same terms and conditions as the expiring policy, believing that each expiring policy had been issued on a blanket limit basis. (See Orenstein Aff. ¶ 6.) Each year, Plaintiff provided valuation statements for each of its warehouses to Defendant, just as it had under the 1998 to 2001 policies that were issued on a blanket limit basis. (See Orenstein Dep. Tr. at 60, 83-89.)

In 2009, Plaintiff renewed its property insurance policy with Defendant for the policy period of 2009 to 2010 (the “2009 to 2010 Policy”). (See 2009 to 2010 Policy, Ex. E to Def.’s 56(a) 1 Stmt.) On December 7, 2009, Plaintiffs warehouse at 71 George Street, East Hartford, Connecticut caught fire, causing extensive damage to Plaintiffs inventory. (See Compl. ¶ 18.) As a result of this damage, Plaintiff submitted a claim for cash value loss of $4,037,974 under the 2009 to 2010 Policy. (See id. ¶¶ 19-20.) While Defendant did not contest Plaintiffs loss calculation, it paid only $2,780,000 of Plaintiffs claim, as this was the location limit for the George Street warehouse under the 2009 to 2010 Policy, which provided per location limit coverage. (See id. ¶ 20; see also 2009 to 2010 Policy Declarations, Ex. E-1 to Def.’s 56(a)1 Stmt. at 5.) It was only then that Plaintiff became aware that it did not have a blanket property insurance policy, which would have covered the entire loss resulting from the December 7, 2009 fire. (See Orenstein Aff. ¶ 5.)

II. Discussion2

Defendant moves for summary judgment on all counts, arguing that Plaintiff has failed to put forth sufficient evidence to support any of its three claims.3

A. Breach of Contract

With respect to Plaintiffs breach of contract claim, Defendant argues (1) that Plaintiff cannot establish that the parties entered a contract to provide blanket limit property insurance between 2002 and 2009; (2) that the evidence of an oral agreement contrary to the unambiguous terms of the insurance policies issued by Defendant is barred by the parol evidence rule; and (3) that Plaintiffs claim is barred by the statute of limitations.4

“The elements of a breach of contract action are the formation of an [117]*117agreement, performance by one party, breach of the agreement by the other party and damages.” Pelletier v. Galske, 105 Conn.App. 77, 81, 936 A:2d 689 (2007).

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981 F. Supp. 2d 111, 2013 WL 5934049, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157263, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/office-furniture-rental-alliance-llc-v-liberty-mutual-fire-insurance-ctd-2013.