Petro, Inc. v. Serio

9 Misc. 3d 805
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 29, 2005
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Misc. 3d 805 (Petro, Inc. v. Serio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Petro, Inc. v. Serio, 9 Misc. 3d 805 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

[806]*806OPINION OF THE COURT

Charles Edward Ramos, J.

In a declaratory judgment action to determine whether services provided by a heating fuel oil company amount to insurance coverage, the Superintendent of the Insurance Department of New York State, Gregory V Serio, moves for a preliminary injunction pursuant to Insurance Law § 327, barring plaintiff Petroleum Heating and Oil Services, Inc. (Petra) from marketing and issuing contracts under its CARE Program without an insurance license, pending resolution of this action. The Superintendent additionally moves for an order directing Petro to carry out any remaining obligations under existing CARE Program contracts under the supervision of the New York State Insurance Department.

Background

The Superintendent heads New York State’s Insurance Department, the governmental agency responsible for regulating the insurance industry. The Department closely supervises the regulatory structure that governs insurance entities, by, inter alla, issuing licenses to insurers, and otherwise ensuring compliance with Insurance Law, which prohibits the sale of insurance unless the seller is licensed as an insurer.

Petro sells heating fuel oil in seven states along the east coast, including New York, and offers customers of its automatic heating fuel oil delivery plan to subscribe, for an additional fee, to a program entitled “Clean Up for Accidental Release to the Environment” (CARE Program or Program). Under the CARE Program, subscribers are provided with inspection, maintenance and repair of heating fuel oil systems, in an effort to minimize the risk of fuel oil spills, and are additionally provided with cleanup services of up to $100,000 in the event that there is a heating fuel oil spill onto a subscriber’s property.

Subsequent to its review of the CARE Program, the Department notified Petro that the Program amounted to an insurance contract, and therefore, Petro was in violation of Insurance Law for providing insurance coverage without a license. Petro thereafter instituted this action, seeking a declaratory judgment that it is not required to obtain an insurance license for offering the CARE Program because it does not constitute insurance coverage.

Discussion

A party seeking preliminary injunctive relief pursuant to CPLR 6301 must show (1) a likelihood of success on the merits, [807]*807(2) irreparable injury if provisional relief is not granted, and (3) that the equities are in her favor. (J. A. Preston Corp. v Fabrication Enters., 68 NY2d 397, 406 [1986].) This standard has been applied to a motion for a preliminary injunction made pursuant to Insurance Law § 327 (a), which authorizes the Superintendent to bring an action “in the name of the people of the state,” for an injunction restraining individuals from violating Insurance Law, and without requiring the posting of a bond. (People v British & Am. Cas. Co., 133 Misc 2d 352, 360 [Sup Ct, NY County 1986].)

A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits

The Superintendent argues that the Department is likely to succeed on the merits because plaintiff is in violation of Insurance Law, as the CARE Program meets every element of the definition of insurance coverage under Insurance Law § 1101 (a) (1), and neither does it qualify for any of the statutory exemptions.

Insurance Law § 1101 (a) (1) states:

‘Insurance contract’ means any agreement or other transaction where one party, the ‘insurer’, is obligated to confer benefit of pecuniary value upon another party, the ‘insured’ or ‘beneficiary’, dependant upon the happening of a fortuitous event in which the insured or beneficiary has, or is expected to have at the time of such happening, a material interest which will be adversely affected by the happening of such event.” (Emphasis added.)

The Department claims that the CARE Program meets this definition of an insurance contract because it obligates Petro to “confer [a] benefit of pecuniary value upon another party [the subscribing customer],” by absorbing up to $100,000 in cleanup costs, and, furthermore, Petro’s duties under the Program are dependent on the happening of a fortuitous event, an accidental heating fuel oil spill on a subscribing customer’s property.

In contrast, Petro argues that the CARE Program is not an insurance contract subject to regulation by the Department on the grounds that the CARE Program constitutes a service contract or a warranty within the meaning of Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a), and is therefore exempted from regulation.

1. Service Contract Exemption

The parties sharply dispute whether the Insurance Law article 79 definition of “service contract” should be imported to Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a), which enumerates several statutory exemptions [808]*808from insurance regulation, including service contracts related to the sale of heating fuel oil.

According to Petro, the Legislature intended that warranties, service contracts and maintenance agreements related to the sale of heating fuel oil be exempted from insurance regulation entirely, under Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a). Further, Petro maintains that the Legislature additionally intended that service contracts related to the sale of heating fuel oil be removed entirely from the ambit of article 79, which otherwise regulates service contracts. Accordingly, Petro urges the court to adopt a broader definition of the term “service contract” than that provided under the article 79 definition of “service contract” (Insurance Law § 7902 [k]), to determine if the Program otherwise meets the statutory exemption for service contracts related to the sale of heating fuel oil under Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a).

To establish that this interpretation is to govern the analysis of whether the CARE Program is an exempt service contract, Petro relies on legislative intent purportedly established by several letters included in the Bill Jacket in support of the bill to amend those sections of the Insurance Law relating to the definition of “doing an insurance business.”

In contrast, while concurring that the objectives behind the 1998 and 2000 amendments to the Insurance Law were to exempt, inter alla, service contracts associated with the sale of heating fuel oil from insurance regulation under Insurance Law article 11, and in addition, to heating fuel oil-related service contracts from regulation under article 79, the Department argues that these exemptions would apply as long as the agreement at issue otherwise meets the definition of “service contract” under article 79. Accordingly, the Department urges the court to import the article 79 definition of “service contract” to govern the meaning of “service contract” in Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a). Therefore, the Department maintains that, because the CARE Program does not constitute a “service contract” under article 79, these amendments have no effect on the Program, and thus Petro is not entitled to the statutory exemption of service contracts under Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a).

Insurance Law § 1101 (b) (3-a) states: “[A] service contract pursuant to article seventy-nine of this chapter or warranty, service contract or maintenance agreement conditioned upon or otherwise associated with the sale or supply of heating fuel shall not constitute doing an insurance business in this state.” (Emphasis added.)

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Bluebook (online)
9 Misc. 3d 805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petro-inc-v-serio-nysupct-2005.