Insured Given Opportunity to Amend Bad Faith Claim after Judgment on the Pleadings Granted
The court dismissed the insured’s claims, but allowed the insured to file an amended compliant on its claim for deceptive and unfair trade practices. Cornerstone Assembly of God, Inc. v. Brotherhood Mut. Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113864.
The insured church held a policy issued by Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company that insured agaisnt certain loss, inclulding loss caused by windstorm. Hurricane Florence caused substantial damage to the insured’s property.
Brotherhood Mutual paid $23,101.15 for repairs to the church. The insured alleged that estimates for necessary repairs exceeded $900,000. After the insured alleged Brotherhood Mutual was unresponsive and made bad faith representations regarding the necessity of building code compliance and other matters, Brotherhood Mutual allowed $433,667.76 for repairs with $73,601.22 withheld as depreciation.
The insured sued for breach of contract and unfair and deceptive trade practices. Brotherhood Mutual moved for judgment on the pleadings. The complaint was filed four years after the loss. The breach of contract claim was therefore dismissed because the North Carolina statute of limitations for breach of contract was three years.
The unfair and deceptive trade practices claim also failed. The insured’s complaint alleged no injury or damages which were separate and distinct from its breach of contract claim. There were no damages which a factfinder could attribute only to any alleged unfair and deceptive trace practices, rather than the mere breach of the policy.
Therefore, the motion for judgment on the pleadings was granted. However, the insured was allowed to file an amended complaint to see if it could sufficiently allege injury and damages separate and distinct from claims on the policy.
