Inchaustegui v. 666 5th Avenue Limited Partnership
Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division
268 A.D.2d 121 (2000)
Petrofin (defendant), a subtenant, was contractually required to obtain liability insurance naming both its sublessor tenant and the landlord (plaintiff in the third-party claim) as additional insureds, but Petrofin's policy failed to name the landlord; upon discovering this, the landlord obtained its own independent liability insurance policy, which ultimately paid for injuries suffered by Inchaustegui, who was hurt on the premises and sued the landlord directly. The landlord brought a third-party breach of contract claim against Petrofin seeking damages and indemnity, and the trial court limited the landlord's recoverable damages to the cost of securing and maintaining its own independent insurance policy; the landlord appealed seeking broader recovery.
Whether a landlord whose tenant breaches a lease's insurance-naming requirement, but who obtains its own independent insurance policy that covers a resulting injury claim, may recover from the tenant only the cost of maintaining that independent policy, or may recover additional damages.