RAMON INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE BROKERS, INC., ETC., AND IRIS ARDEN
v.
CHAUCER SYNDICATES LIMITED, ETC., AND ANOVA MARINE INSURANCE SERVICES, LLC
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Punitive damages may not be awarded when the damages sought in a fraud claim duplicate the damages recoverable under an accompanying breach of contract claim.
[1] Punitive damages are not recoverable in a breach of contract action accompanied by tort claims when the damages sought in the tort claims are identical to those recoverab…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A plaintiff, however, may not recover damages for fraud that duplicate damages awarded for breach of contract.”
Ghodrati v. Miami Paneling Corp., 770 So. 2d 181, 182–83 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)
Ramon International Insurance Brokers and Iris Arden were sued by Chaucer Syndicates Limited and Anova Marine Insurance Services for multiple causes o…
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Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed August 6, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D24-0971 Lower Tribunal No. 21-7788-CA-01 ________________
Ramon International Insurance Brokers, Inc., etc., and Iris Arden, Appellants,
vs.
Chaucer Syndicates Limited, etc., and Anova Marine Insurance Services, LLC, Appellees.
An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Lisa S. Walsh, Judge.
Fox Rothschild LLP, and Joseph A. DeMaria and Victor Sanabria, for appellants.
Colodny Fass, and Maria Elena Abate and Fernando J. Valle (Sunrise), for appellees.
Before FERNANDEZ, MILLER, and GOODEN, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
2
Appellants Ramon International Insurance Brokers, Inc. and Iris Arden appeal the trial court’s order on dueling motions to amend for punitive damages. The trial court denied Ramon International’s request, but granted Appellees Chaucer Syndicates Limited’s and Anova Marine Insurance Services, LLC’s request. We affirm the denial of Ramon International’s motion without further discussion. But we reverse the grant of Chaucer Syndicates’ and Anova Marine Insurance’s motion.
In their complaint, Anova Marine Insurance and Chaucer Syndicates assert numerous causes of action sounding in both tort and contract. The trial court permitted punitive damages to be pled against Arden in Count V for fraud and against Ramon in Count VI for fraud in the inducement. Yet the Appellees seek the same damages as their contract claims—the difference in premiums collected and wrongly retained. For this reason, we reverse the order allowing amendment for punitive damages. See S. Bell Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Hanft, 436 So. 2d 40, 42 (Fla. 1983) (“In general, punitive damages may not be awarded in cases based upon breach of contract. In order for punitive damages to be recoverable in such a case, the breach of contract must be attended by some additional wrongful conduct amounting to an independent tort.”); Ghodrati v. Miami Paneling Corp., 770 So. 2d 181, 182–83 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (“Punitive damages are generally not
Reversed, in part; affirmed, in part.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Morton L. Ginsberg & MLG Props., Inc. v. Lennar Fla. Holdings, 645 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- S. Bell Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Hanft, 436 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 1983)
- Peebles v. Puig, 223 So. 3d 1065 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)
- Soraya Ghodrati v. Miami Paneling Corp., 770 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)