Insurance has been described as “[a]n ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table.”[1]

Historically, New York courts have limited relief for breach of contract on a first party insurance claim to the amount of the policy. Thus, the insurer has nothing to lose by disclaiming liability. However, with a majority decision in Acquista v. New York Life Insurance Company,[2] the Appellate Division, First Department joins the majority of jurisdictions across the country and recognizes that, in some cases, this traditional limitation on damages may provide insufficient relief to the insured.

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