Education ProgramS. Mock Trial. sponsored by

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1 Education ProgramS r E&O Mock Trial sponsored by

2 Insuring the Real Housewives of Middlesex County Andy Cronin runs the Bravo Insurance Agency. Bravo has had offices in such glamorous cities as Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Miami, and Princeton. In keeping with this tradition, when expanding into New England in 2006 he opened an office in Woburn. Cronin started his insurance career specializing in obtaining insurance for tanning salons. As the tanning business declined, he began obtaining insurance for their clientele. As a result, over the last several years, Bravo has found a niche in obtaining insurance for self-promoting, shameless, orange individuals. Cronin met Vanessa Bluedice in New Jersey, before she was married (when her last name was Gorge). At that time she was getting her auto and renters insurance from Bravo. In 2009, she met Jack Bluedice, a professional gambler from Monaco. They were married in 2010, and had a daughter, Baccarat, in After the birth of their daughter, Jack and Vanessa decided to move to Massachusetts (Jack was spending a great deal of time at the Connecticut casinos). They found the perfect property in Wayland, which had both a guest house and pool house. But because Jack s income was not steady, they needed some additional income to afford it.

3 Vanessa came up with a plan to rent the guest house and pool house to two of her friends, Bethany Finkel and NoNo Lucks. Vanessa knew each of them to be somewhat melodramatic and volatile, but felt she could keep them in line. She proposed the rental arrangement to each of them, and they agreed. Vanessa telephoned Cronin and asked him who could handle the insurance. She disclosed to him that the purchase of the property was a financial stretch, and told about the planned rental of the pool and guest house. She specifically recounted how another of her friends, Vicki Gundersen, had a problem with a tenant who caused all sorts of damage. Knowing her friends, Vanessa wanted to make sure she had coverage in case they did the same. Cronin said he could handle the coverage out of Bravo s Woburn office. He told Vanessa to go to the Bravo Agency in Woburn and meet with customer service representative Jim Parchese. Cronin said that Parchese would get the information to prepare an application and pass it on to Cronin to arrange the coverage. As requested, Vanessa went to the Bravo office in Woburn and met with Parchese. She provided him with information regarding the house and the mortgage, and discussed the limits she wanted for property and liability coverage. Because she had already explained to Cronin that there would be tenants she didn t repeat that to Parchese. Parchese prepared an application and forwarded it to Cronin. He proceeded to market the coverage and provided Vanessa with three homeowners quotes. Based on the information Cronin provided, she decided to go with Siren Insurance Company. That company had a very competitive premium and was willing to accept installment payments (which was a big help to Vanessa since Jack had been on something of a losing streak).

4 The Siren policy contained a provision which required that for coverage to be effective the property had to be owner occupied. The Siren policy also stated that if any portion of the property was occupied by a tenant, for coverage to remain in effect, the Property must be considered the insured s principal residence, and the insured must habitually, physically reside there. When the Siren policy was issued Cronin reviewed it personally. Through this review he was aware of the occupancy provision. However, as Vanessa had made it clear to Cronin that she and her husband would be living at the house, he did not consider this an issue. Unfortunately for Vanessa, after purchasing the property, her luck took a turn for the worse. She and her husband were audited by the IRS, who determined that in order to fund their extravagant lifestyles they had hidden her husband s overseas gambling winnings for a number of years to avoid paying taxes. The IRS brought criminal proceedings. As they were considered by the jury to be spectacularly unsympathetic witnesses, Jack and Vanessa were convicted on all counts. In addition to stiff financial penalties, they were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment each. However, as a concession so that their young daughter not be without a parent, the judge agreed to allow the Bluedices to serve their prison sentences one after the other. It was decided that Vanessa would serve her sentence first. After Vanessa started serving her sentence, Jack said he was going to take their daughter back to New Jersey for a few weeks for a little vacation, to visit her grandma and take her mind off of the absence of her mother. Jack did go to New Jersey, where he dropped his daughter off with his mother and then fled the country to avoid having to serve his prison sentence. However, his attorney was continuing to negotiate with the Federal authorities, so it was unclear whether or not he would be returning.

5 This scandal, with all of its twists and turns, was well publicized in the local press. As a result, Parchese knew both of Vanessa s imprisonment and Jack s flight abroad. However, this information was never conveyed to Cronin. Further, during this time, the Bluedice insurance policies were renewed. Neither Jack nor Vanessa ever told Bravo that they would be leaving their property vacant for an extended period of time (nor did they make any changes to their other insurance such as indicating their cars were not being used). After a few months with Jack and Vanessa gone, Finkel and Lucks decided to throw a huge party at the Bluedice house. Friends were invited from all over. One person who was not invited was one of Finkel s former friends, Michele Salami. Not one to be excluded from a social event, Salami crashes the party. A lot of alcohol was served, which caused some old grievances to be aired. Not surprisingly, things then got out of control. Salami got into an argument with another guest, Mercedes Williams, over allegations that Williams husband, propositioned Salami. Words were exchanged, wine was thrown, and then furniture began to fly. During this altercation, another guest, Arriva Dresser, who has an artificial limb, was knocked backwards into the swimming pool. Dresser brought suit against the Bluedices, as owners of the property, alleging physical injury and emotional distress. Vanessa tendered the claim to Siren, who denied coverage due to the fact that the property was not owner occupied at the time of the loss. Vanessa brought a declaratory judgment action against Siren. In that case, the court ruled that the claim would have been covered but for the fact that the property was no owner occupied at the time of the loss. Without coverage, with her husband in hiding, and with all of her assets frozen, Vanessa was unable to mount a defense to Dresser s claims. As a result, a judgment entered against her for $250,000.

6 Vanessa has now brought suit against Bravo for failing to obtain appropriate insurance coverage. Noted insurance expert and TV personality Barry Hamwin, the husband of one of her friends, has agreed to testify on her behalf that Bravo was negligent in failing to suggest changes in coverage when it became aware the property was not owner occupied, and that alternative insurance which would have provided coverage for this claim was available, albeit at a significant increase in premium.