MEMORANDUM OPINION
Thе plaintiffs, RWN Development Group, LLC, 1700 Kalorama Condominium LLC, and Richard W. Naing, filed their complaint in this action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on July 31, 2007, seeking a declaratory judgment against the defendant, The Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut. Notice of Removal Exhibit (“Ex.”) 2 (Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and for Damages) (“Compl.”) ¶¶ 1-4, 20. The plaintiffs requested, inter alia, thаt the Superior Court enter a judgment declaring that the defendant “had a duty under the [subject insurance] Policy to defend [the][p]laintiffs in the Underlying Suits [pending against the plaintiffs in the Superior Court]” and enter an order for the defendant to assume the plaintiffs’ defense. Id. ¶ 20. The defendant filed a Notice of Removal in this *85 Court on August 30, 2007, “on the basis of diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1).” Notice of Removal ¶¶ 1-7; see also 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1) (2000) (“The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000 ... and is between (1) Citizens of different States[.]”). Currently before the Court is the plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand Case to Superior Court for the District of Columbia. 1 Motion to Remand Case to Superior Court for the District of Columbia (“Pis.’ Mot.”). For the reasons set forth below, the plaintiffs’ motion to remand is granted.
I. BACKGROUND
Thе parties allege the following facts in support of their claims. The defendant is a Connecticut corporation with its principal place of business in Hartford, Connecticut and the plaintiffs are all citizens of Maryland, the District of Columbia, or both jurisdictions. Defendant’s Motion for Leave to File Amended Notice of Removal (“Def.’s Mot. to File”) Attachment (“Attaсh.”) 1 (Am. Notice of Removal) ¶¶ 3-6; see also id. Ex. A (Compl.) ¶¶ 1-4. The defendant issued an insurance policy to plaintiff 1700 Kalorama Condo LLC in November 2004, which listed the other plaintiffs as insureds under the policy and provided coverage for “general liability, business owners, and boiler and machinery ... concerning a condominium ... to be developed by Condo, LLC[.]” Id., Ex. A (Compl.) ¶ 6. In the summer of 2006, three lawsuits (“thе Underlying Suits”) were filed against the plaintiffs in the Superior Court alleging, inter alia, breach of contract and negligence on the part of the plaintiffs. See generally Def.’s Mot., Ex. A (Compl.) ¶¶ 10-11; see also id., Ex. E (Complaint filed by Tommy Rudgers and Sharon Bresin), Ex. F (Complaint filed by Julia Hyman Tómala), and Ex. G (Complaint filed by The Unit Owners Association of 1700 Kalorama Lofts, A Condominium) (collectively referred to as “Complaints in the Underlying Suits”). These three lawsuits apparеntly are currently still pending in the Superior Court, Pis.’ Reply at 2 (“The Underlying Suits are currently pending and no liability for damages has as yet been imposed on [the p]laintiff[s][ ]”), and collectively seek damages totaling $802,880. Def.’s Mot. ¶ 4(c); id., Exs. EG (Complaints in the Underlying Suits).
The plaintiffs then filed this action in the Superior Court on July 31, 2007, after the defendant refused to defend them in the Underlying Suits, Pis.’ Mot. ¶ 1; Def.’s Mot., Ex. A (Compl.), and the defendant filed its Notice of Removal on August 30, 2007, removing the case to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1) and 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) (2000). Notice of Removal filed on August 30, 2007; see also 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(l)(eonferring to federal district courts original jurisdiction in “civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000” and all parties are from different states); 28 *86 U.S.C. § 1441(a) (allowing a defendant to remove a civil action brought in a state court to federal court when the federal court has original jurisdiction). The plaintiffs filed their Motion to Remand with this Court on September 19, 2007, alleging that the Complaint “does not satisfy the jurisdictional amount requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)” and the “[defendant has failed to establish anything to the contrary.” Pis.’ Mot. ¶ 5. Subsequently, on October 10, 2007, the defendant also filed its Motion for Leave to File an Amended Notice of Removal seeking to amend its original notice of removal in order to include documents referenced in the plaintiffs’ complaint to dispel any purported ambiguity as to the amount in controversy in this case.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
A defendant may remove a civil action from a state court to the federal district court “embracing the place where such аction is pending” when the district court has original jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a);
see Julien v. CCA of Tenn., Inc.,
When calculating whether the party opposing a motion to remand has met its burden of еstablishing federal jurisdiction, a federal court must “strictly construe” the removal statute,
Int’l Union,
“In actions seeking declaratory or injunctive relief, it is well established that the amount in controversy is measured by the value of the object of the litigation.”
Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Adver. Comm’n,
III. LEGAL ANALYSIS
The plaintiffs argue that the “[d]e-fendant has failed to satisfy its burden to establish the jurisdiction of this Court, and remand is therefore mandated.” Pis.’ Mem. at 2. As support for this argument, the plaintiffs contend that they did not specify any amount of damages 2 in their Complaint except fоr the assertion that “[plaintiffs’ damages exceed $5,000.00” as to their breach of contract claim. Id. (citing Compl. ¶ 30). Further, the plaintiffs assert that the defendant’s “only allegations ... with respect to jurisdictional amount were that: ‘... On information and belief, [the][p]laintiffs seek in excess of $75,000, exclusive[] of interests and costs.’ ” Id. According to the plaintiffs, this general averment by the defendant is not enough to satisfy the burden of proof concerning jurisdictional amount. Id. at 4.
In response, the defendant acknowledges that the plaintiffs’ “Complaint does not specify a monetary demand,” Def.’s Opp’n at 2; Def.’s Mot. to File Am. Notice of Removal, Attach. 1 (Am. Notice of Removal) ¶ 8, but argues that the amount in controversy requirement is satisfied because the Underlying Suits, whiсh are referenced in the plaintiffs’ Complaint, seek more than $75,000 in damages. Def.’s Opp’n at 2-3; Def.’s Mot. to File Am. Notice of Removal, Attach. 1 (Am. Notice of Removal) ¶ 8(a), (c). The defendant contends that there can be no indemnification obligation without there first being an obligation to defend the plaintiffs in the Underlying Suits, and so by seeking a declaratory judgment as to the alleged defense obligation, the plaintiffs “necessarily have placed the indemnity obligation in controversy as well.” Def s Opp’n at 3-4; Def.’s Mot. to File Am. Notice of Removal, At *88 tach. 1 (Am. Notice of Removal) ¶ (8)(d)-(e). The defendant therefore reasons that the “the value of the right that [the][p]lain-tiffs seek to protect, and the extent of injury they seek to prevent, is not limited to the cost of their defense against the [Ijawsuit. [Rather,] [t]he amount in controversy encompasses the entire value of [the][p]laintiffs’ interest in establishing ... coverage for the [l]awsuits, which seek $802,880 in damages,.... ” Def.’s Opp’n at 5. And, because the Underlying Suits seek an aggregate of $802,880 in damages from the plaintiffs, the defendant contends that the jurisdictional amount for diversity jurisdictiоn has been satisfied. Id. While at first blush the defendant’s position seems correct, the record before the Court in this case does not support it.
Although the parties have not cited, and this Court’s research has not discovered, any legal authority from the District of Columbia Circuit addressing the issue of whether a potential indemnification obligation should be considered in assessing the amount in controversy, several federal courts have answered the question in the affirmative. In
Meridian Sec. Ins. Co. v. Sadowski,
*89
Similar to
Meridian,
in
Clarendon Am. Ins. Co. v. Miami River Club, Inc.,
in an action by an insurance company seeking a court’s declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured in an underlying lawsuit, a court examines the following factors to determine the amount in controversy: (1) the coverage limits under the insurance policy; (2) the amount of damages sought in the underlying lawsuit; and (3) the pecuniary value of the obligation to defend the underlying lawsuit.
Id. at 1316. Applying these factors, the Court held that Clarendon sаtisfied the amount in controversy requirement because (1) the personal injury coverage limit under the policy was $1,000,000; thereby, “Clarendon could potentially face liability in excess of $75,000” and (2) “the Perdomo Estate ... estimated that its damages in the underlying lawsuit will exceed $5,000,000,” id.
Although the conclusions reached by the
Meridian
and
Clarendon
courts seem correct, the defendant’s reliance on these cases is misplaced. In
Meridian,
Meridiаn filed its declaratory judgment action in federal court.
Meridian Sec. Ins. Co.,
Although the defendant asserts that the amount in controversy requirement is satisfied because the Underlying Suits each claim more than $75,000 in damages and claim an aggregate of $802,880 in damages those parties are entitled to recover from the plaintiffs in this action, Def.’s Opp’n at 3-4; Def.’s Mot. to File Am. Notice of Removal, Attach. 1 (Am. Notice of Removal), Exs. E-G (Complaints of the Underlying Suits), the defendant has not met its burden of establishing that the plaintiffs claims will exceed $75,000 for diversity purposes. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that the test for determining whether a claim satisfies the minimum dollar amount for diversity jurisdiction is: “unless the law gives a different rule, the sum claimed by the plaintiff controls if the claim is apparently made in good faith.”
See St. Paul Mercury Indemn. Co.,
Here, the Court finds that the defendant has not provided any documentation any other supporting evidence to establish that the plaintiffs’ claims exceed the $75,000 amount in controversy requirement of $75, 000. Although the defendant relies on the projection of thе plaintiffs’ in the Underlying Suits that their damages exceed $75,000, absent any supporting evidence to substantiates the asserted value of those claims reduces them to nothing more than pure speculation. It is common knowledge in the legal community (as confirmed by this Court’s more than 22 years of judicial experience) that addendum clauses in civil cases often inflate thе plaintiffs’ actual damages. This factual reality implicates the legal maxim that “[r]emoval statutes are construed narrowly [and] where [a] plaintiff and defendant clash about jurisdiction, uncertainties are resolved in favor of remand.”
Saberton,
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand Case to Supe *91 rior Court for the District of Columbia for lack of federal jurisdiction must be GRANTED. 4
Notes
. The following papers have also been submitted to the Court in cоnnection with this motion: (1) Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Plaintiff's Motion to Remand ("Pis.’ Mem.”), (2) Defendant’s Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand Case to Superior Court for the District of Columbia ("Def.’s Opp’n”), and (3) Plaintiffs' Reply Concerning Motion to Remand Case to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ("Pis.’ Reply”). The defendant has also filed а motion for leave to file an amended notice for removal seeking to amend its original notice of removal in order to include documents referenced in the plaintiff's complaint to dispel any purported ambiguity as to the amount in controversy in this action, Defendant’s Motion for Leave to File Amended Notice of Removal ("Def.’s Mot. to File Am. Notice of Removal”), which the Court grants.
. The parties do not challenge that the required diversity of citizenship exists in this action. See Def.'s Mot. to File Am. Notice of Removal, Attach. 1 (Am. Notice of Removal) ¶¶ 3-6 (demonstrating that the parties are all from different states); see also id., Ex. A (Compl.) ¶¶ 1-4 (listing the state citizenship of each party).
. Several other Circuits also include the “potential outlay for indemnity’' as a component in determining the amount in controversy.
Hartford Ins. Group v. Lou-Con, Inc.,
. An order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion shall be filed contemporaneously herewith.
