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This is the case of Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company (Fla. 2018), where the Florida Supreme Court found that GEICO General Insurance Co. acted in “bad faith” in how it handled a customer’s claim.

In 2006, the Plaintiff, James Harvey, was the insured driver involved in an automobile accident with John Potts.

Potts was age 51 at the time of the accident and died as a result of his injuries. Mr. Potts left behind a wife and three children.

The vehicle that Harvey was driving was registered in both his name and the name of his business and was covered under a $100,000 GEICO liability policy. Two days after the accident, GEICO resolved the liability issue adversely to Harvey. Harvey was found at fault in the accident that killed John Potts.

Even though Harvey had $100,000 in coverage under his GEICO policy, the underlying lawsuits dealt with whether a GEICO claims adjuster failed to properly respond to requests for information from an attorney for Potts’ estate.

The information requested involved issues such as the extent that Harvey disclosed his assets and whether he was driving as part of his job duties at the time of the collision. Those requests went unanswered.

However, within 9 days of the claim, GEICO paid the Potts’ estate the $100,000 policy limit, but the Estate returned GEICO’s check and filed a wrongful death lawsuit instead.

The case went to trial and a jury awarded the Potts’ estate $8.47 million. After the verdict was entered, Harvey filed suit against Geico to cover the excess judgment amount, alleging the insurer mishandled the claim and that the insurer's conduct amounted to bad faith.

The lawyer who represented the Potts’ estate, testified at trial that he never received any communication from GEICO following his initial letter and that Geico ignored his request for relevant information.

Harvey prevailed at trial but lost on appeal. The case dragged on for years and ultimately ended up in front of the Florida Supreme Court, which sided with Harvey and upheld the $9.2 million judgment against Geico.