Geico Indemnity Company v. Whiteside

Summary

The court answered three certified questions concerning an insurer’s liability for negligent or bad-faith failure to settle when the insured failed to provide notice of the underlying suit. It held that the notice breach did not automatically bar the tort claim, that the claim could proceed even though coverage was lost after the insurer breached its settlement duty, and that damages were measured by the excess judgment rather than by relitigating the underlying injury damages. The court reasoned that foreseeability and proximate cause, including whether the insurer contributed to the insured’s failure to give notice, were fact questions under these circumstances.