Gov't Emps. Ins. Co. v. Macedo
| Decision Date | 06 May 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 1D15–2896.,1D15–2896. |
| Citation | 190 So.3d 1155 |
| Parties | GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. Alysia M. MACEDO and Zackery R. Lombardo, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
B. Richard Young and Courtney F. Smith of Young, Bill, Roumbos & Boles, P.A., Pensacola, for Appellant.
Elizabeth Monro of Florida Vanguard Attorneys LLC, Tampa, for Appellee Zackery R. Lombardo; David A. Simpson, Jonathan D. Simpson of The Simpson Law Firm, Fort Walton Beach, for Appellee Alysia M. Macedo.
The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) challenges the final judgment in an automobile insurance case holding it liable to pay Alysia M. Macedo's attorneys fees and costs after GEICO had rejected, on behalf of its insured Zackery R. Lombardo, a $50,000 settlement proposal made by Ms. Macedo pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes. A jury returned a verdict in Ms. Macedo's favor, awarding more than four times the amount of the proposal. Ms. Macedo then joined GEICO to the judgment, see § 627.4136(4), Fla. Stat., and sought taxable fees and costs pursuant to section 768.79, which the trial court awarded against GEICO jointly and severally with its insured.
We now affirm the trial court's judgment based on our prior decision in New Hampshire Indemnity Company v. Gray, 177 So.3d 56 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). In Gray, this Court found that the insurer's policy provision stating that it would cover “other reasonable expenses incurred at our request” included costs associated with choosing to litigate a case instead of settling it. Id. at 63–64. See also Geico Gen. Ins. Co. v. Hollingsworth, 157 So.3d 365 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (); Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Johnson, 654 So.2d 239 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995) (). As in Gray, GEICO's policy with Mr. Lombardo gave it the sole right to litigate and settle claims, and contractually obligated it to pay for “all investigative and legal costs incurred by us” and “all reasonable costs incurred by an insured at our request.” The policy didn't provide a definition of legal or other costs, nor exclude, for example, costs and fees awarded to a plaintiff driver pursuant to the offer of judgment statute. We recognized in Gray that:
[U]nder insurance policies such as the one here, insurers enjoy the sole right to settle or litigate claims against their insureds; therefore, choosing to litigate is no different than a request ... to do so. Any such expression, or...
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Sec. Nat'l Ins. Co. v. Gonzalez
...Florida Supreme Court and our sister courts to encompass claims for attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to an offer of judgment. They rely on Macedo and Gray, as did the trial court in its order granting joinder. In Macedo, the supreme court held that attorneys' fees and costs awarded to an ......
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Gov't Emps. Ins. Co. v. Macedo
...Insurance Company (GEICO) seeks review of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Macedo, 190 So.3d 1155 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016).1 As explained below, we approve the First District's decision and hold that the ambiguous Additional Payments sec......
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