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A federal judge in Florida recently found Geico liable for unpaid fees stemming from total loss claims.
U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron determined that the five plaintiffs in the Geico total loss claims class action, and the Class Members in the complaint, are eligible for about $80 each. This amount represents Geico’s liability for failing to pay the total replacement cost of total loss vehicles, including fees.
When a vehicle is declared a total loss, it means that the vehicle is too damaged to safely repair; the vehicle’s repairs cost more than the car’s value; or the vehicle’s damage is equal to a percentage of the car’s value that meets state guidelines. Each state has its own laws, but a car may be declared a total loss if it the damage is between 50 and 100 percent of the car’s value, according to WalletHub.
Usually, consumers receive a settlement from their total loss claim that is equal to the actual cash value of the vehicle, less any deductions. However, plaintiffs in the Geico total loss class action claimed that the insurance company fails to provide complete payments because title transfer fees and other replacement costs are not considered. The five named plaintiffs argued that Geico should pay customers the full value of their cars, including title transfer fees and other unavoidable costs.
In his recent decision, Judge Byron supported the plaintiffs’ argument and found that the actual cash value (ACV) of a vehicle should include fees such as title transfer fees. The minimum title transfer fee in Florida in $4.10 and is reportedly unavoidable.
“As with title transfer fees, license plate transfer fees are ‘mandatory [fees] necessarily included in the replacement costs of a total loss vehicle,’” Judge Byron wrote in his decision. “Having found that title and tag transfer fees are components of ACV, the court further finds that GEICO materially breached its contracts with plaintiffs by failing to include these fees in total loss claim settlements.”
In his motion, Byron referenced another lawsuit against Geico which claimed that the company failed to pay all replacement costs in total loss claims. In this suit, the court determined that actual cash value includes title transfer fees since they are a mandatory cost associated with replacing vehicles after a total loss.
“Courts have found that replacement cost includes items such as a contractor’s overhead and profit, sales tax, and fees where it is ‘reasonably likely’ that the insured would incur these costs if he or she repaired or replaced the property,” Byron wrote.
In that decision — Roth v. GEICO General Insurance Co. — plaintiff Kerry Roth claimed that she was not given her full refund after a 2016 accident resulted in a total loss claim, according to Autobody News. Roth won summary judgment in the Geico class action in June 2018.
The Geico Total Loss Class Action Lawsuit is Sullivan, et al. v. Government Employees Insurance Company, Case No. 6:17-cv00891, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
UPDATE: December 2019, the GEICO total loss class action website is active. Click here to learn more.
Join a Free Total Loss Car Accident Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
If you were insured under an auto insurance policy, experienced a total loss car accident, and were not reimbursed for sales tax and other fees by your insurance company in the last 5 years, you may qualify to join a total loss car accident class action lawsuit investigation.
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17 thoughts onGeico Must Pay Full Total Loss Claims, Judge Says
I just read all the complaints on this thread and what is with all these “ADD ME” on here. Are you all serious? Get off your a$$ and do your own foot-work. ADD ME they say. do you think that typing “add me” entitles you to any compensation in the class action? WTFU. Look the sht up and do your own homework, unbelievable. If you got a postcard then follow the fkg instructions. Nobody is going to do it for you. Those on here just crying about Geico not paying you the total loss amount, go online in your state and see if there is a class action. this thread is for people who are in this particular class action.
MUST READ THEY ARE GOING TO STEAL YOUR MONEY I JUST WENT THRU IT FIGHT BACK Here’s how the theft goes down: you receive the postcard in the mail about the class action lawsuit, the lying attorneys and thieving claims administrators are already conspiring and have planned the theft out already. What they don’t disclose to anyone is there are 2 class awards, but when go to their website to join and read the directions, there is only one form. Not knowing this, you proceed to follow the instructions. You are instructed to fill out A form, that is made available to you from their web page, after that you are given your claim number. So simple right? You fill it out, with all the information and receive your claim number, correct? yeah. Once the deadline has passed, they choose maybe one or two of you to receive the large payment of approx $2 Gs. Keep in mind that all of you are entitled to BOTH that payments. Now they turn in the fraudulent records with all members claim numbers to the courts on behalf of members of the class, and turn them into the courts as “accurate” to get the huge amount they are asking for in the lawsuit. Now they commit their theft. They unknowingly to everyone, they create two classes of the lawsuit, they fail to put that in the documents to the courts and then put most who answered their postcards and filled out their ONE form, they put all of you into the regulatory fee class, which is about $6.88. They have just stolen everyone’s $2000++ payment. As the time passes members inquire about when the checks will be issued, or you are just wondering when the settlement is in its phase. Months pass and any inquiries are met with reasonable responses. Then they settle, they are awarded the amount in the suit, and guess what, you finally get your check and its a $6.88 check. They inform you then you were only eligible for the regulatory fee class that you didnt fill out for the sales tax fee payment. BOOM. they just ripped you off. DON’T TAKE IT UP THE A**. immediately write to the judge that heard the case and file a complaint as i did with the state bar. DON’T LET THESE THIEVES STEAL YOUR MONEY. get off your A** and start making moves cause now they will stroke you with lies like, the check is in the mail, or, call Geico they are the ones issuing the large check, or the check was sent out but returned because of an incorrect address. This is them trying to run out the STATUTORY LIMITS time clock to screw you AGAIN. You can’t make this up unless you just went thru it.. Go look at the class action Geico total loss claim in California for 1.9 million. that was the class action I was in. I am as I type this in contact with the state bar trying to get everyone’s money that was stolen in that case. they ripped off the entire class. DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT. I went and gathered as many names as I could to add to my letters and complaints so that those that had last names in the comment section could get their money owed with interest and am demanding punitive damages. you can find me on fb at drea dgorge. send me a message on messenger I am happy to help in any way. I can send you the places I filed at where to go and how to get your money. I am not some snake attorney trying to solicit money, i am doing it for the people. our entire system is corrupt and we the people are getting hurt. It is the hard-working American, trying to provide for their families and just survive. It is us, that they want to destroy, to break our spirit, to force us to give up. DON’T LET THEM WIN. I don’t want a fkg penny from you. GET YOUR MONEY. I am always shocked that the wealthiest are the ones ripping us off. I would like to see these people in jail. But it’s one battle at a time. When I know something is wrong and I see it, I’ll fight til the end. I will never give up. You shouldn’t either ever.
do you think you are special because you are military and its somehow more outrageous that you were worked. no, sorry, come down off your high horse and smell reality. its terrible to have been worked regardless. these people dont care about you or whether you are military, get real. they want your settlement money and they take it trust that.
you guys are in for a rude awakening. these thieves dont pay you sh*t. they end up pulling all kinds of bs and keep the larger sum. just went thru it same total loss. its the attorney for the plaintiff and the claims administrators. they STEAL the money that you are supposed to get. beware. the will tell you that you only submitted a claim for a regulatory fee which is $6.88 the large sum they steal from all class members. just you watch
THEY TOTALLED OUT MY MERCEDES IN PRESTINE CONDITION. PLEASE CALL CONTACT ME
You should have received a postcard from Bellamy, et al. v. GEICO et al. Settlement Administrator. You can login to their site and input the Claim number and PIN. I think you can login if you couldn’t locate your postcard.