Would you sue or just keep your mouth shut?

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I recently heard a story about a woman who successfully sued insurance company GEICO for $1 million but she was eventually awarded $5.2 million.

Here's the gist. She had unprotected sex with her boyfriend in his car which happened to be insured by GEICO. Unbeknownst to her, he had HPV and passed it on to her. He knew but didn't tell. When she came down with HPV she attempted to collect from GEICO because the event happened in his car. Granted, she willingly had unprotected sex with him and he just didn't tell her what he had and when GEICO refused to pay the $1 million she fought it and filed a lawsuit. An appeals court eventually awarded her $5.2 million.

How stupid is this?

45.2 million.

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@Barry2021,

It doesn't matter if you feel it's stupid.

What matters is she proved the facts of her case and won. Isn't that how our Court system is designed?

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@Barry2021,

Very stupid. I'd appeal if I was Geico. What if someone had Geico insurance and they decided to ram people on a street? They're no more responsible for what the person did that they are in this case. She should have sued the guy.

1 Reply

@neptuneblue,

neptuneblue wrote:

It doesn't matter if you feel it's stupid.

What matters is she proved the facts of her case and won. Isn't that how our Court system is designed?

Yeah, in the U.S. we can sue for anything but in this case I would have kept my mouth shut. No one takes personal responsibility anymore. It's always someone else's fault, not mine! And you need to pay me.

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

Very stupid. I'd appeal if I was Geico. What if someone had Geico insurance and they decided to ram people on a street? They're no more responsible for what the person did that they are in this case. She should have sued the guy.

I think the story said her and the guy went to mediation so I'm sure she got something from him but his pockets weren't deep enough so she went after GEICO. I'm looking at it this way. This wasn't a one night stand where they met on a blind date and decided to go hook up outside in his car. This was her boyfriend. If I were GEICO I'd want proof that she caught HPV in has car or did she possibly catch it on some other tryst they had at his place or hers. Did she just so happen to have gotten tested before the act and it showed she was clean then that was the first time they did anything since? How can / did she actually prove she caught it in his car?

And to your point I get what you're saying. It seems like every time there's a mass shooting people want to sue the gun mfg for building such a high powered weapon. The gun mfg didn't kill your loved one, the shooter did. So in this case, GEICO didn't have an obligation to tell this girl before she took off her pants in his car that he had HPV, he did. If I carpool with a heaver smoker and I get lung cancer from second hand smoke how is that the insurance company's fault to pay me if I knowingly get in the same car every day for weeks or months?

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More info:

The sex act happened in late 2017 but she wasn't diagnosed until 2018. Again, how can she prove it happened that one time in his car? GEICO must have some crappy lawyers if they couldn't fight this. This should have been a slam dunk case for them and they should have made her pay all court costs. This is exactly why insurance rates go up all the time.

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@Barry2021,

Barry2021 wrote:

I think the story said her and the guy went to mediation so I'm sure she got something from him but his pockets weren't deep enough so she went after GEICO.

I think you have this exactly backwards.

The guy committed harm so he is liable for damages and he was found liable for damages.
Since he had liability insurance, his insurance company was on the hook.
The insurance company demanded mediation which is a tactic insurance companies often use to tilt the scales in their favor since they often get to pick the mediator and can bring their resources to bear.
The mediator found for the woman that the guy caused harm and his liability coverage was in effect.
Geico then decided to take the case to court, exactly what mediation is meant to prevent. The woman did not go after GEICO, GEICO went after her.
The court found that the mediation was binding, that you can't just ignore mediation when you agreed to it because you don't like the result.

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@engineer,

Either way GEICO was still not responsible for the actions of this guy simply because they decided to have sex in his car and he didn't tell her he had HPV. Say they had sex in his house and same thing happened. Would she have a case to go after his home owners insurance too?

Do you know how many things I did in my car when I was younger? I even think my daughter was conceived in my car so did that make my insurance company responsible for child support too? Or were they responsible for paying the hospital bill and all those doctor's visit? You see how this can be a ridiculous lawsuit from a woman who took that chance to f--- her "boyfriend" in his car. Again I say, this was her boyfriend so how can / did she prove it happened at that one time?

1 Reply

@engineer,

A lot of what you say is true, but how is an insurance company liable for an STD? I thought auto insurance was for automobile-related injuries (getting whiplash, run over, etc). An STD doesn't come under that sort of injury.

2 Replies

@Mame,

Mame wrote:

A lot of what you say is true, but how is an insurance company liable for an STD? I thought auto insurance was for automobile-related injuries (getting whiplash, run over, etc). An STD doesn't come under that sort of injury.

I'm with you. This should not have seen the light of day in any courtroom. Her family or friends should have stopped her long before it got to this point OR common sense should have prevailed. What if she had gotten pregnant? Would the insurance company now be on the hook for child support or even her medical expenses simply because she got knocked up in his car? Are they also for her maternity leave too, again, because she got pregnant in his car?

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@Barry2021,

Barry2021 wrote:

Either way GEICO was still not responsible for the actions of this guy simply because they decided to have sex in his car and he didn't tell her he had HPV. Say they had sex in his house and same thing happened. Would she have a case to go after his home owners insurance too?

If you drive your car into a grocery store window and injure someone, your insurance company is not responsible for that, you are. But, you pay your insurance company to cover you in case your actions result in liability. The man who did not reveal his positive HPV status is responsible. More than responsible, he is liable. You make out the woman who was the victim in this case to be the villain. There is no cure for HPV, it is a lifetime illness. HPV is thought to be the cause of around 5% of the cancer cases worldwide, especially cervical cancer in women. This is a serious and life changing disease than can be controlled with medicine but has long term effects. You also paint this woman as a gold digger just trying to stick it to GEICO. If you read anything more than clickbait on this issue, you will see that GEICO did this to itself. It didn't make any legitimate legal argument for why it shouldn't cover its policy holder. They never asked her to prove anything, they basically made your argument - she's a slut, tough luck bitch. The arbiter said, "no, your policy holder is liable and you insured him". It was GEICO who then tried to overturn binding arbitration. That is the reason this was in court, GEICO was trying to shaft its policyholder. GEICO is not the victim here unless you consider them the victim of their own incompetence.

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

A lot of what you say is true, but how is an insurance company liable for an STD? I thought auto insurance was for automobile-related injuries (getting whiplash, run over, etc). An STD doesn't come under that sort of injury.

Car insurance covers liability rising from the ownership and operation of the car. Whether something like this is covered is up to lawyers.

0 Replies

@engineer,

engineer wrote:

Barry2021 wrote:
Either way GEICO was still not responsible for the actions of this guy simply because they decided to have sex in his car and he didn't tell her he had HPV. Say they had sex in his house and same thing happened. Would she have a case to go after his home owners insurance too?

If you drive your car into a grocery store window and injure someone, your insurance company is not responsible for that, you are. But, you pay your insurance company to cover you in case your actions result in liability. The man who did not reveal his positive HPV status is responsible. More than responsible, he is liable. You make out the woman who was the victim in this case to be the villain. There is no cure for HPV, it is a lifetime illness. HPV is thought to be the cause of around 5% of the cancer cases worldwide, especially cervical cancer in women. This is a serious and life changing disease than can be controlled with medicine but has long term effects. You also paint this woman as a gold digger just trying to stick it to GEICO. If you read anything more than clickbait on this issue, you will see that GEICO did this to itself. It didn't make any legitimate legal argument for why it shouldn't cover its policy holder. They never asked her to prove anything, they basically made your argument - she's a slut, tough luck bitch. The arbiter said, "no, your policy holder is liable and you insured him". It was GEICO who then tried to overturn binding arbitration. GEICO is not the victim here unless you consider them the victim of their own incompetence.

Seriously, calm down. It's not that serious. But if, as you say, "I" drive my car into a grocery store window, yes, my insurance company is responsible for whatever damages and injuries I cause. If "I" knowingly injure a few people then yes, that's what insurance is for because my "car" and "my" actions by intentionally driving into a store window caused harm or damage to someone. I am 1000% on board with that part of the analogy. However, they were PARKED and the car did NO damage to her how is it his insurance company responsible for anything? I'm sure this guy didn't wake up that morning with the thought on his mind to give his girlfriend HPV unlike waking up and deciding to drive into a grocery store window. And no, I didn't make her out to be a gold digger, she was the one who originally asked for a million dollars because of an STD that her boyfriend gave her. If you go visit a friend and while there someone breaks into their house, robs you, beats you up, and then leaves, do you file a claim with the homeowner's insurance because they should have known something like that could happen? Probably a bad scenario but let's face the facts here. His insurance company did nothing wrong.

1 Reply

@Barry2021,

These things never start with your insurance company doing anything wrong. But to your analogy, if you were at a friend's house and someone broke in and injured you, yes, your friend's homeowner's policy is on the hook. If someone walks on your lawn and gets injured, your homeowner policy is on the hook, even if you weren't home. Nor does intent matter. Whether by accident or intent, if you caused it, you can be found liable and even, in the case of your lawn, if you didn't cause it.

So, there is a legal question here. The guy is liable, does his general liability policy (typically part of your homeowner's insurance) pay or, because it was car related, does the car insurance liability pay. That was decided by the arbiter. It went to the arbiter because GEICO wanted it to go to the arbiter. GEICO lost. Then, despite GEICO agreeing to binding arbitration, GEICO tried to cheat their policyholder (not the victim). The policyholder was the one on the hook for $5.3m as the person liable. This was not a jury trial. The judge looked at the facts, said "this was binding arbitration and there is nothing here that overturns that" and told GEICO to pack sand. As someone who has insurance policies to protect my financial wellbeing, I applaud the legal system making insurance companies honor their policies.

I do take issue with your opinion that someone should have told the woman to let it go. Why? She is going to suffer lifelong medical and social problems including taking meds for life and a significantly increased likelihood of cancer due to the actions of the man found liable. Her ability to date, find a lifetime partner, get married, have kids, etc. have all really been impacted. She has suffered great harm. I don't have the numbers the arbiter used, but arbiters do not generate damages capriciously. If the arbiter came up with $5.3m, that's likely a good guess as to the lifetime damages expected to accrue to the victim. (Actually, arbiters have a reputation for being conservative.) It sounds like you would have given her enough for a single doctor's appointment.

0 Replies

I just spoke with our claims adjuster. They only cover damage done BY the automobile, not IN it. That makes sense to me, but we're not a suing nation.

What happens if two guys get in a fight in a bar and one breaks the other's nose? Is the bar owner's insurance liable? I've never heard of that and I doubt it would happen. Bars wouldn't let anybody in. Is the school's insurance in Uvelde liable for the deaths from that shootup?

I definitely think the woman here needs to be compensated and to me the sensible answer is her ex-boyfriend. I really don't understand why or how Geico was involved at all.

4 Replies

@Mame,

How is that even possible? If you get into an accident and break an arm, leg, ribs and teeth, an insurance company won't pay medical for that??

Are you sure about that?

2 Replies

@Mame,

America is a far more litigious society.

Anything that involves medical costs needs some sort of settlement.

It's one if the consequences of a privatised health system.

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@Mame,

Obviously, we're not lawyers. My guess is the claims adjuster in this case believed the same thing your adjuster does. (Again, this settlement did not come about from a lawsuit, it was arbitrated.) That said, if two guys get into a fight in a bar and one breaks the other's nose, the bar owner might be held liable, especially if the bar continued to serve one of the participants after he was obviously drunk. Bars here have been held liable for continuing to serve drunk patrons before. I'm 100% sure that the Uvelde school district will be held liable for the deaths there.

GEICO is involved here because the boyfriend has an insurance policy with them. That's the only reason. He is liable and he has liability insurance. You probably do too. If you accidently injured someone (car or otherwise), you could call on liability insurance to help you pay the cost. They will often represent you in court since they are on the hook for the result.

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@neptuneblue,

What she meant, and I see I didn't convey it properly, is it has to be the result of a vehicle incident. Not a people incident, but the vehicle. Yes, if you were driving and got into an accident, you'd be covered. But if your husband broke your nose while you're in the car, you wouldn't.

We have the same laws re: responsible serving of alcohol. And if you caused an accident while DUI, they would pay out the claim to the other vehicle and any occupants, but your insurance would be cancelled and they wouldn't cover your damages.

1 Reply

@Mame,

Mame wrote:

I just spoke with our claims adjuster. They only cover damage done BY the automobile, not IN it. That makes sense to me, but we're not a suing nation.

What happens if two guys get in a fight in a bar and one breaks the other's nose? Is the bar owner's insurance liable? I've never heard of that and I doubt it would happen. Bars wouldn't let anybody in. Is the school's insurance in Uvelde liable for the deaths from that shootup?

I definitely think the woman here needs to be compensated and to me the sensible answer is her ex-boyfriend. I really don't understand why or how Geico was involved at all.

Mame,

I'll tell you why, because as I stated earlier, GEICO has a deeper pocket than her boyfriend. She knows exactly what he has or doesn't have. I'm with your insurance adjuster, things that happen IN a car they are not liable for. But things that happen BY the car they are on the hook for. People get STDs every day bot not everyone sues. If she would have gotten that STD in his house I'm sure his home owners policy would laugh at her.

0 Replies

Would you sue or just keep your mouth shut?

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