Applying Florida law, the District Court in Tanaka v. GEICO General Ins. Co., 2013 WL 3323242 (M.D. Fla. July 1, 2013), denied a motion to reinstate a "breach of fiduciary duty" count against a liability carrier which allegedly failed to settle the underlying case against its insured.
The plaintiff also alleged a count for bad faith based on the same allegations. The breach of fiduciary count did not survive the previous disposition of a motion to dismiss. The Court previously granted the motion to dismiss and dismissed the breach of fiduciary duty count. Tanaka v. GEICO General Ins. Co., 2013 WL 3323242 *1 (M.D. Fla. July 1, 2013).
In the course of denying the plaintiff's motion to reinstate that count, the Court examined the history of insurer bad faith causes of action in Florida, noting that the fiduciary duty of a third-party carrier "did not extend to all facets of the relationship between insurer and insured.... Thus, to the extent that Florida law recognizes the existence of a fiduciary relationship between insured and insurer, Florida law has provided a cause of action -- the bad faith claim, which Tanaka has already asserted. Allowing Tanaka to also assert a claim for breach of fiduciary duty would be redundant. Accordingly, Count III [the breach of fiduciary duty claim] will not be reinstated." Tanaka v. GEICO General Ins. Co., 2013 WL 3323242 *2 (M.D. Fla. July 1, 2013)(Presnell, J.).
Please Read The Disclaimer.