GEICO to Face Class Action Lawsuit

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit accusing GEICO of overcharging over two million car insurance policyholders early in the pandemic can proceed as a class action.

US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman earlier rejected the auto insurer’s argument that a group lawsuit over the supposed insufficiency of its ‘GEICO giveback’ program would create case manageability problems.

She also rejected GEICO’s arguments that a class action would not be able to account for differences among policyholders -- including the various time periods they were insured for -- and would make calculating damages and adjusting rates retroactively more difficult.

The judge said a class action would be better than individual lawsuits, with the damages model the plaintiffs offered presenting an ‘appropriate percentage refund’ over a length of time to address manageability.