The Supreme Court of Maryland has ruled that a household exclusion in a GEICO auto policy limits the carrier's payout on wrongful death claims to $30,000, which is the state's financial responsibility minimum, rather than the $300,000 per-person figure listed on the policy.
On July 13, 2026, the court issued its decision regarding a dispute over a Maryland Family Automobile Insurance Policy. The policy insured four vehicles owned by a married couple. In August 2021, the wife was driving with her husband as a passenger when her negligent driving caused a crash that resulted in his death.
Their four adult children, who did not reside in their parents' household, filed wrongful death claims against their mother.
GEICO invoked a household exclusion clause that cuts off coverage for bodily injury to any insured or relative residing in the household beyond the state's required financial responsibility limits. The children sued for a declaratory judgment in April 2022, arguing that their claims were distinct from their father's and that the full $300,000 limit should apply.
They lost at the circuit court level, on appeal, and finally at the state's highest court.
The court rejected the children's argument that the term bodily injury was ambiguous and should cover their emotional losses. Instead, the court determined that bodily injury refers to the event triggering GEICO's duty to pay. Because the triggering event was the death of an insured individual, the exclusion applied and the lower cap remained in effect.