Nedeidre Smith sued Allstate Insurance Company claiming Allstate breached the terms of her automobile insurance policy by refusing in bad faith to pay covered losses to her automobile caused by theft. A jury awarded Smith damages of $16,000 on the breach of policy claim, plus penalties under OCGA § 33-4-6 for bad faith refusal to pay the insurance claim in the amount of 50 percent of the breach of policy award $8,000 and $4,000 in attorney fees. Allstate appeals claiming there was a lack of evidence to support the breach of policy award and the bad faith award. For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part. 1. Because we will affirm a jury verdict supported by any evidence, Allstate must demonstrate by the record that there was a lack of any evidence at trial to support the verdict. Duncan v. Moore , 275 Ga. 656, 658 571 SE2d 771 2002. In support of the breach of policy claim, Smith testified that her automobile was stolen from a parking lot at her residence, and produced evidence that it was recovered a few hours later by police with a broken window and fire damage to the interior. Smith’s policy with Allstate provided coverage for losses to her automobile caused by theft up to a limit of “the actual cash value of the property or damaged part of the property at the time of loss” less any applicable deductible. The policy further provided that Allstate “may pay for the loss in money, or may repair or replace the damaged or stolen property.” Although the policy provided that the insured and Allstate have a right to appoint disinterested appraisers to determine the loss amount payable, there is nothing in the record showing this method was used to determine the loss. Smith sued to collect the fair market value of her automobile at the time of the loss, which she alleged to be $16,000. At trial, however, Smith testified that, prior to filing suit, she had only asked Allstate to repair her automobile. Although Smith presented evidence which purported to show that her automobile had a fair market value of $16,000 at the time of the theft, she presented no evidence that her automobile was damaged in this amount as a result of the theft. The only evidence of monetary damage to the automobile caused by the theft was contained in Allstate documents admitted into evidence by Smith, which referred to the automobile as repairable and estimated the monetary loss at $7,332.23 less the $500 policy deductible.
We need not determine whether Smith produced evidence sufficient to show that her automobile had a fair market value of $16,000 at the time of the loss. Even if the automobile was worth $16,000, there was no evidence supporting the award of $16,000 to Smith on her breach of policy claim. We conclude, however, that Smith did produce evidence sufficient for the jury to find that Allstate breached the terms of the automobile policy by refusing to pay for loss to the automobile caused by the theft. Allstate refused payment under an exclusion in the policy providing that there was no coverage for a “loss caused intentionally by or at the direction of an insured person.” In support of its refusal, Allstate pointed to evidence that Smith was involved in the alleged theft and was making a fraudulent insurance claim. However, Smith testified that she had no involvement in the theft of the automobile. This was sufficient to make a prima facie case of loss by theft within the terms of the policy and to shift the burden to Allstate to prove there was no coverage. Canal Ins. Co. v. Savannah Bank & Trust Co. , 181 Ga. App. 520 352 SE2d 835 1987. The verdict in favor of Smith on her breach of policy claim shows that Allstate failed to carry its burden. There was evidence to support the jury’s verdict finding that Smith’s automobile suffered a loss caused by theft which was covered by the terms of the policy. Accordingly, we affirm the portion of the jury’s verdict finding that there was a loss covered by the policy, but we reverse the portion of the verdict awarding Smith $16,000 on the breach of policy claim.
