Mary Bottini, representing the estate of Gerard Bottini, sued GEICO under an uninsured-motorist policy after a fatal automobile collision. A jury awarded damages in the underlying contract action, and the district court ruled that the amount of those damages could be used in a later statutory bad-faith action against the insurer. GEICO sought an interlocutory appeal. While the appeal was pending, the Florida Supreme Court clarified that the damages determination in the underlying uninsured-motorist contract case must be made separately from the later bad-faith claim. The Eleventh Circuit held that the district court had used an improper procedure by treating the existing verdict as fixing statutory damages for the later claim. It reversed the interlocutory order and remanded for the parties to litigate the statutory-damages issue again. Judge Tjoflat noted the unusual procedural posture and the need for a clear ruling before the anticipated bad-faith litigation.