Carson

Soon after purchasing her first new car, Melody Carson was involved in an automobile accident with a third party, who was at fault and who was insured. At the time of the accident, Carson’s vehicle had a market value of $25,000. Her automobile insurance policy with Mercury Insurance Company provided it had the option of repairing or paying for Carson’s vehicle, subject to several express liability limitations and exclusions. Rather than declaring the car a total loss and paying Carson $25,000 to *413 replace the vehicle, Mercury elected to repair the car as the initial restoration estimates were approximately $8,000. During the repair process, additional damages were revealed and Mercury paid a total of $18,774 to repair the vehicle.

Unhappy with Mercury’s decision to repair the car, and unsatisfied with the work performed at the repair shop, Carson sued Mercury for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. She asserted Mercury should have taken into consideration her financial interests, specifically that her repaired vehicle would have a diminished “stigma value” (the repaired Honda was only worth approximately $8,000). In…