A Georgia auto accident victim appealed from the trial court’s order granting summary judgment to an insurance company in a suit stemming from a motor vehicle accident and seeking uninsured motorist coverage.
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage protects an accident victim if they’re hit by a motorist who doesn’t have auto insurance. Georgia requires all drivers to have liability insurance to drive. However, some motorists fail to secure this insurance coverage. These drivers are deemed to be “uninsured.”
In this case, on appeal, the plaintiff argued that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to the insurance company because it was timely served with her renewal suit.
Background
In February 2017, the plaintiff was injured in an auto accident. She filed suit against the other driver on May 3, 2019. The trial court initially dismissed the suit for failure to serve the defendant but reinstated the case because the limitation period tolled until the completion of the defendant’s criminal case.
Generally, the statute of limitation is two years for personal injury suits, as found in OCGA § 9-3-33. Here, however, the limitation period was tolled or paused until the criminal proceedings against the defendant were final.
In July 2021, the plaintiff served insurance company with the suit. The plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed the suit without prejudice in August 2021.
On December 6, 2021, the plaintiff filed this renewal complaint and served the insurance company the next day. The insurance company moved for summary judgment, arguing that it wasn’t timely served in the original action. The plaintiff responded that timely service in the renewal suit was all that was required. After a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment to the insurance company, finding that the plaintiff failed to perfect service within the limitation period of the original suit. The plaintiff appealed, asserting that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment because timely service in the renewal action was sufficient, regardless of whether the UM carrier was timely served in the original suit.
The Court of Appeals Reverses
Judge Todd Markle of the Georgis Court of Appeals explained that O.C.G.A. § 9-2-61(a) authorizes a plaintiff who voluntarily dismisses a civil action, to renew the action “either within the original applicable period of limitations or within six months after the … dismissal.”
In cases like this one concerning uninsured motorist coverage, O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(d) provides:
Where a reasonable belief exists that the vehicle is an uninsured motor vehicle … a copy of the action and all pleadings thereto shall be served as prescribed by law upon the insurance company issuing the policy as though the insurance company were actually named as a party defendant.
In interpreting this statutory provision, Judge Markle said that Georgia courts have repeatedly held that under state law, the general rule is that a plaintiff making a claim against a UM carrier must serve process upon the UM carrier within the same statute of limitation applicable to the uninsured motorist. This requirement is met where the UM carrier is timely served in a renewal action despite not having been served in the original action.
Although the insurance company argued that the plaintiff shouldn’t be able to avoid the statute of limitation by timely serving it in the renewal action where she failed to obtain timely service in the original suit, the judge concluded that the Court of Appeals is bound by the Georgia Supreme Court’s holding that timely service on the UM carrier in the renewal action is sufficient.
Here, the insurance company acknowledged in the trial court that it was timely served in the renewal action. As such, the plaintiff perfected service under O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(d), the Court of Appeals held, and the trial court erred by concluding otherwise.
The judgment was reversed. Gallman v. Alfa Gen. Ins. Corp., 2025 Ga. App. LEXIS 183 (Ga. App. May 12, 2025).
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