Insurance Law Commons^™

Insurance, Ralph F. Simpson

Mercer Law Review

Since 1966, Professor Maximilian A. Pock has been the author of the Insurance section of the Annual Survey of Georgia Law. During this period of time, his scholarly analysis of and keen insight into the decisions of the Georgia Appellate Courts have been of great benefit to those of us whose practice dictates that we stay abreast of the trends and movements of the courts as shown by their published opinions. Contributing to a publication such as the Annual Survey of Georgia Law is no easy task, but continuing to do so for such an extended period of time …

The Eleventh Circuit Gives The Banking Industry A Lesson About Reverse Preemption In Barnett Bank Of Marion County, Na. V. Gallagher, Jess Pinkerton

Mercer Law Review

Recently, in Barnett Bank of Marion County, N.A. v. Gallagher, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was presented with the question of whether Florida's prohibition against affiliations between banks and insurance agents was protected from preemption by the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The appellant, Barnett Marion, is a subsidiary of Barnett Banks, Inc., the largest bank holding company centered in Florida. Barnett Marion maintains its principal place of business in Ocala, Florida; however, it owns and operates a branch in Belleview, Florida, a locality where the population is less than five thousand. On October 18, 1993, Barnett …

Waiver Of Sovereign Immunity: An Analysis Of Gilbert V. Richardson, Susan Hurt

Mercer Law Review

In Gilbert v. Richardson, the Georgia Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a county waives its sovereign immunity by purchasing liability insurance. On September 1, 1991, Deputy Kathy Richardson responded to an emergency call and collided with Emma and Tommy Gilbert's vehicle. Both Gilberts were injured. The Gilberts brought suit against the Walker County Sheriff's Department, the sheriff, and a deputy sheriff. Plaintiffs alleged that Sheriff Millard, as the employer of the deputy sheriff, was liable for the acts of the deputy while she was acting within the course of her employment. Walker County's Georgia Interlocal Risk Management …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

The Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals have handed down over eighty insurance cases during this past survey year. A surprising number of these are cases of first impression. The Uninsured Motorist Act spawned about thirteen percent of the total volume of decided cases, a fact which is not surprising if one keeps in mind that the general litigation proneness of uninsured and underinsured legislation is a well-documented national phenomenon. It is estimated that one of five drivers in this country is uninsured. This can hardly be the case in Georgia. Yet, one must remember that even under …

John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. V. Harris Trust & Savings Bank: Guaranteed Benefit Policy Exclusion Holds No Guarantee For Insurers From Erisa's Fiduciary Standards, Shane C. Deleon

Mercer Law Review

This case came before the Supreme Court of the United States to decide whether the fiduciary obligations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") apply to an insurance company's annuity contracts, or whether they were within the guaranteed benefit policy exclusion. The defendant-petitioner, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the plaintiff-respondent, Harris Trust & Savings Bank, acting as trustee for a Sperry Rand Corp. Retirement Plan, were parties in a participating group annuity titled Group Annuity Contract No. 50 ("GAC50") In participating group annuity contracts, deposits made to secure retiree benefits are placed with the insurer's …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

The current survey year has again yielded a rich harvest of insurance cases. Georgia appellate courts have handed down more than ninety decisions. Several are cases of first impression in Georgia, while many others have applied or adapted traditional doctrine to a novel factual matrix. These cases merit exegesis and discussion in varying degrees of specificity. Although arising in an insurance integument, the remaining cases concern general substantive law, narrow administrative or technical questions, or pervasive evidentiary and procedural issues. They are better discussed under another title or heading.

Perhaps one impressionistic and general observation is in order. The new …

Dimmitt Chevrolet V. Southeastern Fidelity Insurance Corp.: Florida Interprets The "Sudden And Accidental" Clause, Walter E. Engle Iii

Mercer Law Review

In Dimmitt Chevrolet v. Southeastern Fidelity Insurance Corp., the Florida Supreme Court, in a four to three decision, held that the "sudden and accidental" language ,used in the pollution exclusion clause of comprehensive general liability ("CGL") insurance contracts is capable of more than one meaning and is therefore ambiguous. The court then held that so long as environmental contamination is unexpected and unintended on the part of the insured, coverage is not excluded under a CGL insurance policy by the pollution exclusion clause. The court, by first determining that the sudden and accidental language was ambiguous and then analyzing …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

A few prefatory and quite impressionistic observations seem warranted. The annual stream of substantive "insurance" cases, and cases that have an "insurance" integument, continues unabated. Georgia has definitely joined the ranks of "tastemaker" states that have a decided influence on the evolution of insurance law, as is evidenced by the frequent appearance of Georgia decisions in our leading law school casebooks.

The new user-friendly "easy reading" policies are surfacing in ever increasing numbers in our appellate jurisprudence. Whatever their intrinsic merits, these policies seem to absorb more judge-time because they do not, as yet, travel with the baggage of decades …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

The big news for 1991 is the repeal of Georgia's No-Fault Act. The Dawkins/Taylor Bill,1 which became law in- April 1991 and effective on October 1, 1991, surgically exscinded all no-fault provisions from the Georgia Motor Vehicle Accident Reparations Act and replaced them with an extensively revamped compulsory automobile liability insurance system. During its sixteen-year reign, Georgia's no-fault regime, embroidered by numerous amendments, has spawned an amount of litigation that rivals or surpasses that of the Uninsured Motorist Act. At least ten percent of all appellate judge-time was devoured by no-fault cases. Accordingly, the purveyors of no-fault, who captured our …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

After spending a quarter of .a century as a "court watcher" in these pages, this writer may be permitted to make some observations on the evolution of Georgia jurisprudence in the burgeoning field of insurance law. Since no clear. patterns commend themselves for jurimetric analysis, these observations are. necessarily impressionistic and even random. First, it is apparent the so-called "easy reading" or "simple English" policies, adopted by insurers in response to the.Parthenopean oratory of consumer groups, are winding their way through the courts. Professor Huber drafted the Swiss Civil Code at the turn of this century with the purpose of …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

In order to provide desirable continuity and to facilitate cross-referencing this survey will generally conform to the overall organization of past surveys and use identical categories and chapter headings. Where certiorari has been denied or applied for but not disposed of during the survey period, this will be so indicated in the footnotes.

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

Of the 45 "insurance" cases handed down during the current survey period less than half merit serious scrutiny and comment at this time. Of the remainder, some address themselves solely to procedural issues with "insurance" law providing but a fortuitous backdrop, while others involve only factual disputes raised largely in duels involving the grant or denial of motions and counter motions for summary judgment.

To preserve editorial continuity the cases decided during the current survey period will be discussed in conformance with the general outline and subject matter headings used in past years. Where certiorari to the supreme court has …

Insurance, Maximilian A. Pock

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Insurance, Edgar Hunter Wilson

Mercer Law Review

The insurance opinions handed down during the survey period have dealt largely with questions of interpretation and have introduced no new doctrine.

In Hulsey v. Interstate Life & Accident Ins. Co. the beneficiary of an accidental death policy sued the insurer. The policy provided coverage among other situations if the accidental death occured on a steamship while the insured was traveling on a pass or as a fare-paying passenger. The plaintiff alleged that the insured was "lawfully" aboard a motor launch going out to the U.S.S. Kearsage when the accident occurred. The defendant company demurred and the Court of …

Insurance, Edgar Hunter Wilson

Mercer Law Review

A number of the Georgia cases in the field of insurance were concerned with the question of whether the insurer had waived its right to rely on certain policy provisions. Pacific Fire Ins. Co. v. Cash was a suit on an automobile collision policy. The company relied on a provision in the policy which stated that the insurance was not effective while the automobile was subject to encumbrances not described in the contract. The policy had blanks for the indication of encumbrances and other information. These blanks were not filled up. It appeared that the agent had not asked the …