Insurance coverage disclosure after a Georgia truck crash

Insurer's sworn statement of coverage under O.C.G.A. 33-3-28(a)(1)

Section 33-3-28(a)(1) places the disclosure duty on "Every insurer providing liability or casualty insurance coverage in this state and which is or may be liable to pay all or a part of any claim". That clause reaches an insurer that writes liability or casualty coverage in this state and faces actual or possible liability on the claim. An insurer that receives a request on a truck accident claim has the subsection (a)(1) duty when it writes such coverage here and is or may be liable on that claim. Under Section 33-3-28(a)(1), the duty applies the same way whether the policyholder is a trucking company or a truck driver, because the conditions concern the insurer's coverage and its possible liability.^[1]

On a truck crash claim, the statement is due "within 60 days of receiving a written request from the claimant" under Section 33-3-28(a)(1). That period is measured from the insurer's receipt of the written request rather than from the date the request was sent. The same provision calls for "a statement, under oath, of a corporate officer or the insurer's claims manager". The sworn statement on a claim involving a truck driver therefore comes from one of those officials within the insurer.^[1]

The statement reaches each known policy of insurance issued by the insurer, including excess or umbrella insurance. For each such policy, Section 33-3-28(a)(1) calls for the insurer's name and each insured's name, together with the limits of coverage. Because excess or umbrella insurance is named in the text, a statement given on a truck crash claim lists those policies as well when the insurer issued them and they are known. In place of the written statement of names and limits, Section 33-3-28(a)(1) provides that "Such insurer may provide a copy of the declaration page of each such policy in lieu of providing such information." Under that sentence, the choice to send declaration pages belongs to the insurer.^[1]

Form and delivery of the claimant's written request

Section 33-3-28(a)(1) also sets the terms of the request itself: "The claimant's request shall set forth under oath the specific nature of the claim asserted and shall be mailed to the insurer by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery." A claimant on a truck accident claim therefore swears to the specific nature of that claim in the request and sends it by one of those delivery methods. On a truck crash claim as on others within subsection (a)(1), the insurer's 60-day period under Section 33-3-28(a)(1) runs from its receipt of that written request.^[1]

Section 33-3-28(b) addresses a request that contains information insufficient to allow compliance. In that case, the insurer or insured that received the request, such as a truck driver, "may so state in writing, stating specifically what additional information is needed". Section 33-3-28(b) provides that "such compliance shall constitute compliance with this Code section." The response is available whether the request concerns a truck crash or another claim within subsection (a), and it is open to the insurer and to the insured.^[1]

Insured's disclosure of insurers under O.C.G.A. 33-3-28(a)(2)

Section 33-3-28(a)(2) places a separate duty on the insured, including an insured truck driver. Within 30 days of receiving a written request from a claimant or the claimant's attorney, the insured "shall disclose to the claimant or his attorney the name of each known insurer which may be liable to the claimant upon such claim". The disclosure goes to the claimant or the claimant's attorney, and it names every known insurer that may be liable rather than a single one. When the insured is a truck driver or a trucking company, a request under Section 33-3-28(a)(2) calls for those names within that 30-day period.^[1]

Section 33-3-28(b) refers to "the insurer or insured upon whom the request was made", so an insured that receives a request with information insufficient to allow compliance may say so in writing, identifying exactly what more is needed. Under Section 33-3-28(b), "such compliance shall constitute compliance with this Code section" when the insured gives that written response, on a truck crash claim as on any other.^[1]

Effect on coverage defenses, admissibility and duty to amend

Under Section 33-3-28(c), information provided on a truck crash claim to a claimant or the claimant's attorney as subsection (a) requires "shall not create a waiver of any defenses to coverage available to the insurer". The same subsection provides that this information is not admissible in evidence unless otherwise admissible under Georgia law. A sworn statement of limits given on a truck accident claim, or an insured's list of known insurers, is subject to the waiver rule and the admissibility rule in Section 33-3-28(c).^[1]

Section 33-3-28(d) states that information provided under subsection (a) "shall be amended upon the discovery of facts inconsistent with or in addition to the information provided". That text applies to information required by subsection (a), which includes the insurer's sworn statement under subsection (a)(1) and the insured's disclosure under subsection (a)(2), including a disclosure by a truck driver. If facts discovered after a disclosure on a truck crash claim conflict with it or add to it, Section 33-3-28(d) calls for an amendment upon their discovery.^[1]

Court decisions decide how subsections (c) and (d) of Section 33-3-28 apply in a particular case and when a cause of action accrues for purposes of Section 40-1-112(c), and this entry does not cover those decisions.^[1][2]

Motor carrier certificates of insurance and joinder under O.C.G.A. 40-1-112

Under Section 40-1-112(a), no "motor carrier of household goods or property or passengers" is issued its certificate unless a certificate of insurance for the applicant or holder is filed with the department on "forms prescribed by the commissioner". That certificate evidences a policy of indemnity insurance by an insurance company licensed to do business in Georgia. For passenger vehicles, Section 40-1-112(a) has the policy protect passengers and the public against injury proximately caused by the negligence of the certificate holder or of its servants or agents. For vehicles transporting household goods, it secures the owner or person entitled to recover against loss or damage to those goods for which the trucking company may be legally liable.^[2]

Section 40-1-112(a) provides that the department "shall determine and fix the amounts of such indemnity insurance and shall prescribe the provisions and limitations thereof", and it states that the insurer files the certificate. The subsection adds that "The failure to file any form required by the department shall not diminish the rights of any person to pursue an action directly against a motor carrier's insurer." Under Section 40-1-112(b), the department may permit self-insurance in lieu of a policy of indemnity insurance whenever, in its opinion, the financial ability of the trucking company so warrants. Section 40-1-112(a) applies to a trucking company involved in a truck crash only when that company holds or seeks the certificate that subsection describes. For such a trucking company, a certificate filed under Section 40-1-112(a) evidences its indemnity policy unless the department has permitted self-insurance because the company's financial ability warrants it, and a required form may also go unfiled, which the non-filing sentence quoted above addresses.^[2]

Under Section 40-1-112(c)(1), a person having a cause of action arising under Part 2 may join in the same action the trucking company and its insurer only when one or more trucking companies related to the cause of action are insolvent or bankrupt, or when "Personal service, as provided in subsection (e) of Code Section 9-11-4, cannot after reasonable diligence be effected" against the driver or the trucking company. In those circumstances, Section 40-1-112(c)(2) allows joinder of the insurer as a matter of right by amended complaint, and the insurer files an answer within 30 days of service. The editor's notes on the official code page state that subsection (c) applies to causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 2024. The amendment notes on that page state that the first 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, rewrote subsection (c).^[2]

See also: Flanagan Law truck accident practice

See also

On related publications

• Georgia truck-crash law notes (truckaccidentlawyer.wiki)
• Liability and comparative fault in Georgia (caraccidentlawyers.wiki)