Ante litem notice for Georgia municipal vehicle claims

Written claim requirement and six-month deadline in O.C.G.A. 36-33-5

Section 36-33-5(a) reaches any "person, firm, or corporation" that has a claim for money damages against a municipal corporation on account of injuries to person or property. Such a claimant, including a truck driver who holds that kind of claim, may not bring an action against the municipal corporation for those injuries without first giving notice as Section 36-33-5 provides. A truck crash can produce such a claim when the claimant seeks money damages based on injuries to person or property from a municipal corporation, and in that case the same bar on suit before notice applies.^[1]

Section 36-33-5(b) sets the deadline and the recipient for claims of this kind, including claims that arise from truck accidents. Within six months of the happening of the event upon which the claim is predicated, the claimant is to present the claim in writing to the governing authority of the municipal corporation for adjustment, with service on the mayor or the chairperson of the city council or city commission, as the case may be, under the further delivery conditions of Section 36-33-5(f). Section 36-33-5(b) then provides that "No action shall be entertained by the courts against the municipal corporation until the cause of action therein has first been presented to the governing authority for adjustment." For a truck accident claim of that kind, the written presentation to the governing authority therefore comes before any court action against the municipal corporation.^[1]

Section 36-33-5(b) measures the six months for presenting the claim from "the happening of the event upon which a claim against a municipal corporation is predicated." Court decisions decide when the happening of the event occurs and how the six months for presenting the claim apply to the facts of particular truck crashes, and this entry does not cover those decisions.^[1]

Contents of the claim and the amount of damages sought

Section 36-33-5(b) prescribes the contents of the written claim in the same subsection that sets the six months for presenting it. The claimant presents the claim to the governing authority stating the time and place of the injury, as well as its extent. The statute attaches the words "as nearly as practicable" to those details of the injury, and the claim also states "the negligence which caused the injury." Under that text, a truck crash claim presented to a municipal corporation describes the injury for which money damages are sought and identifies the negligence which caused the injury. Section 36-33-5(b) requires these statements in the claim, including a truck accident claim, that goes to the governing authority for adjustment.^[1]

Section 36-33-5(e) provides that the description of the extent of the injury required in subsection (b) "shall include the specific amount of monetary damages being sought from the municipal corporation." The amount of monetary damages set forth in the claim, including a claim arising from truck crashes, constitutes an offer of compromise. In the event the municipal corporation does not settle the claim and the claimant litigates it, the amount of monetary damage stated in the claim is not binding on the claimant. Because Section 36-33-5(e) makes the amount part of the description of the extent of the injury, a written claim describing the extent of a truck accident injury to person or property under Section 36-33-5(b) includes that specific figure.^[1]

Service on city officials, consideration period and suspension of limitations

Section 36-33-5(f) provides that a claim submitted under Section 36-33-5 "shall be served upon the mayor or the chairperson of the city council or city commission, as the case may be," and it sets the method of service "by delivering the claim to such official personally or by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery." The claim served in that manner is the written claim that Section 36-33-5(b) requires the claimant to present to the governing authority within six months of the happening of the event, with the details and specific damages amount called for by Section 36-33-5(b) and (e). Until that claim has been presented, Section 36-33-5(b) bars courts from entertaining an action against the municipal corporation, including an action over truck accidents. In a truck crash case where the claim against a municipal corporation involves injuries to person or property, these service terms govern how the written claim reaches the mayor or chairperson.^[1]

Under Section 36-33-5(c), upon the presentation of the claim, the governing authority "shall consider and act upon the claim within 30 days from the presentation." The action of the governing authority, "unless it results in the settlement thereof, shall in no sense be a bar to an action therefor in the courts." Under that text, an action of the governing authority on a truck accident claim that does not result in settlement of the claim does not bar a court action on the claim.^[1]

Section 36-33-5(d) provides that the running of the statute of limitations is suspended during the time that the demand for payment, including a demand arising from truck crashes, is pending before the municipal authorities without action on their part. For a truck accident claim presented to a municipal governing authority, the suspension lasts while the demand is pending there without action, and the 30 days for consideration in Section 36-33-5(c) run from the presentation of the claim.^[1]

Motor vehicle immunity waiver limits in O.C.G.A. 36-92-2

Section 36-92-2(a), in Chapter 92 of Title 36, titled Waiver of Immunity for Motor Vehicle Claims, provides that the sovereign immunity of local government entities "for a loss arising out of claims for the negligent use of a covered motor vehicle is waived up to the following limits," which turn on the date of the incident. For a truck crash claim against a local government entity arising out of the negligent use of a covered motor vehicle, the tier that applies follows the incident date. For incidents occurring on or after January 1, 2005, and until December 31, 2006, Section 36-92-2(a)(1) sets $100,000.00 because of bodily injury or death of any one person in any one occurrence and an aggregate amount of $300,000.00 for two or more persons in any one occurrence. The property limit for that period is $50,000.00 for injury to or destruction of property in any one occurrence. For incidents occurring on or after January 1, 2007, and until December 31, 2007, including any truck accident that meets the terms of Section 36-92-2(a), Section 36-92-2(a)(2) sets $250,000.00 per person and an aggregate of $450,000.00 for two or more persons, with $50,000.00 for injury to or destruction of property. For incidents occurring on or after January 1, 2008, including truck crashes that meet the terms of Section 36-92-2(a), Section 36-92-2(a)(3) sets $500,000.00 per person and an aggregate amount of $700,000.00 because of bodily injury or death of two or more persons in any one occurrence, and its property limit is $50,000.00 for injury to or destruction of property in any one occurrence. Under Section 36-92-2(d), each waiver amount is increased to the extent that the governing body of the local governmental entity by resolution or ordinance voluntarily adopts a higher waiver. The waiver is also increased to the extent that the local government entity becomes a member of an interlocal risk management agency created pursuant to Chapter 85 of Title 36 and the coverage obtained exceeds the amount of the waiver, and to the extent that the local government entity purchases commercial liability insurance in an amount in excess of the waiver.^[2]

Section 36-92-2(b) provides that the immunity is waived "only to the extent and in the manner provided in this chapter and only with respect to actions brought in the courts of this state." It also provides that Chapter 92, as applied to truck accidents or to any other claims, "shall not be construed to affect any claim or cause of action otherwise permitted by law and for which the defense of sovereign immunity is not available." Section 36-92-2(c) provides that local government entities have no liability for losses resulting from conduct on any part of local government officers or employees, including any truck driver among them, that was not within the scope of their official duties or employment.^[2]

Prejudgment interest under O.C.G.A. 36-92-2(e) and 51-12-14

Section 36-92-2(e) provides that interest prior to judgment may be recovered under the Unliquidated Damages Interest Act in O.C.G.A. 51-12-14, but any recovery of interest prior to judgment "shall be included within the applicable aggregate amount per occurrence as set forth in this Code section." In that subsection, "this Code section" is Section 36-92-2, whose aggregate amounts per occurrence for claims such as truck crashes that meet the terms of Section 36-92-2(a) appear in that subsection.^[2][3]

When a truck accident claim is pursued as a tort action, Section 51-12-14(a) applies where a claimant has given written notice by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the person against whom the claim is made of a demand for an amount of unliquidated damages. If that person fails to pay the amount within 30 days from the mailing or delivering of the notice, the claimant is entitled to interest on the amount demanded if, upon trial, the judgment is for an amount not less than the amount demanded. Section 51-12-14(a) then provides a cutoff. If, at any time after the 30 days and before the claimant has withdrawn the demand, the person against whom the claim is made gives written notice by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery of an offer to pay the demand plus interest through the date of that notice, and the claimant does not accept the offer within 30 days from its mailing or delivering, the claimant is not entitled to interest on the demand after the thirtieth day following the mailing or delivery of the offer notice. That cutoff applies even if the judgment is not less than the sum demanded. Under Section 36-92-2(e), that interest is included within the applicable aggregate amount when the claim is against a local government entity under Section 36-92-2.^[3][2]

Section 51-12-14(b) requires any written notice referred to in subsection (a), including a demand in a truck accident tort action, to specify that it is being given pursuant to Section 51-12-14. Under Section 51-12-14(c), the interest is at an annual rate equal to the prime rate as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in statistical release H. 15 or any publication that may supersede it, on the thirtieth day following the date of the mailing of the last written notice, plus 3 percent. The interest begins to run from the thirtieth day following the mailing or delivering of the written notice and runs until the date of judgment, and Section 51-12-14(c) states that it applies to all civil actions filed on or after July 1, 2003. Section 51-12-14(d) provides that "Evidence or discussion of interest on liquidated damages, as well as evidence of the offer, shall not be submitted to the jury." The court makes interest a part of the judgment upon evidence, to its satisfaction, that Section 51-12-14 has been complied with and that the verdict of the jury or the award by the judge trying the case without a jury equals or exceeds the amount claimed in the notice. Section 51-12-14(e) names the provision the "Unliquidated Damages Interest Act," and in a truck accident claim under Section 36-92-2 the interest it allows is included within the aggregate amount per occurrence.^[3][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)