Georgia Direct Action Statute | Georgia Truck Accident Attorney

Understanding Georgia’s Direct Action Statute:

Georgia is one of the few states in the country with a direct action statute. A direct action statute allows an injured person (the plaintiff) to sue the insurance company of the person or entity who caused their injury directly. In other words, the plaintiff does not even need to sue the person who hurt them to be able to sue the insurance company. They can skip right to suing the insurance company. The insurance company defends itself and is entitled to most of the same rights and defenses in court as the person who caused the injury would have been. This means that time limits and other procedural concerns still apply, but things like spousal immunity generally do not. Insurance companies are armed with good lawyers, and you should be too. Contact one of the experienced Atlanta truck accident lawyers listed here to help you get the justice you deserve. An Atlanta personal injury attorney will be well versed on who to sue and what county to file the personal injury lawsuit.

How does Georgia’s Direct Action Statute differ from the Law in other states?

Atlanta injury and trial lawyers have fought for years to keep the direct action statute on the books in Georgia. Almost every legislative session, someone tries to legislatively repeal it. Insurance companies and insurance defense lawyers advocate its repeal because, they argue, it increases the size of the verdicts.
In most other states, the injured person (plaintiff), sues the person who hurt them (defendant). If the defendant has insurance, the insurance often pays for the defendant’s legal defense. If the court rules against the defendant, the insurance company usually indemnifies (gives the money to) the defendant. Injured parties are generally not allowed to sue the insurance company directly to recover money. However, in Georgia, these extra steps are not required, and an injured person can sue the insurance company from the get-go. This often results in larger verdicts because a jury is more willing to take money from a corporation than from a an individual defendant.

Suing the Defendant Truck driver is also Available as an Option

I’m being sued! Will my insurance company pay? This is a very complicated issue, and depends on the specific facts of your case. In general, a Georgia insurance company is only required to defend against a claim for which you are covered. Contact one of the Georgia Personal Injury Lawyers listed on this site today to discuss your case.

To which types of cases does Georgia’s Direct Action Statute apply?

The Georgia direct action statute limits the right of direct action to insurance for motor vehicles. The statute provides a right of direct action to any person who sustains an injury or loss as a result of a motor vehicle accident. The Georgia direct action statute does not authorize direct causes of action against insurers when the accident giving rise to the suit occurs outside the state of Georgia.

Atlanta Direct Action Attorneys

The following is the actual text of Georgia’s Direct Action Statute:

Ga Code Ann § 46–7–12 provides as follows:

1. (a) No certificate or permit shall be issued or continued in operation unless there is filed with the commissioner a certificate of insurance for such applicant or holder on forms prescribed by the commissioner evidencing a policy of indemnity insurance in some indemnity insurance company authorized to do business in this state, which policy must provide for the protection, in case of passenger vehicles, of passengers and baggage carried and of the public against injury proximately caused by the negligence of such motor common carrier or motor contract carrier, its servants, or its agents; and, in the case of vehicles transporting freight, to secure the owner or person entitled to recover therefor against loss or damage to such freight for which the motor common carrier or motor contract carrier may be legally liable and for the protection of the public against injuries proximately caused by the negligence of such motor common carrier or motor contract carrier, its servants, or its agents. The commissioner shall determine and fix the amounts of such indemnity insurance and shall prescribe the provisions and limitations thereof; and such insurance shall be for the benefit of and subject to action by any person who shall sustain injury or loss protected thereby. Such certificate shall be filed by the insurer. The failure to file any form required by the commissioner shall not diminish the rights of any person to pursue an action directly against a motor common carrier’s or motor contract carrier’s insurer.

(b) The commissioner shall have power to permit self-insurance, in lieu of a policy of indemnity insurance, whenever in his or her opinion the financial ability of the motor common carrier or motor contract carrier so warrants.

(c) It shall be permissible under this article for any person having a cause of action arising under this article to join in the same action the motor common carrier or motor contract carrier and the insurance.

An Atlanta Truck Accident Attorney Sues Insurance Companies to Protect Your Rights

Serving clients throughout Northern Georgia, including Atlanta, Austell, Belvedere Park, Clarkston, College Park, Conley, Conyers, Covington, Dallas, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Forest Park, Gresham Park, Griffin, Irondale, Lithonia, Locust Grove, Mableton, McDonough, Morrow, Newman, North Atlanta, North Decatur, North Druid Hills, Palmetto, Panthersville, Peachtree City, Powder Springs, Redan, Riverside, Scottdale, Smyrna, Snellville, Stockbridge, Stone Mountain, Tucker, Tyrone, Union City, Vaugn, Villa Rica, Worthville, and other communities in Dekalb County and Fulton County.

If you or a loved one is in need of an attorney to sue an insurance company, whether it be for something they have done to you directly or under the Georgia Direct Action Statute for the actions of one of their policyholders, contact an Atlanta personal injury attorney on this site for a free initial consultation.