When Multiple Insurance Policies Apply to Your Georgia Accident

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When more than one insurance policy could pay for a Georgia accident, the first question is which one pays first. Georgia statutes answer that question for particular situations: a dealer’s vehicle driven by a customer and a rideshare trip. Other statutes govern what happens when one carrier pays its limits while other coverage remains, and how the injured person’s own uninsured motorist coverage sits on top of the at-fault driver’s liability coverage.

A Dealer’s Vehicle Driven by a Customer

Georgia requires each liability policy covering vehicles owned by a business “engaged in the business of selling at retail new and used motor vehicles” to set the order. When such a vehicle is in an accident while driven by someone who is neither the owner nor the owner’s employee, and that driver is insured under a complying policy of his or her own, “primary coverage as to all coverages provided in the policy under which the operator is an insured shall be afforded by the liability policy insuring the said operator and any liability policy under which the owner is an insured shall afford excess coverages” (OCGA 33-34-3(d)). A provision in the owner’s policy that would eliminate its excess coverage because the operator has coverage “shall be void” (OCGA 33-34-3(d)).

Rideshare Trips

A transportation network company must keep primary motor vehicle insurance in place that covers its drivers while they are logged on and available for rides and, at higher limits, while they are carrying out an accepted ride (OCGA 33-1-24(b)). A driver’s personal auto insurer may exclude coverage for losses while the driver is logged on or providing rideshare services (OCGA 33-1-24(g)(2)), and if the insurance a driver relied on to meet the requirement has lapsed, the company must provide coverage that becomes primary from the first dollar of a claim (OCGA 33-1-24(f)).

Settling With One Carrier While Others Remain

“In any instance where a claim arising out of a motor vehicle accident is covered by two or more insurance carriers, one such carrier may tender, and the claimant may accept, the limits of such policy” (OCGA 33-24-41.1(a)). The claimant may sign a limited release that frees the settling carrier and releases its insured “from all personal liability from any and all claims arising from the occurrence on which the claim is based except to the extent other insurance coverage is available which covers such claim or claims” (OCGA 33-24-41.1(b)). The release does not bar recovery “against any other tort-feasor or under any other policy of insurance” unless it specifically says so (OCGA 33-24-41.1(d)(1)). No uninsured or underinsured motorist policy issued in Georgia may prohibit that settlement “or require the permission of the uninsured or underinsured motorist carrier to so settle any claim with the liability carrier” (OCGA 33-24-41.1(c)).

The Injured Person’s Own Uninsured Motorist Coverage

When the at-fault vehicle has liability insurance and the injured person has uninsured motorist coverage, the statute treats the at-fault vehicle as uninsured to the full extent of the injured person’s uninsured motorist limits, and that coverage pays in addition to the liability coverage available, never duplicating it and never beyond the insured’s total economic and noneconomic losses (OCGA 33-7-11(b)(1)(D)(ii)(I)). An insured may instead reject that coverage and select in writing coverage that treats the vehicle as uninsured only for the difference between the available liability coverage and the uninsured motorist limits (OCGA 33-7-11(b)(1)(D)(ii)(II)).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an umbrella policy include uninsured motorist coverage?
Not automatically. The required uninsured motorist coverage “excludes umbrella or excess liability policies unless affirmatively provided for in such policies or in a policy endorsement” (OCGA 33-7-11(a)(3)).

Can the jury learn that one carrier already settled?
The limited release is not admissible before the trier of fact in the trial of a tort action, but “the amount paid thereunder shall be admissible as provided by law as evidence of the offset against the liability of an uninsured motorist carrier and as evidence of the offset against any verdict of the trier of fact” (OCGA 33-24-41.1(d)(2)).

Does settling with one carrier affect a bad faith claim against it?
The statute is not to be construed “to interfere with a claimant’s right to pursue claims or an insurance company’s obligation to pay claims based on a negligent or bad faith refusal to settle a claim or claims,” and it does not “create any new claim not otherwise provided by law” (OCGA 33-24-41.1(f)).

Does a limited release end the at-fault driver’s personal exposure?
Not where other insurance covers the claim. The limited release does not “[r]elease the tort-feasor from personal liability to the extent that there is other insurance in effect which covers the said claim or claims, but only to the extent of such other insurance” (OCGA 33-24-41.1(d)(4)).

  • OCGA 33-34-3(d)
  • OCGA 33-1-24(b), (f), (g)(2)
  • OCGA 33-24-41.1(a), (b), (c), (d)(1), (d)(2), (d)(4), (f)
  • OCGA 33-7-11(a)(3), (b)(1)(D)(ii)(I), (II)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how multiple insurance policies interact under Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. How policies interact depends on their terms, the limits available, and the specific facts. A person injured in an accident should consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

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