Supreme Court of Georgia. DANIELS et al. v. JOHNSON

Dec 04, 1998

OUTCOME: Judgment Reversed

Supreme Court of Georgia. DANIELS et al. v. JOHNSON. No. S97G1607. Decided: December 4, 1998 Robert Mason Beauchamp,Patrick Samuel Eidson, Beauchamp & Associates, Albany, for Lawrence Daniels, ... Sr., et al. John M. Stephenson, Watson, Spence, Lowe & Chambless, Albany, for Sheree H. Johnson. We granted certiorari to consider the scope of the requirement that a plaintiff exhaust available liability coverage as a prerequisite to recovery of uninsured motorist benefits.   Because the plaintiff met the exhaustion requirement by settling his claim for the policy limits as stated in the policy, we reverse the Court of Appeals of Georgia.1 Lawrence Daniels brought suit against Sheree Johnson for injuries arising out of an automobile accident that occurred in Georgia and served his uninsured motorist (UM) carrier.   Johnson was covered personally by a $10,000 liability policy and her rental car was covered by a $10,000 policy from Chrysler Insurance through the rental car agency in New York. Daniels settled with Johnson's insurance providers for $10,000 each and executed releases pursuant to OCGA § 33-24-41.1. Daniels then sought additional sums from his UM carrier.   The trial court granted the UM carrier's motion for summary judgment on the ground that Daniels had failed to exhaust availability coverage, a condition precedent to the UM claim, because under OCGA § 33-34-3(a)(2), the “ deemer” statute, the Chrysler policy was deemed to provide $15,000 in coverage.2  The court of appeals affirmed. - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-supreme-court/1238250.html#sthash.zDbUdoHp.dpuf