O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1092 (2019)

Insurance coverage for general public; waiver of school board’s immunity

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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The various school boards are authorized to cause a provision to be inserted in policies issued under Code Section 20-2-1090 insuring the members of the general public against personal injury or death or damage to property resulting from the negligent operation of the school buses. Nothing, however, in this part shall be construed as imposing legal liability upon such boards on account of such accidents. Wherever an insurance company issues a policy containing such a provision, the company shall be estopped to deny its liability thereunder on account of the nonliability of the school board.

ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUC.

History

Ga. L. 1949, p. 1155, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 20.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Boards of education are authorized, but not required, to insure members of the general public against personal injury, death, or damage to property resulting from the negligent operation of school buses and nothing shall be construed as imposing legal liability upon the boards on account of such accidents. Jones v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 100 Ga. App. 727, 112 S.E.2d 323, 1959 Ga. App. LEXIS 712 (1959). This is accident insurance, not liability insurance, and the question of negligence is not involved. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Jones, 98 Ga. App. 46, 104 S.E.2d 725, 1958 Ga. App. LEXIS 504 (1958). General Assembly has recognized the governmental immunity of a school board in a tort action and disclaimed any intent to change that. The General Assembly provided for the bringing of a suit for an injury so inflicted, but limited recovery to the amount of liability provided in the policy. Sheley v. Board of

Pub. Educ., 132 Ga. App. 314, 208 S.E.2d 126, 1974 Ga. App. LEXIS 1681 (1974), cert. dismissed, 233 Ga. 487, 212 S.E.2d 627, 1975 Ga. LEXIS 1354 (1975). Insurance company writing insurance in compliance with this section may be sued directly on the contract by a member of the public who sustains damage to the individual’s person or property resulting from the negligent operation of the school buses covered by the contract. Krasner v. Harper, 90 Ga. App. 128, 82 S.E.2d 267, 1954 Ga. App. LEXIS 651, aff’d, American Guarantee & Liability Ins. Co. v. Krasner, 211 Ga. 142, 84 S.E.2d 46, 1954 Ga. LEXIS 494 (1954). When county or other boards of education take out the insurance described, the persons insured are beneficiaries; the beneficiaries’ action is not against the members of the school board, but is an action in contract directly against the insurance company on the theory of third-party beneficiaries. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Jones, 98 Ga. App. 46, 104 S.E.2d 725, 1958 Ga. App. LEXIS 504 (1958).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL District liable for injuries to extent that required insurance procured. - School district is not liable in tort for injuries to students except to the extent

that insurance has been procured therefor under Ga. L. 1949, p. 1155, §§ 1 through 5. 1960-61 Ga. Op. Att’y Gen. 166.

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. Risks and causes of loss within liability policy covering transportation of school children, 154 A.L.R. 1102.

Tort liability of public schools and institutions of higher learning for accidents associated with the transportation of students, 23 A.L.R.5th 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1997–2012 · leading case: Coffee Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. King, 493 S.E.2d 563 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997).

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Coffee Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. King, 493 S.E.2d 563 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 8× “OCGA § 20-2-1092 provides that — in addition to insuring school children against injury pursuant to OCGA § 20-2-1090 — the school boards are authorized to insure the general public against injury resulting from the negligent operation of school buses.”

Richards v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins., 555 S.E.2d 506 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 20-2-1092; State Farm &c. Ins. Co.”

Bouboulis v. Scottsdale Ins., 860 F. Supp. 2d 1364 (N.D. Ga. 2012). “§ 20-2-1090 (requiring school boards to obtain insurance that will insure school children riding the bus against injury; § 20-2-1092) (authorizing school board to purchase insurance to protect the general public against accidents involving school buses and to include provision…”

Natasha N. Payne, by Next Friend, Harriet C. Gleaton v. Twiggs Cnty. Sch. Dist., Selective Ins. Co., 127 F.3d 1407 (11th Cir. 1997). “O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1092. The plaintiffs theory of recovery against Selective is that she is a third-party beneficiary under its contract of insurance with the School District, made in compliance with § 20-2-1090, and, as such, may maintain a direct action against the insurer.”

Payne v. Twiggs Cnty. Sch. Dist., 148 F.3d 1303 (11th Cir. 1998). “O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1092. The plaintiff's theory of recovery against Selective is that she is a third-party beneficiary under its contract of insurance with the School District, made in compliance with § 20-2-1090, and, as such, may maintain a direct action against the insurer.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.