Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448

2018 Georgia Code 33-31-4 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 33-31-4 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 33-31-4

TITLE 33 INSURANCE

Section 31. Credit Life Insurance and Credit Accident and Sickness Insurance, 33-31-1 through 33-31-12.

ARTICLE 2 PREFERRED PROVIDER ARRANGEMENTS

33-31-4. Amount of insurance.

  1. The amount of credit life insurance shall not exceed the indebtedness. Where indebtedness repayable in substantially equal installments is secured by an individual policy of credit life insurance, the amount of insurance shall not exceed the approximate unpaid indebtedness on the date of death and, where secured by a group policy of credit life insurance, shall not exceed the exact amount of unpaid indebtedness on that date.
  2. The amount of indemnity payable by credit accident and sickness insurance in the event of disability, as defined in the policy, shall not exceed the aggregate of the periodic scheduled unpaid installments of indebtedness; and the amount of each periodic indemnity payment shall not exceed the original indebtedness divided by the number of periodic installments.
  3. The limitations set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section shall not apply to insurance regulated under Chapter 3 of Title 7 as to loans made under that chapter.
  4. Notwithstanding this Code section, credit life insurance in connection with agricultural loans not exceeding five years may be written up to the amount of the loan or loan commitment on the nondecreasing or level term plan.

(Code 1933, § 56-3304, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1.)

Law reviews.

- For article discussing methods of computation of finance charges in Georgia consumer credit contracts, see 30 Mercer L. Rev. 281 (1978).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Insurable interest may not exceed indebtedness to be secured.

- Creditor has, for the purpose of indemnification against loss, but for no other, an insurable interest in the life of a debtor; and this interest cannot exceed in amount that of the indebtedness to be secured. Such indebtedness may, however, include the cost of taking out and keeping up the insurance, if made a charge against the debtor or the debtor's estate, or upon the proceeds of the policy when collected. Vulcan Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. United Banking Co., 118 Ga. App. 36, 162 S.E.2d 798 (1968).

Indebtedness is the total amount a consumer would pay over the course of the loan.

- Insurance company did not illegally overcharge a policy holder for a credit life policy on a vehicle loan, because under O.C.G.A. § 33-31-1, indebtedness was defined as the total amount payable by a debtor to a creditor in connection with a loan or other credit transaction, and this included the interest charged on the vehicle loan. Printis v. Bankers Life Ins. Co., 256 Ga. App. 266, 568 S.E.2d 85 (2002), aff'd, 276 Ga. 697, 583 S.E.2d 22 (2003).

RICO action against an insurer regarding the insurer's calculation of the premium for a credit life insurance policy issued in connection with an installment loan failed to state a cause of action under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-12(c) because applying the definition of "indebtedness" found in O.C.G.A. § 33-31-1(5) to the language in O.C.G.A. § 33-31-4(a), the insurer properly calculated the premium based on the total payments due through the life of the loan, a gross balance decreasing term coverage method. Printis v. Bankers Life Ins. Co., 276 Ga. 697, 583 S.E.2d 22 (2003).

Cited in Mason v. Service Loan & Fin. Co., 128 Ga. App. 828, 198 S.E.2d 391 (1973); Turpeau v. Fidelity Fin. Servs., Inc., 936 F. Supp. 975 (N.D. Ga. 1996).

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 33-31-4

Total Results: 1  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

Copy

Printis v. Bankers Life Ins., 583 S.E.2d 22 (Ga. 2003).

Cited 6 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 30, 2003 | 276 Ga. 697, 2003 Fulton County D. Rep. 2011

...June 30, 2003. Sidney L. Moore, Jr., Atlanta, for appellant. Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, Thomas M. Byrne, Thomas W. Curvin, Atlanta, for appellee. BENHAM, Justice. We granted a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals to determine whether OCGA § 33-31-4(a) permits, in connection with an installment loan, the sale of credit life insurance the premium for which is calculated on the total payments due through the life of the loan (i.e., gross balance decreasing term coverage), or whether the...
...gment on the pleadings to Bankers Life, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment. The amount of insurance on the life of a debtor purchased pursuant to or in connection with a specific loan or credit transaction is statutorily limited by OCGA § 33-31-4(a), [1] which states The amount of credit life insurance shall not exceed the indebtedness....
..."Indebtedness" is statutorily defined as "the total amount payable by a debtor to a creditor in connection with a loan or other credit transaction." OCGA § 33-31-1(5). When the statutory definition of "indebtedness" is applied to the first sentence of OCGA § 33-31-4(a), it is clear that "total of payments" insurance coverage is authorized. The second sentence of § 33-31-4(a) is applicable to transactions such as the one before us, i.e., where the indebtedness is secured by a policy of credit life insurance and is repayable in substantially equal installments....
...and the amount of coverage decreases as the balance of the loan declines.") The policy issued by Bankers Life to Printis provided "total of payments" coverage that decreased in amount every month by the amount of one monthly payment ("gross balance decreasing coverage"). Ms. Printis contends the second sentence of OCGA § 33-31-4(a) limits the maximum amount of insurance coverage to that which Printis would owe on the date she died during the term of the loan, i.e., the remaining principal balance plus the interest which had accrued since the last payment ("net balance decreasing coverage"). However, § 33-31-4(a)'s second sentence clearly states the amount of insurance shall not exceed the unpaid "indebtedness" on the date of death, and "indebtedness" is statutorily defined as "the total amount payable by a debtor to a creditor in connection with a ... credit transaction." Application *24 of the statutory definition of indebtedness to the second sentence of § 33-31-4(a) results in the conclusion that the allowable amount of insurance coverage on the date of death is the unpaid portion of the total of payments, an amount that would include the remaining amount financed plus unearned interest....
...Splane, 959 P.2d 600, 603 (Okla.Civ.App.1998). Appellant would have the maximum authorized amount of insurance be the "pay-off balance" on the date of death, which is an amount less than the unpaid total of payments since the latter would include unearned finance charges. However, OCGA § 33-31-4(a) does not limit the amount of credit life insurance that can be sold to the "pay-off balance." Had the General Assembly wished to limit the maximum amount of credit life insurance that could be sold to the "pay-off balance," it could have enacted a statute reflecting that intent....
...OCGA § 9-11-12(c). Printis v. Bankers Life Ins. Co., supra, 256 Ga.App. at 268, 568 S.E.2d 85. Judgment affirmed. FLETCHER, C.J., SEARS, P.J., CARLEY, THOMPSON, and HINES, JJ., and Judge FRED BISHOP concur. HUNSTEIN, J., disqualified. NOTES [1] OCGA § 33-31-4 is a part of the Georgia Insurance Code of 1960, in which the General Assembly recognized the debtor/insured had an interest in the credit life insurance policy issued on the debtor's life in connection with a credit transaction, a marked...