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2018 Georgia Code 33-5-57 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 33-5-57 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 33-5-57

TITLE 33 INSURANCE

Section 5. Regulation of Unauthorized Insurers, 33-5-1 through 33-5-59.

ARTICLE 3 UNAUTHORIZED INSURERS PROCESS ACT

33-5-57. Conditions precedent to filing of pleadings by insurer generally; granting of postponements; filing by insurer of motion to quash writ or set aside service.

  1. Before any unauthorized insurer shall file or cause to be filed any pleadings in any action or proceeding instituted against it, such unauthorized insurer shall either:
    1. Deposit with the clerk of the court in which such action or proceeding is pending cash or securities or file with the clerk a bond with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the court, in an amount to be fixed by the court sufficient to secure the payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in the action; provided, however, the court may in its discretion make an order dispensing with the deposit or bond where the insurer makes a showing satisfactory to the court that it maintains in a state of the United States funds or securities, in trust or otherwise, sufficient and available to satisfy any final judgment which may be entered in the action or proceeding; or
    2. Procure a certificate of authority to transact the business of insurance in this state.
  2. The court in any action or proceeding in which service is made in the manner provided in Code Section 33-5-53 or 33-5-54, in its discretion, may order any postponement as may be necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to comply with subsection (a) of this Code section and to defend the action.
  3. Nothing in subsection (a) of this Code section is to be construed to prevent an unauthorized insurer from filing a motion to quash a writ or to set aside service of such writ made in the manner provided in Code Section 33-5-53 or 33-5-54 on one or more of the following grounds:
    1. That such unauthorized insurer has not done any of the acts enumerated in Code Section 33-5-52;
    2. That the person on whom service was made pursuant to Code Section 33-5-54 was not doing any of the acts therein enumerated; or
    3. That it is otherwise not properly subject to the jurisdiction of court pursuant to this article.

(Code 1933, § 56-610, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 33.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

The purpose of this section is to provide assurance that any judgment rendered against the insurer may be collected by the insured or beneficiary. This purpose is found in the terms of the section (cash, securities, bond, etc.) and is made particularly clear by the provision allowing the trial court to dispense with cash deposit and bond upon a showing by the insurer of sufficient available liquid assets to satisfy such judgment as may be rendered against it. Retail Union Health & Welfare Fund v. Seabrum, 240 Ga. 695, 242 S.E.2d 18 (1978).

Conditions precedent apply to unauthorized foreign or alien insurers when sued.

- The conditions precedent to filing defenses set forth by this section apply to unauthorized foreign or alien insurers when they have been sued. Underwriters at Lloyd's, London v. Strickland, 99 Ga. App. 89, 107 S.E.2d 860 (1959).

Procuring certificate of authority is alternative act but not required.

- It is not the purpose of this section to require an unauthorized insurer to procure a certificate of authority to transact business in this state, as that is merely one of the acts an unauthorized insurer is permitted to take so as to be entitled to defend a suit instituted against it. Retail Union Health & Welfare Fund v. Seabrum, 240 Ga. 695, 242 S.E.2d 18 (1978).

Section assumes deposit or bond will be filed when defensive pleadings filed.

- Former Code 1933, § 56-610(1) (see now subsection (a) of this Code section) assumed that an unauthorized insurer will file the required cash, securities, or bond at the time of filing defensive pleadings. Retail Union Health & Welfare Fund v. Seabrum, 240 Ga. 695, 242 S.E.2d 18 (1978).

Compliance with subsection (a) within reasonable time suffices.

- When an unauthorized insurer timely files defensive pleadings and then fully complies with the requirements of former Code 1933, § 56-610(1) (see now subsection (a) of this Code section) within a reasonable time following notice that this section is applicable, then this section does not command a forfeiture of the right to litigate the merits of the dispute. Retail Union Health & Welfare Fund v. Seabrum, 240 Ga. 695, 242 S.E.2d 18 (1978).

No results found for Georgia Code 33-5-57.