Court Opinion

ID: 9581449
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:15:03.429151+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:57.621757
License: Public Domain

Evans, Judge,
concurring specially. The posture of this case, as it reaches the writer, is that it has been considered by the other eight members of this court, resulting in four votes for the original opinion and four votes contra. It, therefore, falls my lot to cast the deciding vote.
Cullers borrowed a sum of money from Home Credit Company, under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act (Ga. L. 1955, p. 431; Code Ann. Ch. 25-3), which is also referred to as the "Small Loan Act.” The principal question at issue here is as to whether the lender furnished the borrower with a proper and adequate description of the insurance which the borrower was required to purchase at the time the loan was made.
Code Ann. § 25-315 (c) authorizes the lender to accept as security "reasonable insurance on the life, health and/or against accident of the principal party” and also authorizes the commissioner to promulgate rules to effectuate the provisions of the Act.
Code Ann. § 25-319 directs the lender to deliver to the borrower a copy of the loan contract, and then, instead of also directing that a copy of the insurance policy be furnished the borrower, the language used in this statute merely requires that the lender deliver to the borrower a description of "the amount of each class of insurance carried and the premiums paid thereon . . .”
The record in this case shows that the lender furnished to the borrower a description which included the following: The class of insurance, to wit, "Credit Life Insurance” and "Credit Accident and Health Insurance.” The amount of life insurance carried-$600; Monthly benefits from accident and health insurance-$25; Premiums paid on Credit Life Insurance-$24; Premiums paid on Credit Accident and Health Insurance-$36; Premiums paid on personal property insurance-$24.
The above information complies with the meager requirements of Code Ann. § 25-319 as to a description of the insurance carried and the premiums paid thereon.
It would have been much better from the borrower’s standpoint if the law had required that borrower be furnished with a copy of each and every insurance policy that he was required to purchase at the time of making the loan. But the General Assembly, in its wisdom, did not see fit to include such requirement, but in the most general and vague terms simply required the furnishing of "the amount of each class of insurance carried and the premiums paid thereon.” The requirement of the rule issued by the *447commissioner, as authorized by Code Ann. § 25-315 (c), is not much more comprehensive or extensive than are the requirements of the statute (Code Ann. § 25-319). Rule . 120-1-11-.01 (General Regulations) requires that the lender furnish to the borrower, at the time of the loan the following: A policy application, certificate or written statement of insurance; a written statement as to the amount of insurance; a written statement as to the term of coverage; the amount of premiums; and a description of the coverage. The written statement of insurance is shown as Exhibit A (Record 4,5); the amount of insurance is shown as $600; the term of coverage is shown as from July 14, 1969, to July 14, 1971; the insurance premiums are shown to be itemized, $24, $36, and $24; and the coverage is for life insurance and accident and health insurance.
The commissioner also promulgated Rule 120-1-11-.02, which describes "level term life insurance,” and "reducing term life insurance” — but there is no rule requiring the lender to sell, nor requiring the borrower to purchase, such insurance. It is, therefore, immaterial that neither of such insurance types is referred to in the written statement furnished by the lender to the borrower.
Thus, it is shown that lender complied with the statute and with the rules promulgated by the commissioner as to furnishing borrower with the required description of the insurance borrower was purchasing.
Some of my associates have suggested that before this court can now hold the description in the case sub judice to be sufficient, it is necessary that we review and overrule our earlier case of Patman v. General Finance Corp., 128 Ga. App. 836 (198 SE2d 371), in which case it was held that the borrower was not sufficiently advised as to the class of insurance he was required to purchase, or the amount thereof.
The result reached in the Patman case was correct, because, without question, the borrower was not informed as to the amount of insurance, whereas in the present case the borrower was informed that the amount of insurance was $600.
But the Patman case is incorrect in stating that the class or kind of insurance was not sufficiently described to the borrower. A careful study of the Patman case shows that the borrower was given the original or a copy of a written form showing, as to the class of insurance he was purchasing, the words "level and decreasing term insurance.” Neither "level” nor '‘decreasing” was stricken or marked out. Thus the borrower was advised that he was *448purchasing both level term insurance and decreasing term insurance. Nothing prevented his purchase of both types of insurance.
Because the result in the Patman case is correct, in that the amount of insurance was not made known to the borrower, it may be that the statement as to insufficient description of the class or kind of insurance, though incorrect, may be treated as surplusage. Or, it may be that the case should be overruled for the sole purpose of eliminating that part of said opinion which holds that the class of insurance was not properly described, leaving the result as it is, because in fact the amount of insurance was not there made known to the borrower.
Therefore, while expressing my displeasure with the terms of the statute, and the rules promulgated by the commissioner, and emphasizing my feeling that said statute or said rules, or both, should require the lender to furnish the borrower with a copy of the insurance policy, I feel that here there has been a compliance with the loose, general, and vague language in Code Ann. § 25-319 as to the required description of the insurance furnished to the borrower at time the loan was made, and with the rules promulgated by the commissioner.
I vote to affirm the judgment of the lower court.