Court Opinion

ID: 9588824
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:39:04.156014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:55:44.468068
License: Public Domain

Evans, Judge,
dissenting.
While I voted to affirm when this case was first considered, on motion for rehearing, I have decided that *680vote was wrong, and I now dissent and vote to reverse. The reasons for my present position as to reversal are as follows:
Plaintiff, Vaughn, sued defendants Collum, father and son; and service was perfected on the 30th day of March, 1972. The defendants were uninsured motorists, and service of the suit was not perfected upon the insurer of plaintiff (having an uninsured motorist policy) until the 5th day of December, 1974, which was approximately three years after suit was filed. But the suit against the defendant who was served earlier had not been tried.
In a nutshell, the original defendant must be served within the statutory time with reasonable diligence, but the insurer in an uninsured motorist case is not required to be served as is the original defendant, because the insurer comes into the case by way of contract, and the contract lasts for not less than six years.
The uninsured motorist law (Code Ann. § 56-407.1) does not make the insurance company issuing the policy a party defendant, but merely states that a copy of the suit shall be served as prescribed by law upon the insurance company as though such insurance company were actually named as a party defendant. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Brown, 114 Ga. App. 650 (152 SE2d 641). Here the uninsured motorists were properly served within the two-year statute of limitation. Of course, the insurer is entitled to intervene into the action against the uninsured motorist, but it takes the case as it finds it, and has no greater rights than that of the defendant. Only when the insurance company elects to come into the proceedings as a defendant, do the rules of practice and procedure apply to it; and when it acts as a party at interest, that is, in the name of the defendant (an alleged tortfeasor), its action as that party is governed by the rules of practice and procedure applicable to that defendant. See Home Indem. Co. v. Thomas, 122 Ga. App. 641 (178 SE2d 297); Glover v. Davenport, 133 Ga. App. 146 (210 SE2d 370). To the extent "that it may purport to act directly in its own name, and thereby elect to assume the status of a named party, we think the rules of practice and procedure apply to it commencing when service is perfected.” The above language is found in the Home *681Indem. Co. and Glover cases.
The cases cited by the majority, including that of McNeal v. Able, 135 Ga. App. 702 (218 SE2d 460), all deal with service in regard to the defendant within its statute of limitation as to a tort, that is two years. Here, the defendant was served within the statute of limitation, and the majority seek to apply a rule in favor of the party at interest as if it were a defendant not served within two years. I also call attention that the relation between the party at interest and the plaintiff is that of contracting parties, and if any statute of limitation should be allowed, it would be that of six years as for actions on the contract.
In Glover v. Davenport, 133 Ga. App. 146, supra, the actions of a defendant in an uninsured motorist case were not allowed to control the insurer since it was not a party. Therefore, the rights of the insurer here began only after service was perfected upon it.
I cannot agree that the insurer can here assume the rights of a defendant (when it is only a party at interest) and contend this suit is void because it has not been served upon it within the statute of limitation applying to the defendant. Its relation with the plaintiff is that of a contracting party, and only after judgment had been obtained against the defendant can it be sued as a defendant, although it may elect of its own accord to become a defendant under the statute.
It is also noted that in the Glover case, the insurer was not served until three years after the filing of the action, and it was not allowed to be harmed by the failure of the defendant to answer and become in default. That default did not apply to the insurer. In the case sub judice, service was perfected on the insurer in less than three years. No injury has been shown to have occurred to this defendant. The two-year statute of limitation controlling injury to the person just simply does not apply to this party at interest. I therefore dissent.
I am authorized to state that Judges Clark and Webb concur in this dissent, and Presiding Judge Pannell concurs in the result of this dissent.