Court Opinion

ID: 9588391
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:34:04.308978+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:41.788732
License: Public Domain

Pannell, Judge,
dissenting from Division 4. A verdict for bad faith penalty and attorney fees is not authorized where a bona fide dispute existed between the insurer and the insured on the question of release, permanency of loss of eyesight, or where the insured made a demand and entered suit for a sum in excess of the maximum amount that insurer would have been required to pay in any event under the policy in question. Ga. L. 1960, pp. 289, 502; 1962, p. 712 (Code Ann. § 56-1206). Norfolk &c. Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Cumbaa, 128 Ga. App. 196 (196 SE2d 167); Royal Ins. Co. v. Cohen, 105 Ga. App. 746 (3) (125 SE2d 709); Businessmen’s Assur. Co. v. Tilley, 109 Ga. App. 529 (3) (136 SE2d 514); Georgia Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Boney, 113 Ga. App. 459 (3) (148 SE2d 457); *196National Cas. Co. v. Dixon, 114 Ga. App. 362 (151 SE2d 539).
The evidence clearly establishes that the injured plaintiff first sued for $8,000, the principal sum under the policy, (relevant and material to the issue of bad faith but erroneously withheld from the* jury). Thereafter, plaintiffs sued for $3,333.33 the gross amount payable for loss of an eye and did not, until after they rested their case at the trial, amend their complaint to deduct the amount of medical expenses paid under another provision of the policy. To permit a recovery for bad faith under these circumstances permits an insured to sue his insurer for an amount in excess of policy limits, amend before the conclusion of the trial, and recover attorney fees and penalty for bad faith on the part of the insurer in contesting the excessive claim.
The question of whether the permanent loss occurred within 90 days of the injury was in dispute. The burden was on the insured (plaintiff) to establish that permanent loss occurred. The insurer (defendant) was entitled to defend on that issue until it was proven that the loss of eyesight had become permanent within 90 days after the injury.
Although I agree that the series of releases marked "full, final and complete settlement of any and all liability” rebutted the plea of accord and satisfaction of the defendant, I cannot say they were not also some evidence of accord and satisfaction for the jury to consider on the issue.
To authorize imposition of the penalty and attorney fees it must appear that the insurer’s position as to liability was frivolous and unfounded, and that does not appear here. Life Ins. Co. of Ga. v. Burke, 219 Ga. 214, 219 (132 SE2d 737); Royal Ins. Co. v. Cohen, 105 Ga. App. 746 (3), supra; Ga. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., v. Boney, 113 Ga. App. 459 (3), supra.
I would affirm the judgment with direction that attorney fees and penalty be stricken from the judgment with costs of appeal upon the appellee.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Hall, Presiding Judge Eberhardt and Judge Quillian join me in this dissent.