VFH Captive Ins. Co. v. Pleitez

This appeal presents a question of first impression concerning the interplay between the Georgia Captive Insurance Company Act, OCGA § 33-4-1 et seq, “CICA” and OCGA § 33-7-11, the uninsured motorist statute. The underlying facts of this case, which are undisputed, show the following: plaintiff/appellee Roberto Pleitez was a taxi cab driver. On May 25, 2007, his cab had a flat tire while he was driving on I-85. Pleitez pulled over into the gore area to change the tire, where he was struck by a vehicle driven by defendant Mynor Perez-Barrios, who is not a party to this appeal; Pleitez received extensive injuries as a result of this accident.

Pleitez brought suit against Perez-Barrios, and Perez-Barrios’s liability carrier paid out its policy limits to Pleitez. Pleitez served a copy of the suit on his insurer, appellant VFH Captive Insurance Company, pursuant to the uninsured/underinsured motorist statute. OCGA § 33-7-11. VFH answered and denied that the policy it issued to Pleitez provided uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and both parties subsequently moved for summary judgment on the coverage issue. Pleitez argued that the coverage was part of the policy by operation of law because VFH had failed to offer uninsured coverage or to obtain a written rejection of coverage from him. OCGA § 33-7-11 a 3. VFH argued it was prohibited from offering uninsured motorist coverage by the CICA. The trial court denied VFH’s motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment to Pleitez, finding that Pleitez was entitled to uninsured motorist coverage under his policy with VFH. VFH appeals.