Moon v. Mercury Ins. Co. of Ga.

Cynthia Ann Moon sued Mercury Insurance Company of Georgia for unpaid medical expenses resulting from an automobile collision in which she was a passenger, seeking special damages, bad faith penalties, attorney fees, and punitive damages. Mercury denied these expenses were covered under the auto insurance policy of Moon’s father, contending that Moon had released her claim, that she was not a resident in her father’s house, that she had no standing because she had assigned these benefits to a chiropractor, and that it was not liable for penalties.

The trial court granted summary judgment to Mercury, holding that Moon’s general release of the tortfeasors and their insurance company also released Mercury from her claim for medical expenses. While we hold that the trial court erred in concluding that Moon’s general release operates also to release Mercury on the specific damages claim, we affirm the summary judgment on Moon’s bad faith claim. Further, while Moon had no standing to assert the claim for specific damages, having assigned her cause of action to her treating chiropractor, she is entitled under OCGA § 9-11-17 to a reasonable time within which to substitute the real party in interest, or to have the doctor reconvey the cause of action to her.