• Home
  • About
    ▼
    • About
    • Ben Sessions
    • Andrew Fleischman
    • Locations
      ▼
      • Atlanta, GA Office Location
      • Macon, GA Law Office Location
      • Columbus, GA Office Location
      • Milledgeville, GA Office Location
    • Areas We Serve
      ▼
      • Albany
      • Americus
      • Atlanta
      • Bartow County
      • Bibb County
      • Brookhaven
      • Centerville
      • Chatham County
      • Chattanooga
      • Clayton County
      • Cobb County
      • Columbia County
      • Columbus
      • Coweta County
      • DeKalb County
      • Doraville
      • Douglas County
      • Dublin
      • Fayette County
      • Gray
      • Griffin
      • Gwinnett County
      • Hall County
      • Hawkinsville
      • Henry County
      • Hinesville
      • Houston County
      • Jackson County
      • LaGrange
      • Lowndes County
      • Macon
      • McDonough
      • Milledgeville
      • Muscogee County
      • Newton County
      • Paulding County
      • Perry
      • Pooler
      • Richmond Hill
      • Roberta
      • Rockdale County
      • Savannah
      • Walker County
      • Walton County
      • Whitfield County
  • Practice Areas
    ▼
    • Personal Injury
      ▼
      • Car Accidents
      • Motorcycle Accidents
      • Truck Accidents
      • Slip-And-Fall & Premises Liability
      • Pedestrian Accidents
      • Bicycle Accidents
      • Elder Abuse
      • Product Defect Attorney
      • Defective Product Injuries
      • Negligent Security
      • Wrong Prescriptions
      • Wrongful Death
    • DUI Defense
      ▼
      • 2nd DUI Offense
      • DUI Drug Offense
      • Child Endangerment DUI
      • License Suspension
    • Criminal Defense
      ▼
      • Drug Charge Defense
      • Sex Crime Defense
      • Domestic Violence
      • Probation Violation
      • Vehicular Homicide
    • Appeals
    • Post-Conviction Relief
    • Workers’ Comp
      ▼
      • Calculating Workers’ Comp Payments
      • Fall at Work
  • Testimonials
    ▼
    • Case Results
  • Resources
    ▼
    • Resources
    • Preparing for Our Meeting
    • Personal Injury Resources
      ▼
      • Health Insurance Reimbursement
      • Personal Injury Blog
      • Attorney for Back Injuries
      • Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Nerve Damage
      • Attorneys for Broken Bones Caused by Accidents
      • Brain Injury
      • Scarring
    • Car Accident Resources
      ▼
      • Injuries Caused by Distracted Drivers
      • Injuries Caused by Drunk Drivers
      • Injured by a driver following too closely?
      • Most Common Car Accident Causes
      • Do I Need a Lawyer for My Car Accident Case?
      • Car Accident Blog
      • Step-By-Step Car Accident Guide
    • DUI Defense Resources
      ▼
      • DUI Defense Blog
      • Georgia DUI Process
      • The “Walk and Turn” Test in DUI Cases
      • The Eye Test
      • Your Driver’s License After a DUI Arrest
      • License Suspension in A DUI Case
      • Ignition Interlock Permit
      • Importance of Your Driving in Your DUI Case
      • Your Criminal Record & a DUI
  • Contact Us Now
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Sessions & Fleischman, LLC

FREE CONSULTATION

470.225.7710

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Ben Sessions
    • Andrew Fleischman
    • Locations
      • Atlanta, GA Office Location
      • Macon, GA Law Office Location
      • Columbus, GA Office Location
      • Milledgeville, GA Office Location
    • Areas We Serve
      • Albany
      • Americus
      • Atlanta
      • Bartow County
      • Bibb County
      • Brookhaven
      • Centerville
      • Chatham County
      • Chattanooga
      • Clayton County
      • Cobb County
      • Columbia County
      • Columbus
      • Coweta County
      • DeKalb County
      • Doraville
      • Douglas County
      • Dublin
      • Fayette County
      • Gray
      • Griffin
      • Gwinnett County
      • Hall County
      • Hawkinsville
      • Henry County
      • Hinesville
      • Houston County
      • Jackson County
      • LaGrange
      • Lowndes County
      • Macon
      • McDonough
      • Milledgeville
      • Muscogee County
      • Newton County
      • Paulding County
      • Perry
      • Pooler
      • Richmond Hill
      • Roberta
      • Rockdale County
      • Savannah
      • Walker County
      • Walton County
      • Whitfield County
  • Practice Areas
    • Personal Injury
      • Car Accidents
      • Motorcycle Accidents
      • Truck Accidents
      • Slip-And-Fall & Premises Liability
      • Pedestrian Accidents
      • Bicycle Accidents
      • Elder Abuse
      • Product Defect Attorney
      • Defective Product Injuries
      • Negligent Security
      • Wrong Prescriptions
      • Wrongful Death
    • DUI Defense
      • 2nd DUI Offense
      • DUI Drug Offense
      • Child Endangerment DUI
      • License Suspension
    • Criminal Defense
      • Drug Charge Defense
      • Sex Crime Defense
      • Domestic Violence
      • Probation Violation
      • Vehicular Homicide
    • Appeals
    • Post-Conviction Relief
    • Workers’ Comp
      • Calculating Workers’ Comp Payments
      • Fall at Work
  • Testimonials
    • Case Results
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Preparing for Our Meeting
    • Personal Injury Resources
      • Health Insurance Reimbursement
      • Personal Injury Blog
      • Attorney for Back Injuries
      • Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Nerve Damage
      • Attorneys for Broken Bones Caused by Accidents
      • Brain Injury
      • Scarring
    • Car Accident Resources
      • Injuries Caused by Distracted Drivers
      • Injuries Caused by Drunk Drivers
      • Injured by a driver following too closely?
      • Most Common Car Accident Causes
      • Do I Need a Lawyer for My Car Accident Case?
      • Car Accident Blog
      • Step-By-Step Car Accident Guide
    • DUI Defense Resources
      • DUI Defense Blog
      • Georgia DUI Process
      • The “Walk and Turn” Test in DUI Cases
      • The Eye Test
      • Your Driver’s License After a DUI Arrest
      • License Suspension in A DUI Case
      • Ignition Interlock Permit
      • Importance of Your Driving in Your DUI Case
      • Your Criminal Record & a DUI
  • Contact Us Now

TIP OF THE DAY NO. 13: YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUE A RENTAL CAR COMPANY, BUT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO RECOVERY AGAINST THEIR INSURANCE.

By Ben Sessions on July 30th, 2017 in Car / Auto Accident, Tips of the Day

One of the things that many of us are concerned about is being involved in an accident with a carrented by a person and that person not having insurance coverage available to pay for injuries and damages. Georgia law requires that “u-drive-it” rental car facilities make sure that the renter has his/her own insurance to cover car accidents and injuries that they may cause. However, when an rental car company fails to make sure that the renter has insurance, the insurer for the rental car company is probably going to be on the hook for paying for the injuries and damages caused in the car accident:

Any person who rents motor vehicles from a U-drive-it owner is required to provide his own insurance, and insurance companies authorized to issue automobile policies in this state shall be required by the Commissioner of Insurance to provide “spot” insurance, which shall be purchased by such person before the U-drive-it owner shall be authorized to turn a motor vehicle over to such person. If a U-drive-it owner turns over any motor vehicle to any person without first ascertaining that such “spot” insurance has been obtained, the U-drive-it owner shall not, as to that particular rental transaction, be exempted from the provisions of this chapter as provided in Code Section 40-9-4.

O.C.G.A. § 40-9-102.

Thus, where the rental car has injured plaintiffs, the rental car company’s “failure to comply with OCGA § 40-9-102 was not the cause of any harm to plaintiff[s].” Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 216 Ga.App. 659, 661, 455 S.E.2d 366 (1995); see Rabinovitz v. Accent Rent-A-Car, 213 Ga.App. 786-787, 446 S.E.2d 244 (1994) (physical precedent only). The purpose of the statute “is not specifically to prevent tortious acts by the operators of rental vehicles, but rather to assure that such operators are not uninsured.” Alamo, supra, 216 Ga.App. at 661, 455 S.E.2d 366. Where the rental car company has maintained liability insurance on the car as required by OCGA § 33-34-4, the **477 object of OCGA § 40-9-102 has been met, for then the vehicle is covered by insurance even if the renter personally has no insurance. Id.; see Generali, supra, 270 Ga. at 760(2), 514 S.E.2d 651.

As there is no proximate causal link between a renter’s lack of personal insurance and a collision, rental car companies are entitled to summary judgment unless they are self-insured. Compare Alamo, supra, 216 Ga.App. at 661, 455 S.E.2d 366 (summary judgment to rental car company that maintained liability insurance), and Rabinovitz, supra, 213 Ga.App. at 787, 446 S.E.2d 244 (same), with Generali, supra, 270 Ga. at 758, n. 2, 760(2), 514 S.E.2d 651 (self-insured rental car company not entitled to summary judgment), and Jordan, supra, 252 Ga.App. at 119, 555 S.E.2d 734 (1), (2) (same). Likewise, Auto Rental’s failure to confirm that LaRosa had personal insurance did not cause the accident which injured Scott. Inasmuch as Auto Rental had liability insurance from Empire that covered the vehicle in question,2 the purpose of OCGA § 40-9-102 was fulfilled, and the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to Auto Rental.

Scott v. Joe Thomson Auto Rental & Leasing, Inc., 257 Ga. App. 453, 454, 571 S.E.2d 475, 476–77 (2002).

If you have been involved in a car accident and have questions, contact Sessions & Fleischman today for a free consultation.

Sessions & Fleischman
3155 Roswell Rd., NE, Ste. 2061
Atlanta, GA 30305
Tel: (470) 225-7710

 

 

Primary Sidebar

Get Your Free Consultation

  • Hidden
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

Atlanta Office:
3155 Roswell Road, Ste 220
Atlanta, GA 30305

Macon Office:
544 Mulberry Street, Ste 319
Macon, GA 31201
Milledgeville Office:
300 East Montgomery St.
Milledgeville, GA 31061
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2023 Sessions & Fleischman, LLC
Disclaimer Privacy Policy