Pender v. Doe
Pender v. Doe
Opinion of the Court
Patrick Pender was injured in a collision with a pickup truck while driving his motorcycle. The driver of the truck left the scene and was never identified. Pender sought to recover uninsured motorist benefits from his insurer, United Services Automobile Association (“USAA”). USAAmoved for summary judgment, asserting that Pender cannot recover because he failed to report the collision to police immediately, as required by Georgia law. The trial court granted USAA’s motion, and Pender appeals. For reasons that follow, we affirm.
Summary judgment should be granted when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
To recover uninsured motorist benefits from his own insurer, the insured or someone acting on his behalf must report the collision as required in OCGA§ 40-6-273.
Here, Pender reported the collision to police 29 days after it occurred. He nevertheless argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because there was evidence that (1) his notice to the police was reasonable under the circumstances, and (2) the insurer waived compliance with the reporting requirement.
Following the binding precedent of Navarro, we hold that the trial court properly granted summary judgment to USAAbecause the undisputed facts show that Pender waited 29 days to report the collision to police. There is no provision in OCGA § 40-6-273 for “reasonable” notice; it must be immediate. And Pender’s delay of nearly a month, including three weeks after he was released from the hospital, far exceeds the four or five days found to be excessive by the Navarro court. As a matter of law, Pender’s actions do not constitute immediate notice by the quickest means of communication.
Moreover, Pender has cited no relevant authority for his assertion that an insurer may waive compliance with this statutorily-mandated condition precedent. The cases relied upon by Pender relate to waiver of an insurance company’s own policy provisions, rather than waiver of a statutory requirement.
Because the undisputed evidence shows that Pender failed to comply with the statutory reporting requirement, his uninsured motorist claim is barred as a matter of law. We therefore affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to USAA.
Judgment affirmed.
See Bonner v. Southern Restaurant Group, 271 Ga. App. 497 (610 SE2d 129) (2005).
See id.
See OCGA § 33-7-11 (c); Dawkins v. Doe, 263 Ga. App. 737, 737-738, n. 2 (589 SE2d 303) (2003).
OCGA § 40-6-273.
250 Ga. App. 550, 551 (552 SE2d 508) (2001).
See id.
See, e.g., Fremichael v. Doe, 221 Ga. App. 698, 701 (2) (472 SE2d 440) (1996).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.