White v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.

6 Citing cases

  1. Reeves v. Allstate Ins. Co.

    901 S.E.2d 223 (Ga. Ct. App. 2024)   Cited 1 times
    Explaining that the "rules of construction only apply if the language of the contract is unclear or ambiguous in some respect" and that, if the language is "clear and unambiguous, a court merely enforces the contract according to its clear terms and looks to the agreement alone for its meaning" (punctuation omitted)

    As a result, White not only supports our reading of the policy but also forecloses the Reeveses’ argument that their policy includes a broadly applicable two-year suit limitation as a matter of law.291 Ga. 306, 728 S.E.2d 685 (2012).

  2. BPG Inspection, LLC v. Omstead

    367 Ga. App. 128 (Ga. Ct. App. 2023)   Cited 6 times

    More specifically, one-year and six-month contractual limitation periods have long been held reasonable as a matter of law. See White v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co. , 291 Ga. 306, 309 (2), 728 S.E.2d 685 (2012) (insurance policy's one-year limitation period was enforceable to bar plaintiff's claim); SunTrust Mtg. v. Ga. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. , 203 Ga. App. 40, 41, 416 S.E.2d 322 (1992) (an insurance contract's one-year limitation period for claims for "fire loss" was "valid and binding" on the insured); Rabey Electric Co. v. Housing Auth. of Savannah , 190 Ga. App. 89, 90-91 (2), (3), 378 S.E.2d 169 (1989) (contract's six-month limitation period was not "so unreasonable as to raise a presumption of imposition or undue advantage" and was thus enforceable) (citation and punctuation omitted); Brown v. Savannah Mut. Ins. Co. , 24 Ga. 97, 101 (2) (1858) ("No principle of public policy is violated by a condition in a policy of insurance, that the injured party shall sue within six months from the time of the loss or lose his remedy."). Against this weight of authority, the trial court relied on Langley v. MP Spring Lake, LLC , 307 Ga. 321, 834 S.E.2d 800 (2019), for

  3. Willis v. Allstate Ins. Co.

    334 Ga. App. 540 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015)   Cited 13 times
    Holding that the insurer did not waive the suit limitation period despite "engag[ing] in discussions with [the insured] [because] any negotiations and any activities that took place were subject to repeated representations that [the insurer] was not waiving any policy defenses"

    At the time Willis filed her first suit in December 2008, the one-year suit limitation for fire policies had been extended to a two-year suit limitation by Georgia law. See White v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 291 Ga. 306, 308–309(1), 728 S.E.2d 685 (2012).Here, the underlying facts are not disputed. The three losses at Willis' house occurred on February 27, 2006, February 28, 2006, and September 3, 2006. Willis notified Allstate and filed proofs of loss in November 2006, but did not file her first lawsuit against Allstate for its failure to pay until December 16, 2008, well over two years after the date of loss.

  4. White v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.

    694 F.3d 1199 (11th Cir. 2012)

    The Supreme Court of Georgia advises us that the answer is “no” to the first question, and “yes” to the second question. White v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 291 Ga. 306, 728 S.E.2d 685 (2012). In the light of these definite responses, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of State Farm.

  5. Daker v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

    1:20-cv-01052 (C.D. Ill. Jul. 8, 2021)

    Georgia courts have consistently enforced one-year limitations provisions in insurance contracts. See Langley, 307 Ga. at 323 n.1, 834 S.E.2d at 803 n.1; White v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 291 Ga. 306, 306-09, 728 S.E.2d 685, 686-88 (2012); Premier Eye Care Assocs. P.C. v. Mag. Mut. Ins. Co., 355 Ga.App. 620, 625, 844 S.E.2d 282, 287 (2020); Willis v. Allstate Ins. Co, 334 Ga.App. 540, 547, 779 S.E.2d 744, 749 (2015); Darnell v. Fireman's Funds Ins. Co., 115 Ga.App. 367, 367, 154 S.E.2d 741 (1967) (holding a twelve-month limitation did not raise a presumption of imposition or undue burden when it contravened the usual six-year statute of limitations for a written insurance contract); Parks v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 238 Ga.App. 814, 816, 520 S.E.2d 494, 495-96 (1999) (holding a “one-year limitations period [was] valid and enforceable”).

  6. Tucker v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

    109 F. Supp. 3d 1350 (N.D. Ga. 2015)   Cited 1 times

    Georgia courts have upheld one-year contractual limitations periods like the one in this case. See, e.g., White v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 291 Ga. 306, 728 S.E.2d 685, 687 (2012) (finding that a “one-year statute of limitations on initiation of claims for theft coverage in [the plaintiff's] insurance policy is enforceable”); Thornton v. Ga. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 287 Ga. 379, 695 S.E.2d 642, 643–44, 649 (2010) (finding that a one-year contractual claims limitation was unambiguous and was triggered from the date of the loss when it required an insured to file suit within a year “after the date of the loss”). Plaintiff appears to contend that the one-year bar should not apply because the contract was prepared by an insurer and an insured “is unlikely ever to read the detailed contents” of the policy.