Georgia Personal Injury Glossary

Deadlines and notices

• Ante litem notice: the written claim Georgia requires before you can sue a city, county or the state. Deadlines run as short as 6 months.
• Statute of limitations: the deadline to file a lawsuit. For most Georgia injury claims it is two years from the injury (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).
• Time-limited demand: a settlement offer that expires on a set date. Georgia sets strict rules for these in motor vehicle cases (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1).

Insurance and claims

• Holt demand: a time-limited offer to settle for the policy limits. If the insurer unreasonably refuses, it can owe more than the policy.
• Subrogation: an insurer’s right to be repaid from your recovery for bills it already paid.
• Bad faith claim: a claim that an insurance company unreasonably refused to pay or settle.
• Uninsured / underinsured motorist (UM) coverage: your own coverage that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough.
• Add-on vs. reduced-by UM coverage: two kinds of Georgia UM coverage. Add-on stacks on top of the other driver’s liability limits; reduced-by is offset by them.
• Excluded driver: a person a car insurance policy specifically names as not covered.
• Policy limits settlement: a settlement for the full amount of the at-fault driver’s liability coverage.
• Medical payments (med pay) coverage: optional coverage on your own auto policy that pays medical bills regardless of fault. Georgia has no PIP requirement.

Fault and liability

• Modified comparative negligence: Georgia’s fault rule. Your award is reduced by your share of fault, and at 50% or more you recover nothing.
• Apportionment of fault: dividing responsibility among everyone who caused an injury, including people not in the lawsuit.
• Negligence: failing to use the care a reasonable person would use, causing someone harm.
• Negligence per se: negligence proven by showing someone broke a safety law, such as a traffic statute.
• Dram shop liability: when a bar or restaurant can be responsible for serving a visibly intoxicated person who later causes a crash.
• Negligent security: a property owner’s failure to take reasonable steps against foreseeable crime.
• Vicarious liability: when an employer is responsible for an employee’s negligence on the job, such as a trucking company for its driver.

Damages and money

• Diminished value: the resale value a car loses after a crash, even after good repairs.
• Punitive damages: extra damages meant to punish especially reckless conduct, such as drunk driving.
• Pain and suffering: compensation for physical pain, emotional distress and lost enjoyment of life.
• Full value of life: the measure of damages in a Georgia wrongful death case, judged from the perspective of the person who died.
• Hospital lien: a hospital’s legal claim against your injury settlement for unpaid treatment.
• ERISA lien: a reimbursement claim by a self-funded employer health plan, governed by federal law.
• Letter of protection: an agreement letting a provider treat you now and be paid from your settlement later.
• Collateral source rule: the rule that the at-fault party generally does not get credit for bills your own insurance paid.

The lawsuit process

• Deposition: sworn questioning of a witness or party before trial, recorded by a court reporter.
• Interrogatories: written questions one side must answer under oath.
• Independent medical exam (IME): an exam by a doctor the defense chooses.
• Mediation: a settlement meeting run by a neutral mediator.
• Subpoena: a court order requiring someone to testify or produce records.
• Additur and remittitur: a judge’s power to increase or reduce a jury’s award.

Questions about how this applies to your accident? Call 888-BIG-GUNN or request a free case review. There is no fee unless we recover for you.

This is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice for your situation.