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The Tennessee Court of
Appeals in Larry
Stine Bates v. Michael J. Greene, W2016-01868-COA-R3-CV, 2017 WL 3206599 (Tenn.
Ct. App. 2017) dealt with an interesting issue involving the statute of
limitations that applies to the filing of a claim against an uninsured motorist
carrier. The uninsured motorist carrier
in this case was Shelter Insurance. The plaintiff filed suit against the
defendant, the alleged tortfeasor, within one year of the accident. However,
the civil warrant was returned unserved. An alias was then issued for the
defendant but it was also returned unserved. Over two years after the actual
accident, an amended alias civil warrant was issued against the defendant,
which added Shelter Insurance Company, plaintiff’s uninsured motorist carrier,
as a defendant. The uninsured motorist carrier was served over two years after
the accident occurred.
As a result, the
insurance company filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and claimed that the
action against it was barred by the one-year statute of limitations applicable
to personal injury actions. The circuit court agreed and granted the Motion for
Summary Judgment, dismissing the case against the uninsured motorist carrier.
The court found the one-year personal injury statute of limitations applied to
the uninsured motorist claim.
On appeal, the
Tennessee Court of Appeals reviewed the situation in detail. They reviewed a
significant amount of prior cases as well as statutory changes to the uninsured
motorist statute. Ultimately, the Court
concluded that in this case, the one-year statute of limitations for a personal
injury claim did not apply. Instead, the six-year statute of limitations for a
contract cause of action applied for the claim against the uninsured motorist
carrier. Multiple prior Tennessee cases
have held consistent with this opinion in the past. The Court also analyzed T.C.A.
§ 56 -7-1206(d) which provides the following:
(d) In the event that service of process against the uninsured motorist,
which was issued to the motorist's last known address, is returned by the
sheriff or other process server marked, “Not to be found in my county,” or
words to that effect, or if service of process is being made upon the secretary
of state for a nonresident uninsured motorist and the registered notice to the
last known address is returned without service on the uninsured motorist, the
service of process against the uninsured motorist carrier, pursuant to this
section, shall be sufficient for the court to require the insurer to proceed as
if it is the only defendant in the case.
Based on this statute
the Court noted that the legislator intended that a plaintiff could sue the
uninsured m...
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