Surety Insurance

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Insurance
4. Kinds of Insurance; Limits of Risks; Reinsurance
5. Surety Insurance

Surety insurance includes:

1. Fidelity insurance, which is insurance guaranteeing the fidelity of persons holding positions of public or private trust;
2. Insurance guaranteeing the performance of contracts other than insurance policies and guaranteeing and executing bonds, undertakings, and contracts of suretyship; and
3. Insurance indemnifying banks, bankers, brokers, or financial or moneyed corporations or associations against loss resulting from any cause of bills of exchange, notes, bonds, securities, evidences of debt, deeds, mortgages, warehouse receipts or other valuable papers, documents, money, precious metals and articles made from such metals, jewelry, watches, necklaces, bracelets, gems, precious and semiprecious stones, including any loss while the same are being transported in armored motor vehicles or by messenger but not including any other risks of transportation or navigation; also insurance against loss or damage to such an insured's premises or to his furnishings, fixtures, equipment, safes, and vaults in such an insured's premises caused by burglary, robbery, theft, vandalism, or malicious mischief or any attempt at burglary, robbery, theft, vandalism, or malicious mischief.

(Code 1933, § 56-409, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 33.)

Cross references.

- Suretyship, T. 10, C. 7.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, annotations decided under former Civil Code 1910, §§ 2550, 3538 are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Distinction between suretyship and fidelity insurance.

- There is a well-recognized difference between a contract of suretyship and one of fidelity insurance as defined in this section. John Church Co. v. Aetna Indem. Co., 13 Ga. App. 826, 80 S.E. 1093 (1913) (decided under former Civil Code 1910, §§ 2550, 3538).

"Surety insurance" does not include reinsurance.

- The phrase "other than insurance policies" as used in paragraph (2) of this section means that "surety insurance" is defined as insurance guaranteeing the performance of contracts, except insurance contracts. In other words, a contract for "reinsurance" is not included within the definition of "surety insurance." Climatrol Indus., Inc. v. Home Indem. Co., 316 F. Supp. 314 (N.D. Ga. 1970).

Cited in Houston Gen. Ins. Co. v. Brock Constr. Co., 241 Ga. 460, 246 S.E.2d 316 (1978); Congress Re-Insurance Corp. v. Archer-Western Contractors, 226 Ga. App. 829, 487 S.E.2d 679 (1997).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Foreign insurer's ability to underwrite homeowners' warranties.

- An insurance company that has not met the requirements imposed upon risk retention groups by the state in which it is chartered as an insurance company may not underwrite homeowners' warranties in Georgia without a certificate of authority authorizing the transaction of insurance in Georgia. 1982 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 82-104.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 35 Am. Jur. 2d, Fidelity Bonds and Insurance, § 1.

C.J.S.

- 44 C.J.S., Insurance, §§ 384, 385.

ALR.

- Liability of surety company as distinguished from that of gratuitous surety, 12 A.L.R. 382; 94 A.L.R. 876.

Insurance against injuring property or person of third person as liability or indemnity insurance, 37 A.L.R. 644; 83 A.L.R. 677; 117 A.L.R. 239.

Burglary, larceny, theft, or robbery within policy of insurance, 41 A.L.R. 846; 44 A.L.R. 471.

Losses covered by insurance against strikes, lockouts, or other labor disputes, 52 A.L.R. 162.

Insurance of banks against forgeries, 52 A.L.R. 1379.

Automobile conversion or embezzlement insurance, 55 A.L.R. 827.

Construction and effect of provisions of fidelity bond or fidelity insurance limiting amount of liability, 88 A.L.R. 455.

Act or default of officer or employee covered by fidelity bond or insurance, 98 A.L.R. 1264.

Rights and obligations arising out of bid for municipal bond issue, 139 A.L.R. 1047.

Who is an employee within fidelity bond or insurance, 140 A.L.R. 699.

Fidelity bond or policy as covering default of corporate officer or employee occurring while corporation is in hands of receiver, or after termination of receivership, 153 A.L.R. 1148.

Right of one covered by a fidelity bond to intervene in action by obligee against obligor, 157 A.L.R. 159.

Extent of liability on fidelity bond renewed from year to year, 7 A.L.R.2d 946.

Insurance of bank against larceny and false pretenses, 15 A.L.R.2d 1006.

Insurance: waiver of, or estoppel to assert, iron safe clause, 33 A.L.R.2d 615.

Construction and effect of provision in employee's fidelity bond requiring employer-insured to file "itemized" proof of claim or proof of loss with particulars, 37 A.L.R.2d 900.

Robbery insurance: risks and losses covered, 37 A.L.R.2d 1081.

Construction and effect of clause in burglary policy requiring alarm system, 42 A.L.R.2d 733.

Provisions of burglary or theft policy as to effect of disappearance of property, 12 A.L.R.3d 865.

Provisions of burglary or theft policy requiring losses evidenced by "physical damage to premises,", 22 A.L.R.3d 1305.

Theft insurance: coverage of expense of reward offered by insured, or other expense incurred in recovering stolen property, 46 A.L.R.3d 403.

What constitutes "money" within coverage or exclusion of theft or other crime policy, 68 A.L.R.3d 1179.

Loss through payment of extortion demand at place other than insured's premises as within coverage of theft policy insuring against losses incurred on premises, 85 A.L.R.3d 1103.

Construction and effect of clause, infidelity bond, or insurance policy excluding from coverage losses proved by "inventory computation" or "profit and loss computation,", 45 A.L.R.4th 1049.

What constitutes "vandalism" or "malicious mischief" within meaning of insurance policy specifically extending coverage to losses from such causes, 56 A.L.R.5th 407.

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