Court reviews whether a decedent's insurer could be sued in a case involving an automobile accident

OSCAR H. VAUGHN v. JAMES D. MORTON (Tenn. Ct. App. March 28, 2012)

This is a personal injury action filed by Oscar H. Vaughn (“the Plaintiff”) against James D. Morton (“the Deceased”) that arose out of an automobile accident. The Deceased died within a year of the accident. The Deceased’s insurer, acting pursuant to its rights under the policy to “defend” an action against its insured, filed a motion to dismiss asserting that the only proper defendant was the personal representative of the Deceased and that the statute of limitations had expired prior to any attempt to make the representative a party to this litigation.

The trial court denied the Plaintiff’s motion to amend to add the personal representative as a defendant, which motion was filed after the expiration of the statute of limitations. The trial court granted the insurer’s motion to dismiss. The Plaintiff appeals. We affirm.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/vaughno_032812.pdf