Act Of God

Legal Definition Under Georgia State Law

In Georgia state law, an “act of God” is a concept in the insurance world that describes a natural event or disaster that causes harm, inconvenience, or damage. These events are outside of human control. It can also be used to describe a situation that makes performing the terms of a contract impossible.

Insurance contracts often do not cover “acts of God.” That means that an insurance company may try to argue that something is an act of God, even when it doesn’t quite fit the definition, to get out of paying a claim for damages or injury. Acts of God are found more often in the home insurance context, but it can apply to car accident cases in some circumstances as well.

Note that, although the term refers to “God,” it is not religious in this context; it is simply a piece of jargon that means something was not caused by human, and couldn’t have been prevented by humans, either.

What are some examples of “Acts of God”?

The most common examples of acts of God are natural disasters. Georgia Code explicitly cites the following incidents as acts of God:

Lightning
Storms
Perils of the sea
Inundations
Sudden death
Illness
Earthquakes

You will note that sickness and sudden death are considered acts of God. Those are important in car accident situations. For example, imagine that someone is driving, and they suddenly have a heart attack. They likely are not going to be able to control their vehicle while having the heart attack. If they run into your car, they might have a defense to your claims for injuries and damage because an act of God was occurring, and that was why the crash happened.

You can combat this defense in some situations. For instance, if that person had a high risk of heart attack and was told by his doctor not to drive, that type of information might affect the outcome of a potential legal claim because the other driver’s heart attack was foreseeable and may have even been likely under the circumstances. Under Georgia law, for something to be considered an act of God, it must be a physical cause that is irresistible or inevitable.

Georgia code also notes explicitly that “This expression excludes all idea of human agency.” What does that mean? Generally, it means that the accident could not have happened by the intervention of man. For instance, imagine that a driver loses control of their car in a large puddle and runs into your vehicle. The puddle itself was an act of God, but the driver’s inability to control his vehicle wasn’t.

If the act of God itself didn’t cause your accident, then it won’t be a valid defense for an insurance company.

Get Help with Your Legal Claim—Even if There Was an Act of God

Is an insurance company denying your claim because they say that the accident was due to an “act of God”? If so, you need John Foy & Associates to examine your situation to determine if there was a true act of God to blame for your injuries. Many insurance companies will try to stretch this concept much further than they should so they can get out of paying you the money damages that you deserve. Don’t let this happen to you. Fill out the form to your right or call us at 404-400-4000 to get your FREE consultation today.