Travelers Ins. Co. v. Blakey
| Decision Date | 24 April 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 42999,42999 |
| Citation | 342 S.E.2d 308,255 Ga. 699 |
| Parties | The TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY v. BLAKEY. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Daniel A. Angelo, Newton M. Galloway, Greene, Buckley, Derieux & Jones, Atlanta, for Travelers Ins. Co. Wilbur A. Orr, Orr & Kopecky, Washington, for Elizabeth Dawkins blakey, ex'r.
This case involves a contract of medical insurance. The facts are set out in the opinion of the Court of Appeals, Travelers Insurance v. Blakey, 177 Ga.App. 1(1), 338 S.E.2d 451 (1985), and will be repeated or supplemented herein only as necessary. The dispute between the parties concerns the interpretation of a group policy's definition of the term "covered medical expenses." The policy defined that term as including "physician's or surgeon's services for a surgical procedure and other medical care and treatment ...." (Emphasis supplied.)
The trial court submitted the construction of the emphasized language to the jury, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling, holding as follows: Travelers Insurance v. Blakey, supra, 177 Ga.App. at 2, 338 S.E.2d 451. (Emphasis supplied.) We granted certiorari to determine "[w]hether or not the construction of a written contract is the responsibility of the court, or within the province of a jury."
The foregoing language of the Court of Appeals is premised on a two-step procedure: first, the trial court determines whether a contract is ambiguous, and second, if the court finds that it is ambiguous, then the question of its construction is submitted to the jury. However, as has been recognized and well-stated in numerous earlier decisions of the Court of Appeals, the process of contract construction actually is composed of three steps. See, e.g., Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. v. Burnett, 167 Ga.App. 480 (2), 306 S.E.2d 734 (1983); Colonial Penn Insurance Co. v. Hart, 162 Ga.App. 333 (3), 291 S.E.2d 410 (1982); Transamerica Insurance Co. v. Thrift-Mart, Inc., 159 Ga.App. 874 (3), 285 S.E.2d 566 (1981).
Thus, in Transamerica Insurance Co. v. Thrift-Mart, Inc., id. at 880-881, 285 S.E.2d 566, the Court of Appeals opined that " ' ...
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