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Strickland v. Auto Owners Insurance Co.6/15/2005
Despite the trial court's statement that it considered evidence during the summary judgment hearing, no transcript of that hearing has been submitted to this Court, and the Stricklands have not requested it to prove their contention.
It is well established that the burden is on the party alleging error to show it by the record and that where the proof necessary for determination of the issues on appeal is omitted from the record, an appellate court must assume that the judgment below was correct and affirm.
(Punctuation omitted.) Griffin v. Travelers Ins. Co.
Due to the lack of a transcript, this Court cannot assume that no evidence was considered by the court during the summary judgment hearing. In fact, we must assume just the opposite.
Under these circumstances, we must rely on the presumption in favor of the regularity of all proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, assume that the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court's ruling, and affirm the judgment. When there is nothing in the record to support the contention of error, there is nothing presented to this court for review.
(Citations and punctuation omitted.) City of Atlanta v. Starke.
Therefore, applying the presumption of regularity in proceedings, we assume that the trial court, as indicated in its order, considered evidence of SG's motor vehicle insurance policy with Underwriters during the summary judgment hearing. Therefore, the Stricklands's unsupported contention that no evidence of the Underwriters policy was considered must fail on appeal.
2. The Stricklands further contend that the accident was not excluded under Auto Owner's policy with SG. Specifically, the Stricklands contend that George's truck was not leased or rented to SG, and, as such, the truck was excluded from coverage, but not SG's trailer, and therefore SG is covered under this policy for this accident. Contrary to the Stricklands's contentions, under the clear language of the exclusion, the Auto Owners policy did not provide coverage for motor vehicle accidents at all, even those involving SG's equipment or drivers. As such, the nature of the rental agreement between George and SG is not dispositive of the issue, as found by the trial court. However, we will affirm the decision of a trial court that is right for any reason. Johnson v. Equicredit Corp.
"Insurance in Georgia is a matter of contract, and we have long held that contract disputes are well suited for adjudication by summary judgment because construction of a contract is ordinarily a matter of law for the court." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Somers.
Moreover, the record supports the trial court's conclusion that George had rented his tractor to SG as a matter of law. Although the Agreement between George and SG makes no explicit reference to a lease or payment of rent, Appendix A thereof, referring to George's tractor as the "equipment," explicitly states: "Received of Rodney George Trucking `contractor' the equipment on at (sic) Farmerville, Louisiana," designating the equipment as SG Unit #931. Appendix B provides that George will be paid 72 percent of the revenue received by SG.
In exchange for 72 percent of SG's revenue for the loads hauled by George, it would receive the services of George as the driver and of his tractor to haul SG's trailers. Under the Agreement, although inartfully documented, SG clearly paid for the use of George's tractor. Pursuant to the Agreement, SG placed its own placards and vehicle identification number on George's vehicle. In addition, neither George nor SG, have ever disputed Auto Owners's co
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