Barwick v. GEICO

Arkansas Supreme Court Upholds UETA, Declares E-Signed

Waiver of Medical Coverage in Auto Policy to be “In Writing”
By: Patrick J. Hatfield, Gregory T. Casamento, Vita E. Zeltser and Brian T. Casey

In a March 31, 2011, opinion, the Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the lower court’s granting of
a summary judgment in favor of GEICO, upholding the applicability of the Uniform Electronic Transactions
Act (“UETA”) to a waiver of minimum medical coverage. The insured’s wife completed the online
application for auto insurance coverage and as part of that online application waived the minimum
medical coverage. After a car wreck requiring the insured to incur medical expenses, the insured claimed
that the electronic signature on the online wavier of medical coverage was not binding on him because the
waiver was not “in writing” as required by the Arkansas Insurance Code. The insured later sought medical
benefits under the auto insurance policy.
More located here-> http://bit.ly/eroZH3

Interesting reading around the validity of digital signatures.

Regards,
Dean