Keondrae Stillwell suffered serious injuries when a dump truck collided head-on with her car. She sued the truck’s owner and driver and brought a direct action against Topa Insurance Company under Georgia’s Motor Carrier Act, alleging that Topa was responsible for any judgment against the motor carrier. The trial court dismissed the claim for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, relying in part on the insurer’s position that it had not made the regulatory filings required for motor-carrier coverage. The Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed. It held that whether Stillwell had a statutory cause of action against Topa was a merits question, not a defect in the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. Georgia trial courts have broad jurisdiction over this type of civil claim, and the statutory coverage issue did not deprive the court of power to adjudicate it. The appellate court reversed the dismissal and left the insurer’s separate factual arguments for further proceedings.