GeorgiaHB 13442025-2026 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact

Sponsored By: Jon Burns (Republican), Soo Hong (Republican), Carolyn Hugley (Democrat), Trey Kelley (Republican), Eddie Lumsden (Republican), Matt Reeves (Republican)

Signed by Governor

InsuranceInsurance and LaborGeneral Bill

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

31 provisions identified: 23 benefits, 5 costs, 3 mixed.

Storm protection grants for Georgia homeowners

Beginning January 1, 2027, eligible homeowners can get storm-protection grants, subject to available funds. Qualifying roof grants are capped at $6,000 matching or $7,500 nonmatching. Qualifying roof, window, or opening-protection grants are capped at $4,000 matching or $5,000 nonmatching. Shutters or protective barriers qualify for up to $4,000 under either grant type. Applicants must own and occupy their legal residence and carry qualifying insurance covering at least its fair market value. Homes must meet wind-certification and inspection requirements, and improvements must meet project standards. Nonmatching awards depend on project cost and adjusted household income from the latest federal tax return; awards may be lower above the county median.

Bigger payments for overdue premium refunds

Beginning January 1, 2027, insurers or agents that fail to return required unearned premiums owe insured customers larger penalties. The penalty rises from 25% to 50% of the refund, plus 18% yearly interest until payment. The former cap on combined penalties and interest is removed. Premium finance companies face the same formula when credited return premiums leave a surplus of at least $5. It applies when they fail to tender the required refund or provide an agent, agency, or broker's requested itemized report.

Faster insurance claims after declared disasters

Beginning January 1, 2027, the insurance commissioner can order claim deadlines after a presidentially or governor-declared Georgia disaster or emergency. Under that order, insurers must acknowledge claims and provide forms and reasonable instructions within 15 calendar days of notice. After completed proof of loss, liability decisions are due within 15 days for vehicle claims or 60 days for other property claims. When proof of loss is not required, insurers must investigate coverage within 30 days of notice. Undisputed payments are due within 10 calendar days after coverage and the amount are determined. Insurers needing more time must notify claimants within five business days after the applicable payment deadline. Decisions generally cannot exceed 60 days from notice unless necessary information requested from the insured remains missing. The commissioner can also extend claim-filing deadlines when qualified help is unavailable; the law sets no fixed extension length.

Homeowners can challenge image-based coverage decisions

Beginning January 1, 2027, insurers using aerial or satellite images to cancel or nonrenew owner-occupied home coverage must use images no more than 12 months old. They must share the images, repair steps and standards, a way to document repairs, and an appeal process. Currently insured owners get at least 60 days to fix the identified problems. If owners prove the problems are fixed, insurers must offer renewal or withdraw the cancellation or nonrenewal decision. These protections also apply to residential coverage through the FAIR Plan.

Policyholders get more time to sue

For Georgia policies issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after July 1, 2027, insurers cannot set lawsuit deadlines shorter than two years from the loss. This protects claims for damage to the policyholder's own property. Liability and workers' compensation coverage are excluded.

Higher fines for insurance fraud

Beginning January 1, 2027, a person convicted of insurance fraud faces up to $100,000 per act, up from $10,000. The existing prison range of two to ten years remains. A false insured-vehicle theft affidavit carries a maximum $20,000 fine, up from $10,000, and one to five years in prison. Covered fraudulent drug-testing violations carry up to $2,500 per violation, up from $1,000, and confinement up to 12 months. In each case, both a fine and imprisonment or confinement can apply.

Stronger penalties for unfair insurance practices

Beginning January 1, 2027, covered unfair-practice penalties rise from $1,000 to $5,000 per act after a required hearing. When someone knew or should have known of the violation, the maximum rises from $5,000 to $25,000. Violating an active cease-and-desist order carries up to $15,000 per act, up from $10,000, after notice and a hearing. Final insurance-rate order penalties rise from $50 to $1,000, or from $5,000 to $10,000 for willful failures. Proven violations of final credit life or credit accident-and-sickness insurance orders carry up to $500 instead of $250, or $2,000 instead of $1,000 when willful; license sanctions remain available.

Stronger protections against paid crash referrals

Beginning January 1, 2027, the law replaces an older crash-information rule with a ban on financially motivated solicitation, release, or sale of collision-party information. Public-media advertising and solicitation, and releases allowed by state public-records law, remain exceptions. People and businesses cannot act as paid intermediaries to recruit insurance claimants for practitioners or healthcare providers. Providers cannot pay these intermediaries, while referrals and compensation allowed by professional conduct rules remain permitted. Violations are felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $200,000 per violation.

Higher fees for vehicle insurance lapses

Beginning January 1, 2027, an insurance lapse longer than 10 days carries a $50 fee, up from $25. Timely proof avoids suspension; otherwise, the first suspension carries a $125 restoration fee. A second suspension within five years carries a $125 lapse fee and $150 restoration fee. A third or later suspension within the applicable five-year period brings revocation; registration requires insurance proof and $150 lapse and $500 restoration fees. The Commissioner can waive the lapse fee with proof of continuous coverage. Counties collecting payments keep $10 of lapse fees and $15 of restoration fees, rather than $5 and $10; these shares are not added charges.

Privacy protections for judges and spouses

Beginning January 1, 2027, these public-record privacy rules cover current and former state, county, municipal, and federal judges and justices, plus spouses. Protected information includes each home address, its parcel number, and each personal phone number. Protected people can use a signed court-administration form to obtain listed unrestricted records or authorize someone else to obtain them. Government offices must provide access to the authorized person. After death, an attorney in fact or legal representative can request removal of publication restrictions in writing with a certified death certificate; no statute or court order can prohibit release.

More payment options at court sales

Beginning January 1, 2027, buyers at judicial sales can use certified funds or a cashier's check instead of cash. These payments must cover the full purchase price and come from an institution insured by the FDIC, National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, or Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. The holder of the security instrument being foreclosed, or its representative, can also submit a credit bid.

Higher fines for fraternal insurance violations

Beginning January 1, 2027, willful violations of Georgia's fraternal benefit society rules carry a maximum $2,000 fine, up from $200. This penalty applies when no other penalty is prescribed. It also covers willful neglect or refusal to comply.

Higher penalties for coverage product violations

Beginning January 1, 2027, portable electronics insurance fines rise from $500 to $1,000 per violation. Their total limit rises from $5,000 to $10,000, with notice and a hearing required. Vehicle protection warranty and guaranteed asset protection waiver penalties rise from $500 to $1,000 per violation. For each program, the total limit for similar violations rises from $10,000 to $20,000; waiver enforcement requires notice and a hearing opportunity and can include an order to stop operations. Insurance certificate violations carry up to $10,000 per violation, up from $5,000.

Higher penalties for managing insurance agents

Beginning January 1, 2027, managing general agent violations carry penalties up to $20,000 each, up from $10,000. The Commissioner must find a violation after a hearing. License suspension or revocation remains available. Agents can also be required to reimburse insurers for losses caused by their violations.

Higher penalties for misleading insurance guarantees

Beginning January 1, 2027, prohibited sales references to Georgia's insurer insolvency pool face higher penalties. The same increases apply to prohibited references to the Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association. Maximum penalties rise from $1,000 to $2,000 per act, with total limits rising from $10,000 to $20,000. The Commissioner must give notice, hold a hearing, and issue an order. License or certificate-of-authority suspension or revocation remains available.

More tools for insurance fraud investigations

Beginning January 1, 2027, insurers can share suspected-fraud information with the Insurance Commissioner before completing their investigations. The Commissioner can use department appropriations to hire attorneys for insurance-fraud prosecutions. District attorneys can appoint those attorneys. The Commissioner can also reimburse some or all costs of retaining assistant prosecuting attorneys.

Stronger enforcement of insurance privacy protections

Beginning January 1, 2027, knowing insurance-information privacy violations carry up to $1,000 each, up from $500. The total limit rises from $10,000 to $20,000. Breaking a privacy cease-and-desist order carries up to $20,000 per violation, up from $10,000. For violations frequent enough to constitute a general business practice, the maximum rises from $50,000 to $100,000. Applicable findings, notice, and a hearing are required.

Stronger enforcement when insurers face liquidation

Beginning January 1, 2027, covered failures to cooperate, obstruction, interference, or order violations in insurer delinquency proceedings face higher penalties. Criminal fine and civil penalty maximums each rise from $10,000 to $20,000; civil penalties require a hearing. Agents withholding required information from a liquidator face up to $2,000 instead of $1,000 after a hearing. Covered liquidation-rule violations carry up to $10,000 per act, up from $5,000. Applicable license suspension, revocation, or renewal refusal powers remain available.

Stronger oversight of premium finance companies

Beginning January 1, 2027, financing insurance premiums without a required license carries a maximum $2,000 fine upon conviction, up from $1,000. The Commissioner can separately impose up to $2,000 per unlicensed violation, up from $1,000, after a hearing. Premium finance companies on probation face up to $2,000 per offense, also up from $1,000. Probation lasts no more than one year. It requires a hearing and a finding that continued operation does not harm the public interest.

Community grants help protect homeowners

Beginning January 1, 2027, Georgia local governments and nonprofits can receive matching grants to protect eligible owner-occupied homes from storms. Each recipient can get up to $25,000 per fiscal year; all awards together cannot exceed $200,000 per fiscal year. The difference between $250,000 and total community awards must go to individual homeowner grants. Funded projects must provide multimedia public education and advertising about storm protection, plus ongoing consumer resources and referral services. Awards depend on available program funding.

Higher penalties for prescription benefit managers

Beginning January 1, 2027, unlicensed pharmacy benefits managers face penalties up to $4,000 per transaction. Licensed managers face up to $4,000 per violating act. Either can face up to $20,000 per act when they knew or should have known of the violation. Licensed managers can also face license suspension for violations committed during probation. The law does not set new patient prescription prices.

Stronger oversight of life settlement deals

Beginning January 1, 2027, life settlement providers must file annual statements by May 1. Willfully missing the statement or failing to answer a written inquiry within 30 days carries up to $500 daily, capped at $50,000. Reporting penalties require notice and a chance to be heard. Fraudulent life settlement convictions carry maximum fines of $20,000, up from $10,000. Civil penalties rise from $1,000 to $2,000 per act, or from $5,000 to $10,000 when someone knew or should have known of the violation.

Georgia can recruit and retain insurers

Beginning January 1, 2027, Georgia's insurance commissioner can work with the state economic development department to recruit and retain insurers. Efforts can encourage insurers to make Georgia their legal home or locate headquarters and major offices in the state. The law sets no funding amount, office target, or guaranteed household savings.

New storm protection program for homeowners

Beginning January 1, 2027, Georgia creates a program to reduce damage from tornadoes, hurricanes, and windstorms. Funding includes all premium taxes from the Georgia underwriting association and 0.1% of annual state insurance premium taxes. The program can also accept federal and private funds, grants, gifts, and donations. Participating homeowners choose from the state's contractor list; the department sets contractor participation and reimbursement procedures. Projects need required local permits and inspections, and up to 10% may receive random reinspections. Work depends on available funding, and homeowners are not guaranteed inspections or repairs.

Higher fines for false insurance claims

Beginning January 1, 2027, staged-collision fraud convictions can bring fines up to $100,000 per act. This covers knowingly making or helping with fraudulent injury claims or lawsuits, or seeking benefits not legally owed. The fine can apply alongside the existing one-to-five-year prison term. Knowingly or willfully making false statements for fraternal benefit society membership, money, or benefits can bring a $2,000 fine. That offense remains a misdemeanor.

Stricter qualifications for land-title case referees

Beginning January 1, 2027, court-appointed special masters in Georgia land-title clearing cases must be licensed Georgia lawyers. They must live in the judicial circuit handling the case and have been Georgia citizens for at least three years. They also need at least five years of experience litigating or giving opinions on Georgia land titles.

Insurers face higher late-filing fines

Beginning January 1, 2027, insurers filing required corporate governance disclosures late without good cause face $200 daily fines, up from $100. The maximum rises from $10,000 to $20,000. Penalties follow notice and a hearing. The commissioner can reduce the fine when an insurer shows financial hardship; policyholders are not directly fined.

Three-year refund deadline for insurer taxes

Beginning January 1, 2027, insurers must request refunds of wrongly assessed and collected fees or taxes in writing. Claims must reach the Insurance Commissioner within three years after payment. This deadline applies to insurer refunds, not household refund claims.

Protected people control public record access

Beginning January 1, 2027, government offices must restrict protected personal information within 30 days of a valid request on the required form. Offices must mark affected records indexes, including real-property indexes, to show the restriction. A protected person or authorized representative can request release; offices must remove the restriction within 45 days. Offices may still give unrestricted property-title documents and property-tax records to title insurers, agents, or their attorneys and attorneys' agents. Recipients must affirm that they need the records to provide title insurance; general public access remains restricted. False attestations in this restriction process carry perjury penalties.

Annual fraud assessments for captive insurers

Beginning January 1, 2027, captive insurers doing business in Georgia pay annual assessments to the Special Insurance Fraud Fund. Agency, industrial insured, sponsored—including protected cells—and pure captive insurers pay $100; foreign or alien captives pay $200. Certified dormant captive insurers are exempt. The law also bars additional captive-insurer assessments for fraud investigations or prosecutions.

Rental platforms face new guarantee rules

Beginning January 1, 2027, qualifying online rental platforms can offer renter-damage guarantees that are not treated as insurance contracts. Guarantees must cover damage owed under platform terms and remain secondary to the platform's main legitimate business. Government entities and vendors do not qualify. Providers must register as required and back guarantees with reimbursement insurance from a Georgia-authorized or surplus lines insurer. Agreements must say they are not insurance contracts and clearly explain their terms, limits, exceptions, and exclusions.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Cosponsors

Larry Walker
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 422 • No: 16

Senate vote • 4/2/2026

PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE

Yes: 53 • No: 0 • Other: 2

House vote • 4/2/2026

Agree to Senate Substitute

Yes: 164 • No: 3 • Other: 10

Senate vote • 3/31/2026

MOTION TO TABLE REMAINING LEGISLATION ON THE RULES CALENDAR

Yes: 39 • No: 10 • Other: 4

House vote • 2/26/2026

PASSAGE

Yes: 166 • No: 3 • Other: 11

Actions Timeline

Effective Date
1/1/2027
House Date Signed by Governor
5/12/2026House
Act 635
5/12/2026
House Sent to Governor
4/10/2026House
Senate Taken from Table
4/2/2026Senate
Senate Third Read
4/2/2026Senate
Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute
4/2/2026Senate
House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
4/2/2026House
Senate Tabled
3/31/2026Senate
Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
3/25/2026Senate
Senate Read Second Time
3/25/2026Senate
Senate Read and Referred
3/3/2026Senate
House Third Readers
2/26/2026House
House Passed/Adopted
2/26/2026House
House Committee Favorably Reported
2/19/2026House
House Second Readers
2/18/2026House
House Hopper
2/17/2026House
House First Readers
2/17/2026House

Bill Text

HB 1344/AP* (v5)
PDF

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