Georgia: Three Success Stories for Insurers Last Week

As the Georgia Legislature sped to its crossover deadline, it engaged in a flurry of activity resulting in three successes for insurers.

NAMIC alerted members Friday to the rate modernization victory that ultimately overcame the problems created last year by SB 276. The bill was amended by the House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee Monday and passed the House with Senate concurrence on Thursday. It now goes to the governor for his signature.

Another success from last week is HB 673, regarding third-party liens. “HB 673 was also quite problematic as introduced,” said Emily Bagwell of the Georgia Association of Property Casualty Insurance Companies. “But it is now under control with the notice provision that resulted from compromise with the bill’s proponents.” GAPCIC is NAMIC’s advocacy partner in Georgia.

As originally drafted, HB 673 would have required a third party’s lienholder to be included on any settlement draft or payment. Bill sponsor Rep. Bill Hembree encouraged interested parties to work out their concerns, and the amended bill now simply requires insurance companies that provide estimates to include language on the estimates, warning consumers that failure to use insurance proceeds in the manner required by their security agreement, if any, would violate Georgia law.

“That agreement held with no further amendments as HB 673 passed the House last week, and we hope that no more changes will be made if the bill continues to move,” noted Liz Reynolds, NAMIC’s Southeastern state affairs manager.

Bill number three on the industry’s “neutralization” list in Georgia last week was HB 1235, which in its original form eliminated the fleet exception to the GEICS database for reporting motor vehicle liability coverage to the state. The legislation stemmed from a constituent complaint to sponsor Rep. Austin Scott from someone whose vehicle had been towed by law enforcement because the officer could not verify proof of insurance because the vehicle was part of a fleet policy and therefore not required to be reported to GEICS.

Now, HB 1235 makes the law enforcement agency or political subdivision that improperly tows or impounds a vehicle with a valid fleet card responsible for the costs associated with their actions. The House Committee on Motor Vehicles gave the amended bill a favorable report on Tuesday. The full House will likely consider the amended bill today.

Direct questions to NAMIC State Affairs Manager Liz Reynolds.

Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:22:38 AM.

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We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.