SB155: SB155 "Georgia Insurance Premium Reduction Act"; enact

Georgia law already prohibits insurers from setting vehicle insurance rates based on race, creed, or ethnic background. This bill would add census tract (a small geographic area used by the Census Bureau) to that list, so insurers could not use neighborhood location as a stand-in for those factors. The bill also adds new rules across all insurance lines. Insurers seeking premium increases over 5 percent would have to post the request and a justification report on their website and submit detailed actuarial data to the Georgia Department of Insurance. Increases over 10 percent would trigger public hearings led by the Insurance Commissioner. The bill bans insurers from colluding on rates or settling lawsuits mainly to justify raising premiums, treating violations as unfair trade practices. It also requires the department to build a public database comparing insurance rates and requires every policy sold in Georgia to involve an independent insurance broker. There is no stated effective date beyond standard enactment.

• Adds census tract to the list of factors insurers cannot use, directly or indirectly, when setting vehicle insurance rates or standards (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-4).
• Requires insurers to publicly disclose on their websites any request to raise premium rates by more than 5 percent, along with a written justification report.
• Requires insurers seeking rate increases over 5 percent to submit detailed actuarial data to the Department of Insurance to support the request.
• Requires the Insurance Commissioner to hold public hearings on any proposed premium increase greater than 10 percent.
• Bans insurers from colluding on premium rates or settling lawsuits mainly to manufacture losses that justify rate hikes, treating either as an unfair trade practice.
• Creates a state-run online database for consumers to compare insurance coverage and rates, and requires every policy sold in Georgia to involve an independent insurance broker.

Insurance companies operating in Georgia, the Georgia Department of Insurance and the Insurance Commissioner, independent insurance brokers, and Georgia consumers who buy auto or other insurance policies and would gain new disclosure tools and broker involvement requirements.

Georgians could see more transparency around why their premiums rise, access a new state database to compare rates, and be guaranteed a broker on every policy sale. Insurers would face new reporting burdens, public hearings on big rate hikes, and restrictions on how they use location data and litigation settlements.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Georgia Insurance Premium Reduction Act.'
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 33-9-4 to prohibit insurers from basing vehicle insurance rating on census tract, in addition to existing bans on race, creed, or ethnic extraction.
• Section 3 adds new Code Section 33-24-59.34 requiring public disclosure and a justification report for premium increase requests over 5 percent.
• Section 3(b) directs the Department of Insurance to build a public online database for comparing insurance coverage and rates.
• Section 3(c) requires insurers requesting increases over 5 percent to submit detailed actuarial data.
• Section 3(d) requires public hearings on any premium increase request exceeding 10 percent.
• Section 3(e) and (f) ban collusion on premium rates and litigation settlements aimed at manufacturing losses to justify rate hikes, classifying violations as unfair trade practices.
• Section 3(g) requires that no insurance policy be sold in Georgia without the consumer being represented by an independent insurance broker.

1. 2025-02-13Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-12Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)Primary sponsor
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)

• auto insurance rates
• insurance regulation
• consumer protection
• premium disclosure
• Georgia Department of Insurance