HB 606: FAIR Plan Stabilization Act; enact

Georgia law requires every insurer that sells property insurance in the state to belong to the FAIR Plan, an assigned-risk pool that covers people and businesses who cannot get insurance on the private market. Currently, insurers share the plan's profits, losses, and expenses strictly based on their market share of habitational and commercial premiums. This bill, called the FAIR Plan Stabilization Act, would let the plan's board of directors redistribute those risks among member insurers on a more equitable basis, subject to approval by Georgia's insurance commissioner. It amends O.C.G.A. §§ 33-33-3 and 33-33-4 to add this redistribution option, while keeping the existing market-share formula as the fallback if the board does not adopt a new distribution method. The General Assembly states its finding that spreading risk more broadly could reduce individual insurers' exposure, stabilize the FAIR Plan, and discourage insurers from avoiding higher-risk policies. The changes would take effect January 1, 2026.

• Adds a new option letting the FAIR Plan's board of directors redistribute risks among member insurers on an equitable basis rather than strictly by market share.
• Requires the insurance commissioner's approval before any new equitable redistribution method can be used.
• Keeps the current market-share-based distribution formula (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-3) as the default if the board does not implement an alternative method.
• States legislative findings that broader risk-sharing could stabilize the FAIR Plan and reduce insurers' incentive to avoid high-risk policies.
• Sets the effective date of the changes as January 1, 2026.

Insurance companies licensed to sell property insurance in Georgia, which must belong to the FAIR Plan's underwriting association, as well as the state insurance commissioner's office, which must approve any new risk distribution plan, and property owners who rely on the FAIR Plan for coverage.

If insurers can share FAIR Plan risk more evenly instead of strictly by market share, individual companies could face less exposure to losses from high-risk properties, which the bill's findings suggest could make the plan more financially stable and reduce insurers avoiding riskier policies.

• Section 2 lists legislative findings explaining why redistributing risk more broadly could stabilize the FAIR Plan.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 33-33-3 to add that insurers participate in the plan's writings, profits, and losses as provided by equitable distribution under the new subsection (d) of § 33-33-4.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 33-33-4 by adding subsection (d), letting directors redistribute risks through assignments to plan members with the commissioner's approval, falling back to the market-share formula if no new plan is adopted.
• Section 5 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.
• Section 1 gives the Act its short title, the 'FAIR Plan Stabilization Act.'

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-98)Primary sponsor
• Karen Lupton (D, HD-83)

• property insurance
• FAIR Plan
• insurance regulation
• insurance commissioner