--- title: SB 35. Property Insurance Policies; notice required to be given a policyholder before the nonrenewal of his or her homeowners' insurance policy; increase the number of days collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb35 cite_as: SB 35, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb35 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb35.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb35/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69552 date: 2025-05-14 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb34.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb36.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 992 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb35.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 35 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-14 last_action: Effective Date 2026-01-01 sponsors: - Larry Walker - Marty Harbin - Bill Cowsert - Randy Robertson - John Albers - Matthew Gambill text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB35/2025 upstream_id: 1943393 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - homeowners insurance - insurance regulation - property insurance nonrenewal - consumer protection --- # SB 35. Property Insurance Policies; notice required to be given a policyholder before the nonrenewal of his or her homeowners' insurance policy; increase the number of days ## Text 25 SB 35/AP Senate Bill 35 By: Senators Walker III of the 20th, Harbin of the 16th, Cowsert of the 46th, Robertson of the 29th and Albers of the 56th AS PASSED A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 33-24-46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to1 cancellation or nonrenewal of certain property insurance polici es, so as to increase the2 number of days of notice required to be given a policyholder before the nonrenewal of his3 or her homeowners' insurance policy; to provide for related mat ters; to provide for an4 effective date; to provide for applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 Code Section 33-24-46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to cancellation8 or nonrenewal of certain property insurance policies, is amended by revising paragraph (1)9 of subsection (d) as follows: 10 "(d)(1) No insurer shall refuse to renew a policy to which this Code section applies11 unless a written notice of nonrenewal is mailed or delivered in person to the named12 insured. Such notice stating the time when nonrenewal will be effective, which shall not13 be less than 30 60 days from the date of mailing or delivery of such notice of nonrenewal14 or such longer period as may be provided in the contract or by statute, shall be delivered15 as provided in subsection (d) of Code Section 33-24-14, in person, or by depositing the16 S. B. 35 - 1 - 25 SB 35/AP notice in the United States mail to be dispatched by at least f irst-class mail to the last17 address of record of the insured and of the lienholder, where applicable, and receiving the18 receipt provided by the United States Postal Service or such other evidence of mailing as19 prescribed or accepted by the United States Postal Service. The insurer shall provide the20 reason or reasons for nonrenewal as required by Chapter 39 of this title."21 SECTION 2.22 This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2026, and shall a pply to all policies issued,23 delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state on or after such date.24 SECTION 3.25 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.26 S. B. 35 - 2 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate bill would double the notice period insurers must give homeowners before refusing to renew their homeowners' insurance policy, from 30 days to 60 days. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46), an insurance company that decides not to renew a homeowner's property insurance policy must mail or deliver a written notice at least 30 days before the nonrenewal takes effect. This bill raises that minimum notice period to 60 days. The notice must still explain the insurer's reason for nonrenewal, as already required under Chapter 39 of the state's insurance title, and must be delivered by mail, in person, or by other methods already spelled out in the law. The change would take effect January 1, 2026, and would apply to all homeowners' policies issued, delivered, or renewed in Georgia on or after that date. ### What it does - Increases the minimum notice period an insurer must give before nonrenewing a homeowners' insurance policy from 30 days to 60 days. - Keeps the existing requirement that the notice be mailed or delivered in person to the policyholder and, where applicable, a lienholder. - Keeps the existing requirement that insurers state their reason for nonrenewal as required elsewhere in Georgia insurance law (Chapter 39 of Title 33). - Sets the change to take effect January 1, 2026, applying to policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after that date. ### Who it affects Georgia homeowners who carry homeowners' insurance policies, and property insurance companies operating in the state that must follow the new notice timeline before declining to renew coverage. ### Why it matters Homeowners facing nonrenewal would get an extra month to find new coverage, arrange financing contingencies, or contest the decision before their policy lapses, which could matter especially in areas where insurers have grown more cautious about renewing property coverage. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46(d)(1), replacing the 30 day minimum nonrenewal notice period with a 60 day minimum. - Section 1 preserves existing delivery methods for the notice: personal delivery, mail sent to the insured's and lienholder's last known address, with proof of mailing. - Section 1 keeps the requirement that insurers state the reason for nonrenewal as required under Chapter 39 of Title 33. - Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026, applying to all policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after that date. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-14) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-01-01 (2025-05-14) - Sponsors: Larry Walker, Marty Harbin, Bill Cowsert, Randy Robertson, John Albers, Matthew Gambill - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69552 > The history, votes, and amendments (992 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb35.md?full=1