HB1344: HB1344 Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact

This bill amends several parts of Georgia law dealing with insurance, courts, and motor vehicles. It expands how insurance fraud is reported and funded, criminalizes acting as a paid 'capper, runner, or steerer' who refers patients or clients for insurance claims, and lets the Insurance Commissioner help recruit and keep insurance companies doing business in Georgia. It requires insurers to meet specific deadlines for acknowledging, investigating, and paying property claims after disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes. The bill also limits how insurers can use drone or satellite photos to cancel or refuse to renew home insurance, giving homeowners 60 days to fix problems first. It creates the Georgia Storm Damage Mitigation Program to fund home storm-proofing grants, raises many insurance-law fines and uninsured-motorist lapse fees, excludes short-term rental damage guarantees from insurance regulation, allows credit bids at judicial foreclosure sales, and shields judges' and their spouses' personal information from public records. Most changes take effect January 1, 2027.

• Requires insurers and licensed professionals to report suspected insurance fraud to the Commissioner and lets the Commissioner use fraud-fund money to hire prosecutors for insurance fraud cases.
• Creates a new felony for 'cappers, runners, or steerers' who are paid to refer patients or clients so they can file insurance claims, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $200,000 fine.
• Sets firm deadlines for insurers to acknowledge, investigate, and pay property claims after a declared disaster, including a 60-day maximum to affirm or deny liability.
• Limits insurers' use of drone or satellite images to cancel or not renew home insurance, requiring notice, an appeal process, and 60 days for homeowners to fix flagged problems.
• Creates the Georgia Storm Damage Mitigation Program, funded by insurance premium taxes, to give homeowners and local governments grants for roof and storm-proofing repairs.
• Raises dozens of existing insurance-law fines (often doubling them) and increases uninsured motor vehicle lapse and restoration fees under O.C.G.A. § 40-2-137.

Insurance companies and agents, healthcare providers and attorneys who could be accused of illegal patient referrals, homeowners whose insurers use drone or satellite photos, storm-prone property owners seeking mitigation grants, drivers who let their car insurance lapse, judges and their spouses, and buyers at judicial foreclosure sales.

Georgians filing storm-damage claims would get firm response deadlines, and homeowners facing cancellation over aerial photos would get 60 days to fix problems before losing coverage. Meanwhile, insurance violators and uninsured drivers would face steeper fines, and judges' personal information would be harder for the public to access.

• Part II (Sections 2-1 to 2-4) expands insurance fraud reporting duties, creates the capper/runner/steerer felony, and repeals the old automobile-accident-information solicitation statute (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-53).
• Part III (Section 3-1) authorizes the Commissioner, working with the Department of Economic Development, to recruit and retain insurance companies' headquarters in Georgia.
• Part IV (Section 4-1) sets catastrophe claims-processing deadlines: 15 days to acknowledge a claim, up to 60 days to affirm or deny liability, and 10 days to pay undisputed amounts.
• Part VII (Section 7-1) requires insurers using aerial or satellite images to cancel or not renew owner-occupied home coverage to give notice, an appeal process, and at least 60 days to cure the problem.
• Part VIII (Section 8-2) bars most property insurance policies from requiring lawsuits be filed sooner than two years after a loss, effective for policies issued after July 1, 2027.
• Part IX (Sections 9-1 to 9-1) creates the Georgia Storm Damage Mitigation Program, funded by premium taxes, offering grants up to $7,500 for roof and storm retrofits and up to $25,000 per local government per year.
• Part X (Section 10-1) raises uninsured motor vehicle lapse fees from $25 to $50 (and higher for repeat violations) and restoration fees up to $500 for third offenses.
• Part XI (Sections 11-1 to 11-28) roughly doubles numerous existing insurance-law monetary penalties, such as raising the insurance fraud fine cap from $10,000 to $100,000 per act.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2027-01-01
2. 2026-05-12Act 635
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-04-02Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-04-02Senate Taken from Table (Senate)

• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)Primary sponsor
• Jon Burns (R, HD-159)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 26, 2026

   166 yea, 3 nay (8 not voting, 0 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #570

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

3. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   53 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #929

4. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

   164 yea, 3 nay (6 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #860

• insurance fraud
• homeowners insurance
• storm damage mitigation
• uninsured motorist fees
• judicial privacy protections