HB 345: Insurance; prohibit raises in liability insurance rates for five years

Georgia law currently lets insurers set and adjust liability insurance rates, subject to existing regulation. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's insurance code (O.C.G.A. Chapter 1 of Title 33) flatly stating that no insurer may increase liability insurance rates, regardless of what any other law says. The freeze would take effect January 1, 2026, and would apply to all liability insurance policies, contracts, and certificates issued, delivered, continued, or renewed in Georgia on or after that date. The new rule is not permanent: the bill writes in its own expiration, repealing the section automatically on January 1, 2031, after roughly five years. The bill also repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new rate freeze.

• Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-28) that bars any insurer from raising liability insurance rates in Georgia.
• Overrides other existing laws on the subject by stating the rate freeze applies notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary.
• Applies the rate freeze to all liability policies, contracts, and certificates issued, delivered, continued, or renewed in Georgia on or after January 1, 2026.
• Builds in an automatic repeal of the new rate freeze on January 1, 2031, so the ban lasts about five years.
• Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this rate freeze.

Insurance companies that sell liability insurance in Georgia, since they would be barred from raising those rates, and Georgia policyholders who carry liability coverage, including businesses, drivers, property owners, and professionals who rely on liability insurance.

If enacted, liability insurance premiums in Georgia could not increase for about five years, which would keep costs steady for businesses and individuals who carry this coverage, while insurers would lose the ability to adjust liability rates upward during that period regardless of their own cost changes.

• Section 1 creates new Code section 33-1-28, prohibiting insurers from increasing liability insurance rates, overriding any conflicting law.
• Section 1 also sets the new section to automatically repeal itself on January 1, 2031, ending the rate freeze after about five years.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026, and applies the freeze to all liability policies, contracts, and certificates issued, delivered, continued, or renewed on or after that date.
• Section 3 repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this Act.

1. 2025-02-12House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2025-02-11House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2025-02-10House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Patrocinador principal
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)
• Doreen Carter (D, HD-093)
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
• Karen Bennett (D, HD-094)

• liability insurance
• insurance rates
• insurance regulation
• consumer protection