Georgia Casualty Study Guide

One licensing fact first, because it changes how you plan: Georgia does not issue a Casualty-only license. OCI requires applicants to “select both Property and Casualty” — the 12-GA-04 Casualty exam is one half of the P&C requirement, not a credential of its own. About thirty of its eighty scored questions are Georgia law, and casualty is where Georgia’s law is genuinely its own rather than merely different: a two-flavor uninsured motorist rule found almost nowhere else, a fault bar one point stricter than its neighbors, and a workers’ compensation system that limits which doctor an injured worker may see.

Auto — 25/50/25, at fault, and no PIP

Georgia’s minimum liability limits are 25/50/25: $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more persons in one accident, and $25,000 for injury to or destruction of property (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(a)(1)(A)). The owner’s duty to carry that coverage is § 33-34-4, and § 40-9-37(a) cross-references the same figures. Note that § 40-6-10 — which people cite for the limits — is actually the proof of insurance section and its misdemeanor penalty.

Georgia is a tort/at-fault state with no mandatory personal injury protection. It repealed its no-fault system by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1608, § 1.12, effective October 1, 1991, and medical payments coverage has been optional ever since.

Uninsured motorist — Georgia gives you two, and defaults to the better one

This is Georgia’s signature rule. UM must be offered in an amount equal to the liability limits, the insured may choose lower limits, and any rejection must be in writing (§ 33-7-11(a)(1)(B), (a)(3)). What makes Georgia unusual is that the insured who takes UM then picks between two structures:

• Add-on, or “excess,” UM — the default. The statute provides that UM coverage “shall not be used to duplicate payments made under any available bodily injury liability insurance… but instead shall be available as additional insurance coverage in excess of any available bodily injury liability insurance and property damage liability insurance coverages.” You collect the at-fault driver’s limits and then your UM limits on top.
• Reduced, or difference-in-limits, UM — only if elected. The insured may “affirmatively choose” coverage that treats the other vehicle as uninsured only for the amount of the difference between the other driver’s coverage and the insured’s UM limits.

If nothing is signed, Georgia gives the insured the broader add-on form.

Comparative fault — the 50 percent bar, not 51

O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(a) reduces a plaintiff’s damages in proportion to his own fault. Subsection (g) supplies the cutoff: “the plaintiff shall not be entitled to receive any damages if the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed.”

That single percentage point is the classic Georgia comparison question. Most of Georgia’s neighbors use a 51 percent bar, where a plaintiff at exactly 50 percent still recovers half. In Georgia, a plaintiff at exactly 50 percent recovers nothing.

The residual market — and a citation almost everyone gets wrong

A driver who cannot obtain coverage through ordinary methods goes to the Georgia Automobile Insurance Plan. Its statutory home is O.C.G.A. § 40-9-100 — Title 40, not Title 33 — with the plan itself implemented by Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 120-2-14. Study material that cites § 33-34-8 is citing the Commissioner’s rulemaking authority over first-party property damage claim settlement, which is a different subject entirely.

Participation is mandatory: “all such insurance companies shall subscribe thereto and participate therein.” And the plan has a negative eligibility rule worth memorizing — a person who has committed no traffic offenses and had no at-fault claims for the prior three years is not eligible unless investigation shows some other reason coverage cannot be procured normally. An appeal runs to the Commissioner, then to superior court within ten days.

Workers’ compensation — three, six, and the numbers in between

Coverage is mandatory for any employer with 3 or more employees, counting regular and part-time (O.C.G.A. § 34-9-2) — higher than the one-employee threshold many states use.

Benefits: temporary total disability pays 66⅔ percent of the average weekly wage, capped at $800 per week for injuries on or after July 1, 2023, with a $50 weekly minimum. There is a 7-day waiting period, retroactive if disability lasts 21 consecutive days, and non-catastrophic injuries are limited to 400 weeks; catastrophic injuries designated under § 34-9-200.1 continue until a change in condition.

The distinctive part is medical choice. Under § 34-9-201, the employer must post a panel of at least six physicians reasonably accessible to employees, at least one practicing orthopedic surgery, with no more than two industrial clinics on it. The injured worker selects from the panel and may make one change to another panel physician without prior Board approval. The alternative to a panel is a certified workers’ compensation managed care organization. If the employer maintains no valid panel, the employee may select any physician at the employer’s expense.

Deadlines: report the injury to the employer within 30 days; file the claim within 1 year of the injury (§§ 34-9-80, 34-9-82).

Bad faith — the 60-day demand

If an insurer refuses to pay a covered loss within 60 days after a demand has been made, it exposes itself under O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6 to a penalty of not more than 50 percent of its liability for the loss or $5,000, whichever is greater, plus all reasonable attorney’s fees. Note the structure: it is the greater of the two, not a flat cap.