Georgia Personal Lines Study Guide

Personal Lines is the one narrow property-casualty credential Georgia actually issues on its own — Property alone and Casualty alone are not available, but Personal Lines has its own rule (120-2-3-.14), its own 8-hour course, and its own exam. It is also Georgia’s least statute-heavy producer exam: only 15 of 90 scored questions are Georgia law, against roughly 30 on the other lines. That makes those fifteen questions unusually predictable, because Georgia aims them at the same thing every time — the consumer-protection rules that govern a personal policy’s life cycle.

Cancellation and nonrenewal — three statutes, and only one has the days

The most common mistake in Georgia study material is treating §§ 33-24-45 and 33-24-46 as if they contained the notice periods. They don’t. The timing comes from the general provision, O.C.G.A. § 33-24-44:

• Not less than 30 days from the date of mailing or delivery in person, for cancellation generally (§ 33-24-44(b)).
• At least 10 days where cancellation is for nonpayment of premium, or where the policy has been in effect less than 60 days (§ 33-24-44(d)).

What §§ 33-24-45 and 33-24-46 add is everything else — and they divide the world by product. § 33-24-45 governs auto and motorcycle policies; § 33-24-46 governs residential real property and its contents. They are not interchangeable, and § 33-24-45 does not reach homeowners.

Both require 30 days’ advance notice of nonrenewal, both require the insurer to state the reason for cancellation and nonrenewal (through Chapter 39, the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act), and both require 30 days’ advance written notice of any reduction in coverage — in a separate document headed “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE” in all capital letters, in at least 12-point type.

The 60-day rule — what it actually does

Sixty days appears twice and means the same thing both times, though not what most candidates assume. For residential property, § 33-24-46 provides that only after coverage has been in effect more than 60 days — or after a renewal’s effective date — does cancellation narrow to four grounds: nonpayment; fraud, concealment of material fact, or material misrepresentation; a substantial change in the hazard; or violation of material policy terms. For auto, § 33-24-45 simply does not apply to a policy in effect less than 60 days unless it is a renewal.

So the 60-day window removes the restriction on grounds. It does not remove the requirement to give notice — a brand-new policy can be cancelled for any lawful reason, but still on 10 days’ notice under § 33-24-44(d).

The premium refund, and the penalty for sitting on it

When a policy is cancelled, unearned premium is refunded pro rata. If the agent is holding it, § 33-24-44(c) requires it to be returned within 10 working days — and failure carries a penalty of 25 percent plus 18 percent annual interest, capped at 50 percent of the refund. It is a small provision that shows up in questions precisely because it puts a duty on the producer rather than the carrier.

Credit information — permitted, but fenced

Georgia lets personal-lines insurers use credit, and then draws hard lines around it. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-24-91, an insurer may not use an insurance score calculated using income, gender, race, address, ZIP code, ethnic group, religion, marital status, or nationality; may not deny, cancel or nonrenew a personal insurance policy solely on credit information without considering some other underwriting factor; may not set renewal rates solely on credit; and may not take adverse action solely because the consumer has no credit card. The affirmative authorization to use scores at all is at § 33-24-98, and the adverse-action notice requirement is at § 33-24-94.

Note the recurring word: solely. Georgia’s prohibitions are almost all about credit being the only factor. An exam item describing an insurer that declined a risk on credit plus a loss history is describing something Georgia permits.

Claim handling — the clocks in Rule 120-2-52-.03

Georgia’s first-party claim-settlement rule sets deadlines that personal-lines producers field questions about constantly:

• Acknowledge the claim within 15 days.
• Furnish proof-of-loss forms within 15 days.
• Determine liability within 15 days of a completed proof of loss on a motor vehicle claim, or 60 days on fire and extended coverage (30 days where no proof of loss is required).
• Pay within 10 days after coverage is confirmed and the amount is determined and undisputed.
• If more time is needed, notify within 5 business days, with a 60-day outer limit.
• A denial must cite the specific policy provision, condition or exclusion, in writing.

And the claimant — not the insurer — chooses the repair facility.

When the standard market says no

Two residual outlets sit behind personal lines. For auto, it is the Georgia Automobile Insurance Plan — O.C.G.A. § 40-9-100, in Title 40 rather than Title 33, implemented by Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 120-2-14. It carries a negative eligibility rule: a driver with no traffic offenses and no at-fault claims for three years is not eligible unless investigation shows another reason ordinary coverage cannot be procured. For property, it is the Georgia Underwriting Association, the state’s FAIR Plan under Chapter 33-33, whose membership is mandatory for property insurers as a condition of doing business here.