Part ofInsurance →
The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Passed
Georgia revises insurance department examinations, insurer deposit rules, and agency licensing
Original title: Life insurance; excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is an active duty service member; prohibit
Last action · April 2, 2025: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As AmendedSponsors: Eddie Lumsden and 5 others
Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
Georgia updates insurance regulations to keep department examination confidential, revise foreign and deposit requirements, eliminate specific branch license fees and publication rules, and establish biennial license renewals for insurance agencies based on their origination month.
Why it matters
Insurance companies, s, and agency branches face altered application procedures, deposit calculations, and renewal timelines, while agency licenses must now specify the legal name of the licensee.
Background
- Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated governs insurance regulation, licensing, and operations within the state. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Directly affected
Insurance Companies
Insurance companies face revised deposit requirements, modified charter application and amendment procedures, and updated confidentiality protections for department examinations.
Directly affected
Insurance Agencies
Insurance agencies must renew their licenses biennially based on their origination month and ensure their licenses display their legal name and address.
Directly affected
Foreign and Alien Insurers
Foreign and alien insurers are subject to updated statutory deposit standards and certification rules accepted by the Commissioner.
Key Facts
- Department examination work papers, analyses, and related documents are given confidential treatment and are not subject to subpoena or public disclosure, with access granted only to authorized National Association of Insurance Commissioners representatives.
- Foreign insurers may maintain deposits in public custody in other states in lieu of in-state deposits, provided the deposit protects policyholders and creditors.
- Alien insurers transacting insurance through a United States branch must maintain assets not less than outstanding liabilities plus the larger of domestic insurer deposit requirements or $300,000.00.
- Fees for branch licensees under Code Section 33-8-1 are repealed.
Show all 10 facts
- The Commissioner of Insurance must approve or disapprove a domestic insurer's charter application within 45 days of receipt.
- Violations of legal service appointment requirements for insurance corporations subject the violator to a penalty ranging from $100.00 to $500.00.
- The fee for filing a petition for charter renewal for a domestic insurer is set at $100.00.
- Fraternal benefit society charter bonds required by the Commissioner must be between $300,000.00 and $1.5 million.
- Agency licenses must renew biennially prior to the last day of the agency's origination month rather than a uniform date.
- Insurance licenses must explicitly state the legal name and address of the licensee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are insurance department examination reports open to public inspection under this legislation?
No. All , analyses, and documents obtained during an examination are given confidential treatment, are not subject to subpoena, and cannot be made public, except for authorized representatives of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners who agree to confidentiality.
How often must insurance agencies renew their licenses?
Agency licenses must be renewed biennially prior to the last day of the agency's origination month.
What is the penalty for an insurance corporation doing business without appointing a proper legal service attorney?
Any violation subjects the responsible party to a penalty ranging from not less than $100.00 to no more than $500.00.
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed both. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
12 actions- Apr 2, 2025HouseFloorHouse Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended
- Mar 28, 2025SenateSenate Third Read
- Mar 28, 2025SenateFloorSenate Passed/Adopted By Substitute
- Mar 18, 2025SenateSenate Read Second Time
- Mar 13, 2025SenateCommitteeSenate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
- Feb 26, 2025SenateIntroducedSenate Read and Referred
Show 6 earlier actions
- Feb 24, 2025HouseHouse Third Readers
- Feb 24, 2025HouseFloorHouse Passed/Adopted
- Feb 6, 2025HouseCommitteeHouse Committee Favorably Reported
- Feb 3, 2025HouseHouse Second Readers
- Jan 30, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse First Readers
- Jan 29, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse Hopper
Version history & redline
3 versions on fileComparing Sen Ctee Sub LC 46 1215S → Floor Amendment AM 52 0076
removed addedOfficial text
removed: 25 LC 46 1215S
The Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor offered the following
substitute to HB 182:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 25 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to life insurance, so as to prohibit a policy of group life insurance from excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is a service member; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Chapter 25 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to life insurance, is amended by revising Code Section 33-25-5, relating to inclusion of provisions excluding or restricting liability for death, as follows: "33-25-5. (a) No policy of life insurance, except as stated in subsection (c) of this Code section, shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state if it contains a provision which excludes or restricts liability for death caused in a certain specified manner or occurring while the insured has a specified status, except that the policy may contain provisions excluding or restricting coverage as specified therein in the event of death under any one or more of the following circumstances: (1) Death as a result, directly or indirectly, of war, declared or undeclared, or of any act or hazard of such war; (2) Death as the result of aviation or any air travel or flight; (3) Death as a result of a specified hazardous occupation or occupations; (4) Death while the insured is a resident outside the continental United States and Canada; or (5) Death within two years from the date of issue of the policy as a result of suicide, while sane or insane. (b) A policy which contains any exclusion or restriction pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall also provide that in the event of death under circumstances to which any such exclusion or restriction is applicable, the insurer will pay an amount not less than a reserve determined according to the Commissioner's reserve valuation method upon the basis of the mortality table and interest rate specified in the policy for the calculation of nonforfeiture benefits or, if the policy provides no such benefits, computed according to a mortality table and interest rate determined by the insurer and specified in the policy with adjustment for indebtedness or dividend credit. (c) This Code section shall not apply to group life insurance, except as stated in subsection (d) of this Code section, reinsurance, annuities, or to any provision of a life insurance policy, or contract supplemental thereto, relating to disability benefits, or to additional benefits in the event of death by accident or accidental means. (d) No policy of group life insurance shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state if it contains a provision which excludes or restricts liability for death occurring while the insured is a service member of the regular or reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and such death is not a result, directly or indirectly, of war, declared or undeclared, or any act or hazard of such war. (d)(e) Nothing contained in this Code section shall prohibit any provision which in the opinion of the Commissioner is more favorable to the policyholder than a provision permitted by this Code section." SECTION 2. This Act shall become effective on the first day of the month following the month in which it is approved by the Governor or becomes law without such approval. SECTION 3. added: AM 52 0076
ADOPTED
Representative Lumsden of the 12th offers the following amendment:
Amend HB 182 (LC 46 1215S) by replacing lines 1 through 50 with the following: To amend Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to insurance, so as to provide for efficiency in the practices of the Department of Insurance; to provide for the confidentiality of examination reports; to revise the statutory deposit requirement for foreign insurers; to remove fees for branch licensees; to revise application requirements for a domestic stock and mutual insurer; to remove the publication requirement for application, amendments, and surrenders for such insurer; to remove such publication requirement for charters, consolidations, and mergers of fraternal benefit societies; to revise application requirements for farmers' mutual fire insurance companies; to remove the licensure requirement for agency branches; to provide for biennial renewals for agency licenses to be based on the origination month of the agency; to require a license to state the legal name of the licensee; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to insurance, is amended in Chapter 2, relating to department and Commissioner, by revising subsection (g) of Code Section 33-2-14, relating to preparation of written reports of examinations generally, certification of reports, admissibility in evidence, notice and hearing on reports, and use of examination documents, as follows: "(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50, relating to the inspection of public records, all work papers, analysis, information, documents, information received from another state, and any other materials created, produced, or obtained by or disclosed to the Commissioner or any other person in the course of 24,375 more added characters - read this versionAll laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
Redline computed from the official version text (record lane).View this version →
Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 1 more sponsor
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
policy shift95% confidence
Removal of Publication Mandates
The legislation systematically removes longstanding local newspaper publication requirements for insurer charters, mergers, and consolidations.
Connected Entities
OrganizationSecretary of State“State office responsible for issuing certificates of incorporation, merger, and ”Map →
OrganizationNational Association of Insurance Commissioners“Association whose authorized representatives may be granted access to confidenti”Map →
Sources
Open source document
www.legis.ga.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools