Georgia Property Insurance and the FAIR Plan

Dwelling and homeowners forms, the standard fire policy and the loss settlement conditions work much the same way in every state. Georgia law adds a residual market for property owners the voluntary market will not insure, statutes that change how certain property losses are paid, limits on how insurers may underwrite homes, incentives for wind-resistant construction, and the claim rules Georgia writes into law.

Georgia’s FAIR Plan (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-33-1 through 33-33-8)

Most Georgia property owners buy coverage in the voluntary market, from insurers that choose which risks to accept. Some owners cannot: an older building, a vacant commercial property, a location with a poor loss history or a property that failed an inspection may be declined everywhere. A lender will not close a mortgage on an uninsured building, so the lack of coverage can stop a sale or a refinancing. Georgia’s answer is a residual market for property: the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, the FAIR Plan.

Definitions

FAIR Plan

The Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, a program through which property insurance is made available to property owners, operated by an underwriting association of Georgia’s property insurers under a plan approved by the Commissioner (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-33-1, 33-33-4).

Underwriting association

The association the member insurers form to run the plan. It has authority, on behalf of its members, to issue property insurance policies, to reinsure them in whole or in part and to cede that reinsurance (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-2).

Plan of operation

The FAIR Plan and the association’s articles, which set the plan’s perils, territory, commissions and other operating rules (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-2).

How the plan is created and who must belong

Georgia law authorizes the insurers licensed to write, and writing, property insurance in the state on a direct basis to establish and maintain the FAIR Plan and an underwriting association, subject to the Commissioner’s approval and regulation. The members assess and share all of the plan’s expenses, income and losses on a fair and equitable basis (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-1).

Membership is not optional. Every insurer authorized to write and writing property insurance in Georgia must become and remain a member of the plan and the association, and comply with their requirements, as a condition of its authority to transact property insurance in the state (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-3(a)). An insurer that wants to sell property insurance in Georgia takes on a share of the residual market as part of the bargain.

Each member’s share of the plan’s writings, expenses, profits and losses is figured separately for two kinds of risk (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-3(b)):

• Habitational risks, in the proportion that the member’s habitational premiums written bear to all members’ habitational premiums
• Commercial risks, in the proportion that the member’s commercial premiums written bear to all members’ commercial premiums

Example: If an insurer writes 4 percent of the habitational premium and 1 percent of the commercial premium written by all members, it bears 4 percent of the plan’s habitational results and 1 percent of its commercial results. A homeowners specialist carries more of the plan’s homeowners losses than a commercial specialist does.

What the plan of operation must cover

The plan and the association’s articles must provide, among other things, for (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-2):

• The perils to be covered
• The geographical area of coverage
• Compensation and commissions
• Assessments of members
• The equitable sharing of expenses, income and losses
• Cumulative weighted voting for the association’s board of directors
• The administration of the plan and association

Because the statute leaves these details to the plan of operation, the forms the FAIR Plan writes, the perils it covers and the commission a producer earns for placing business with it come from the approved plan, not from the Code. The statute’s own wording points to basic property coverage: it allows insurers, in conformity with Georgia’s rate law, to make reasonable rate modifications “for fire and extended coverage and such other classes of basic property insurance” (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-5).

The Commissioner’s role

The association’s directors submit a proposed plan and articles to the Commissioner. Once approved, they take effect ten days later. If the Commissioner disapproves any part, the directors have 30 days to submit a revised plan, and if they do not, the Commissioner writes the plan (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-4(a)–(b)). The directors may amend the plan on their own initiative or at the Commissioner’s request, but every amendment needs the Commissioner’s approval (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-4(c)).

Inspections

A residual market insurer needs to see the property it is being asked to insure, and inspectors need to describe what they find candidly. Georgia therefore provides that no cause of action arises against insurers, inspection bureaus, placement facilities, the underwriting association, their directors, agents and employees, or the Commissioner, for inspections made or statements about the property to be insured. Inspection reports and related communications are not public documents (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-6).

Appeals to the Commissioner

Anyone aggrieved by an action or decision of the plan’s administrators, the underwriting association, or an insurer acting as a participant in the plan may appeal to the Commissioner within 30 days of the action or decision. After a hearing on proper notice, the Commissioner issues an order approving or disapproving it, and the Commissioner’s final order is subject to judicial review (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-7).

Example: The association declines to renew a corner store’s FAIR Plan policy after an inspection reports exposed wiring. The owner, who has since had the wiring replaced, may appeal to the Commissioner, but must do so within 30 days of the decision.

Temporary coverage for local governments

The FAIR Plan can also insure public property. Georgia gives special protection to a local public entity (a county, municipality or local board of education) that appeals an adverse underwriting decision of the association while its coverage is about to cancel or expire (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-8):

1. The entity notifies the Commissioner in writing, at the same time it files the appeal, of the date its existing coverage will end. If it does not, it is not eligible for temporary coverage.
2. The Commissioner directs the association to provide coverage temporarily, setting its start date and an end date no earlier than the Commissioner’s final order on the appeal.
3. The entity pays the full premium for the temporary coverage when it is issued.
4. The Commissioner tells the entity what emergency protection measures, if any, it must take during the temporary coverage: protecting damaged property from further damage, limiting access to the premises, disconnecting utilities, installing locks, alarms or security lighting, allowing inspections, or providing security guards.
5. The Commissioner publishes notice of the temporary coverage and any required measures in the legal organ of the county where the property is located.

The rule keeps a school or courthouse insured while its appeal is decided, as long as the entity gives the Commissioner the required notice.

How property owners learn about the plan

Georgia makes sure a homeowner who loses coverage hears about the FAIR Plan. When an insurer cancels a residential property policy for any reason other than nonpayment, or refuses to renew one, its notice must tell the named insured of possible eligibility for coverage through the FAIR Plan and give the address for contacting the plan to determine eligibility (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46(e); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 120-2-15-.04(e)).

The Commissioner’s broader residual-market powers

The FAIR Plan is not Georgia’s only tool for availability problems. Admitted insurers may agree among themselves to share fairly the property and casualty insurance needed by applicants who are in good faith entitled to coverage but cannot get it through ordinary methods, subject to the Commissioner’s approval (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-7(a)). When the Commissioner determines in writing that such an agreement is necessary to protect the health, property and welfare of Georgians, the insurers must make one (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-8(a)). And whenever the Commissioner finds a lack of competition or a lack of availability in property or casualty insurance, the Commissioner must approve the rates and policies used under such a plan and may order a program that apportions the needed coverage among all licensed property and casualty insurers (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-8(e)).

Sidenote

FAIR Plan in brief

Every Georgia property insurer must belong to the FAIR Plan as a condition of writing property insurance in the state, and shares its results by its share of habitational and commercial premiums. An aggrieved applicant or insured appeals to the Commissioner within 30 days. A homeowner whose policy is cancelled (other than for nonpayment) or not renewed is told about the plan in the insurer’s notice.

The standard fire policy in Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-1)

No policy of fire insurance on Georgia property may be made, issued or delivered unless it conforms, in all its provisions and their sequence, to the standard or uniform form prescribed by the Commissioner (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-1(a)). The Commissioner keeps an authenticated true copy of that standard fire policy on file (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-1(b)), and the Commissioner’s property insurance rules include a standard fire policy rule (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 120-2-19-.01).

A multiple line policy, such as a homeowners policy that combines fire insurance with other coverages, need not follow the standard form word for word. It qualifies if the fire portion is at least as favorable to the insured as the corresponding parts of the standard fire policy and the Commissioner has approved the policy (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-1(a)). The standard fire policy therefore works as a floor: a homeowners form may be broader, never narrower, on fire coverage.

The standard form is not required for casualty insurance, marine and transportation insurance, or insurance on growing crops. Insurers may state in the standard fire policy that it does not cover loss from nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination, and may attach an endorsement that does cover those losses (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-1(b)).

Georgia rules that shape property coverage

Insurable interest at the time of loss (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-4)

Georgia defines insurable interest as any actual, lawful and substantial economic interest in the safety or preservation of the insured property. A property policy is enforceable only for the benefit of persons who have an insurable interest at the time of the loss (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-4).

Example: Marcus sells his house on June 1 but forgets to cancel his homeowners policy. A fire on June 15 damages the house. Marcus no longer has an insurable interest in it, so he cannot collect for the building under his policy. The buyer, who owns it now, needed a policy of her own.

Personal property that changes and the right to rebuild

A property policy may cover personal property that changes in its specifics (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-2). That is what allows a store’s inventory or a household’s contents to be insured under one amount even though the individual items come and go.

An insurer has the option to rebuild or repair damaged property, instead of paying for it, only if the policy reserves that option (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-3). Property forms commonly reserve it in an “our option” condition, and Georgia law gives effect to that reservation.

Firearms

No Georgia policy covering loss, damage, expense or liability may exclude or deny coverage because the insured, the insured’s family members or the insured’s employees lawfully keep or carry firearms on the insured’s property or premises (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-30.1).

Delivery of the policy

A policy is mailed or delivered to the insured within a reasonable time after it is issued. It may instead be posted electronically if the insured agrees, the insurer keeps it accessible while it is in force and archives it for five years after it expires, and each declarations page tells the insured how to get a free paper copy and where the policy is posted (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-14(a)).

Mortgagees and other lienholders

A policy’s mortgage clause protects a lender’s interest in the insured property. Georgia’s notice statutes give lienholders their own protection when coverage is ending:

• An insurer’s cancellation notice goes to the last address of record of the insured and of any lienholder (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-44(b)), and so does a residential nonrenewal notice (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46(d)(1)).
• When an insured cancels a policy that cannot end without notice to a mortgagee or other third party, the insurer sends that notice, and the cancellation cannot take effect sooner than 10 days after it is mailed or delivered (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-44.1(a)(2)).
• When a premium finance company cancels, the insurer notifies the mortgagee on or before the second business day after receiving the finance company’s cancellation (O.C.G.A. § 33-22-13(d)).

A lienholder may agree to receive its notices electronically or by fax, and a defect in the lienholder’s notice does not invalidate a cancellation that is otherwise valid as to the insured (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-44(b)). The lender learns that coverage is ending in time to protect its collateral.

The valued policy law for one- and two-family homes (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-5)

Under the principle of indemnity, a property insurer pays the actual loss, up to the limit. Georgia makes an exception for homes destroyed by fire.

When a policy issued to individuals, or to an entity wholly owned by individuals, insures a specifically described one- or two-family residential building in Georgia against fire, and fire wholly destroys the building without fraud or criminal fault by the insured or someone acting for the insured, the amount of insurance on the building is conclusively taken to be its value. The only reduction is for depreciation between the policy’s effective or renewal date and the loss. If the loss occurs within 30 days of the policy’s original effective date, the insured instead recovers the actual loss sustained, up to the amount of insurance (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-5(a)).

The rule does not apply when (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-5(b)):

1. The building is not wholly destroyed by fire.
2. More than one insurer covers the building against fire and the insured did not disclose the other insurance to every insurer.
3. Two or more buildings are insured under a blanket form for a single amount.
4. The completed value of the building is insured under a builders’ risk policy.

The law does not prohibit coinsurance, and it does not stop the insurer from repairing or replacing the property at its own expense instead (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-5(a)).

Example: Ana’s two-family rental house is insured against fire for $260,000 under a policy that renewed in January. In August it burns to the ground in an accidental fire. Her insurer believes the house was worth only $230,000. Because the building was wholly destroyed by fire and none of the exceptions applies, the $260,000 amount of insurance is taken as its value, reduced only by depreciation since the January renewal. Had the same fire happened two weeks after the policy was first issued, Ana would recover her actual loss, up to $260,000.

The law has a practical purpose. The insurer accepted premium for $260,000 of coverage, so after a total fire loss it cannot argue that the house was worth less than that, apart from depreciation since the policy began or renewed. It also shows why accurate insurance to value matters at the point of sale.

Sidenote

When the valued policy law applies

Georgia’s valued policy law applies only when fire wholly destroys a specifically described one- or two-family residential building in Georgia, insured against fire under a policy issued to individuals or an entity they wholly own, without fraud or criminal fault by the insured. A partial fire loss, a total loss from wind, or a blanket policy on several buildings is settled under the policy’s ordinary terms.

Returning premium after a total loss (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-4)

When property is a total loss and the insurer pays less than the maximum the policy allows, the insurer must refund the difference between the premium the insured actually paid and the premium that would have been charged for a policy whose maximum equaled the amount the insurer paid (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-4). The insured should not pay for coverage the insurer, in the end, never had to provide.

Example: A small warehouse insured for $60,000 is destroyed by a tornado. The valued policy law does not apply because the cause was wind, and the insurer pays the $45,000 the policy’s settlement terms allow. The insurer must refund the difference between the premium charged for $60,000 of coverage and the premium it would have charged for $45,000.

Underwriting residential property in Georgia

Georgia limits what insurers may consider when deciding whether to write, continue or renew a home. A producer who knows these limits can spot an improper declination and explain a legitimate one.

Prohibited underwriting criteria (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 120-2-66)

The Commissioner’s rule targets fictitious groupings: sorting applicants into groups by characteristics that have no actuarial connection to loss. It applies to residential property policies issued to individuals, including homeowners, dwelling fire, manufactured housing, tenant, condominium unit owners and farmowners policies (r. 120-2-66-.02(b)).

No insurer, broker or agent may use underwriting guidelines that create a fictitious grouping and result in unfair discrimination. An applicant or insured is being grouped when acceptability for issuing or continuing a policy is decided on factors such as (r. 120-2-66-.03(1)–(2)):

• Marital status of the applicant, insured or anyone in the household
• Length of time at the address
• Employment status, lawful occupation or length of time with the present employer
• Level of education
• Refusal to buy an additional policy the person did not request
• Age of the dwelling, without proper consideration of updated mechanical and structural systems
• Status as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, the Reserves or the National Guard (a war exclusion in the policy may still be used)

A grouping is fictitious and unfairly discriminatory if it is not actuarially supported, not relevant to risk and not a reasonable classification under Georgia’s rate law, or if it rests in any way on race, creed or ethnic extraction (r. 120-2-66-.03(3)).

Insurers must give their agents complete copies of their underwriting guidelines and of this rule (r. 120-2-66-.04), and must give the Commissioner a copy of their guidelines within 20 days of a request (r. 120-2-66-.05).

Example: An insurer’s guideline says “decline any home built before 1970.” Applied without regard to whether the roof, wiring, plumbing and heating have been updated, it groups homes by age in the way the rule describes, and unless the grouping is actuarially supported and relevant to risk, it is prohibited.

Credit-based insurance scores (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-24-90 through 33-24-98)

Georgia allows insurers to use insurance scores, numbers derived in whole or part from credit information to predict future losses, in underwriting and rating (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-24-90(8), 33-24-98). The rules apply to personal insurance: private passenger auto, homeowners, motorcycle, mobile homeowners, noncommercial dwelling fire, and boat, personal watercraft, snowmobile and recreational vehicle policies written for personal, family or household use (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-90(9)).

Disclosure. An insurer that uses credit information must disclose, on the application or when it is taken, that it may obtain credit information, in substantially this form: “In connection with this application for insurance, we may review your credit report or obtain or use a credit based insurance score based on the information contained in that credit report. We may use a third party in connection with the development of your insurance score.” The disclosure need not be repeated at renewal if it was already given (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-93).

What an insurer may not do. An insurer using credit information may not (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-91):

• Use an insurance score calculated with income, gender, race, address, ZIP Code, ethnic group, religion, marital status or nationality as a factor
• Deny, cancel or nonrenew a personal policy, or set renewal rates, solely on credit information without considering other applicable factors
• Take adverse action solely because the consumer has no credit card account
• Consider an absence of credit information, unless it treats the consumer as the Commissioner has approved, as having neutral credit, or excludes credit from the decision
• Take adverse action based on a credit report or insurance score more than 180 days old when the policy is written or renewed
• Use credit information unless, with limited exceptions, it refreshes the score or report at least every 36 months
• Count as negative factors inquiries the consumer did not initiate or made for his or her own report, inquiries about insurance, medical collection accounts, or multiple mortgage or auto lender inquiries made within 30 days of one another (counted as one)

At annual renewal, a consumer may ask the insurer to reunderwrite and rerate the policy on a current credit report or score, although the insurer need not do so more than once in 12 months. Before doing so, the insurer must warn the consumer that the result may be a higher rate, a lower rate, no change or even nonrenewal (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-91(7)(A)).

If an item in the consumer’s credit information is under dispute through the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act process, the insurer must, for 45 days after the dispute begins, either ignore the item or treat it as neutral (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-92).

Adverse action notice. When credit information leads to an adverse action, such as a denial, cancellation, higher charge or reduced coverage, the insurer must give the notice the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires and explain its reasons clearly enough that the consumer can identify the basis for the decision, describing up to four factors that were the primary influences. Generic phrases such as “poor credit history,” “poor credit rating” or “poor insurance score” do not satisfy the law (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-24-90(1), 33-24-94).

Aerial and satellite images (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-45)

Some insurers review roofs and grounds using images taken from the air. For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, Georgia regulates an admitted insurer’s use of photographs taken from an aircraft, drone, balloon or unmanned aerial system, or from a satellite, as the basis for cancelling or nonrenewing coverage on an owner-occupied home (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-45(a)–(b)). The insurer must:

1. Include in its notice copies of the date-stamped images it relied on, or instructions for getting them, taken within 12 months of the decision, with a description of what the owner can do to reverse the decision, including the standards any repairs must meet.
2. Provide a point of contact and a process for the owner to submit proof that the work is done.
3. Provide an appeal process to correct errors or misunderstandings.
4. Give the owner at least 60 days to cure the condition, counted from when the insurer identifies it, even if that runs past the nonrenewal notice period. The insurer may assess the repair work.
5. Offer renewal, or rescind the decision, when the owner proves the condition is cured.

The rule also applies to the FAIR Plan for residential properties (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-45(c)). Moving an owner to the FAIR Plan or to a nonadmitted insurer is not itself an adverse decision under this section (O.C.G.A. § 33-9-45(a)(2)).

Cancellation and nonrenewal of a home policy

A residential property policy in Georgia may be cancelled after its first 60 days only for nonpayment, fraud or material misrepresentation, a substantial increase in hazard, or violation of a material policy condition, and nonrenewal requires at least 60 days’ written notice (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46(c)(2), (d)(1)). The full rules, including the protection against nonrenewal for two or fewer claims not caused by the insured’s negligence, appear with Georgia’s other cancellation and nonrenewal laws.

Windstorm: discounts for wind-resistant construction (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-32-10, 33-32-11)

Hurricanes, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms all bring damaging wind to Georgia, and the state uses premium incentives to encourage construction that resists it.

Insurers that write coverage on single-family homes, commercial property or modular homes in Georgia must provide a premium discount or rate reduction for new or retrofitted property built to resist loss from tornadoes, hurricanes and other catastrophic windstorms (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-32-10(a), 33-32-11(a)–(b)). They may also offer deductible adjustments or other rate credits.

To qualify, the property must be certified by an evaluator certified by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety as built to that Institute’s Fortified standards, or to other mitigation standards the Commissioner approves (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-11(c)). Manufactured and mobile homes are generally outside the law, although Zone 3 HUD-code manufactured homes installed to the Commissioner’s specifications may also be considered (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-32-10(b)(1), 33-32-11(c)). The owner must keep the certification and construction records that support the discount (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-11(d)).

Each insurer files an actuarially justified rating plan for the discount. It applies only to policies that include wind coverage, either to the wind portion of the premium or to the total premium if the insurer does not price wind separately. An insurer need not give the same discount for a home that merely meets the building code as for one certified to Fortified standards (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-11(e)).

Example: A homeowner in Savannah replaces her roof to Fortified standards and receives a certificate from an IBHS-certified evaluator. When she sends it to her agent, her homeowners insurer must apply the discount set out in its filed rating plan.

Property claims where Georgia law sets the rule

Every property policy sets out the insured’s duties after a loss, the proof of loss requirement and the loss settlement conditions. Georgia statutes add these rules.

Proof of loss forms (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-39)

When a person claiming a loss asks in writing, the insurer must furnish proof of loss forms. Supplying the forms does not make the insurer responsible for how they are filled in. But an insurer that fails or refuses to furnish the form after a written request or written notice of loss waives its right to require a proof of loss (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-39).

Acts that do not waive the insurer’s rights (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-40)

An insurer does not waive any policy provision or defense merely by acknowledging a notice of loss, furnishing claim or proof of loss forms, receiving completed or incomplete forms, investigating a loss or negotiating toward a settlement (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-40). This lets an adjuster begin work on a claim promptly without conceding that the loss is covered.

Time to sue the insurer (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.38)

Property policies often require the insured to sue within a set period after a loss. For first-party property coverage in policies issued or renewed in Georgia on and after July 1, 2027, no property, casualty, credit, marine and transportation or vehicle policy may require suit to be filed less than two years from the date of loss. The limit applies only to the first-party property portions of those policies; liability and workers’ compensation coverage are exempt (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.38).

When the insurer cannot pay

If a property insurer is liquidated, Georgia’s Insurers Insolvency Pool pays covered first-party claims up to the policy limit or $300,000, whichever is less (O.C.G.A. § 33-36-3(4)(D)). Georgia’s bad-faith penalty for refusing to pay a covered loss (O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6) and its Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (O.C.G.A. § 33-6-30 and following) apply to property claims as well.

Lesson summary

• Every insurer writing property insurance in Georgia must belong to the FAIR Plan and its underwriting association, sharing results by its proportion of habitational and of commercial premiums (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-33-1, 33-33-3).
• The FAIR Plan’s perils, territory and commissions come from a plan of operation that takes effect ten days after the Commissioner approves it; anyone aggrieved by a plan decision may appeal to the Commissioner within 30 days (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-33-2, 33-33-4, 33-33-7).
• A county, city or school board appealing a FAIR Plan decision may receive temporary coverage while the appeal is pending (O.C.G.A. § 33-33-8), and a homeowner whose policy is cancelled (other than for nonpayment) or not renewed must be told about the FAIR Plan (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46(e)).
• Fire policies must conform to the Commissioner’s standard fire policy, and a homeowners form may combine coverages only if its fire portion is at least as favorable (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-1).
• When fire wholly destroys an insured one- or two-family home without fraud by the insured, the amount of insurance is conclusively its value, less depreciation since the policy began or renewed (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-5); after other total losses paid below the limit, the insurer refunds the excess premium (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-4).
• Residential underwriting may not rest on fictitious groupings such as marital status, education, occupation or the dwelling’s age without regard to updates (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 120-2-66), and credit information may never be the sole reason to deny, cancel or nonrenew personal insurance (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-91).
• On policies with wind coverage, insurers must give a premium discount or rate reduction for homes and commercial buildings certified to Fortified or other approved mitigation standards (O.C.G.A. § 33-32-11).
• An insurer that fails to furnish proof of loss forms on written request waives proof of loss, while acknowledging, investigating or negotiating a claim waives nothing (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-24-39, 33-24-40).