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Pro Tem Jones flags ‘named driver’ insurance loophole; plans to draft change next year
Summary
Pro Tem Jones told the committee that some auto insurance policies exclude certain household drivers from coverage, creating a gap that can leave crash victims to the uninsured pool; she said she will pursue legislation next year to make exclusion details available to law enforcement via the state’s insurance compliance system.
Pro Tem Jan Jones told the committee that she plans to pursue legislation next year to close what she described as a loophole in automobile insurance that can leave crash victims relying on the state's uninsured motorist pool.
Jones said many insurers allow policies that name a single permitted driver while excluding others in the household. She said those exclusions can produce a situation where a responding officer checks the electronic system, sees the vehicle is insured, and does not learn that the person driving at the time of the crash was an excluded driver. "So then in those situations . . . the claim goes to the uninsured pool that all of us pay for," she said.
Jones told the committee the change she will seek would add fields to the state's electronic insurance compliance database so law enforcement can see whether a policy has excluded or named drivers and, if so, who they are. That information, she said, would allow officers to cite drivers who are operating without insurance and help protect the state's uninsured fund.
Bobby Potter, representing State Farm Insurance Company, told the committee the Georgia electronic information compliance system (referred to in testimony as the GEICS or "GICS" system) is housed at the Department of Revenue and could be modified to add additional fields. "That system has worked," Potter said, adding that insurers and the Department of Revenue would need time to determine how best to transmit the extra data.
Committee members raised operational questions about how quickly an excluded driver could be removed from the exclusion list and whether the system would be kept up to date. Jones said she expects the process would be similar to updating coverage with an insurance agent and that the goal is to keep the database current.
Jones said she is not taking the bill up this year and will work with the insurance industry and the Department of Revenue to develop precise language for next year.
Ending: The committee did not vote on the proposal. Jones said she would return with drafted language next year after consultations with insurers and revenue officials.
