Gwinnett County — The Georgia Department of Insurance and outside experts told lawmakers on the House Insurance Rate Study Committee that recent insurer filings will reduce some drivers’ premiums, even as state‑level underwriting results and litigation trends continue to squeeze carriers and limit coverage choices.

Bryce Rawson, director of legislative affairs for the insurance commissioner, said Liberty Mutual and Safeco filed rate decreases of about 5% for Georgia drivers, and noted a recent State Farm reduction “of about 10% over the course of the year.” Rawson credited work to combat fraud and the tort‑reform measures enacted by the General Assembly for helping produce those decreases.

“If anybody has questions about this topic, I’d be more than happy to answer them,” Rawson told the committee after making the announcement.

University of Georgia insurance professor Robert Hoyt gave lawmakers a broader market overview and pointed to data showing Georgia’s underwriting return in 2024 was negative 8.7%, versus a positive 7.8% nationally, which he said ranked Georgia 50th among states and the District of Columbia. Hoyt told the panel that business liability average claim cost nationally was about $97,220, up roughly 18% since 2022, and that litigation now accounts for roughly 40% of claims costs — up from about 27% five years earlier.

“These pressure points — litigation, rising medical costs, reinsurance, and catastrophic exposure — affect both price and availability,” Hoyt said, urging legislators to consider non‑insurance measures that reduce risk frequency or severity (for example, highway safety or building and fire standards) as part of long‑term solutions.

Independent insurance agent Mike Royal, who represents thousands of Georgia customers, described carriers’ moves to reduce capital committed to Georgia business and to “cherry‑pick” lines of insurance. Royal said he is seeing carriers lower the umbrella/excess limits they will write in Georgia from prior limits (examples he gave: previously readily written $20 million limits reduced to $3M–$5M caps) and that some carriers are not yet ready to restore capacity until they see legislative and market changes hold.

“Carriers have taken their capital elsewhere,” Royal said. “We’re having to stack umbrella now for our large clients because no one wants to put that much capacity on the line.”

Committee members asked whether recent rate decreases are broad or limited to specific lines; Hoyt and Royal both emphasized that changes can differ dramatically by line of business and that some lines remain unprofitable even as others show improvement. Lawmakers asked the insurance department and committee staff to compile additional record requests and data for the committee’s final report.

What’s next: Committee leaders said they will assemble a report and consider multiple legislative approaches — a study committee bill plus narrower measures — and asked stakeholders to submit proposed text and summaries before the committee’s Christmas deadline.