Committee advances bill requiring insurers to show dated images used to deny or nonrenew homeowners policies

Senators advanced SB409 after testimony from an independent insurance agent who said carriers increasingly use aerial and fixed‑wing imagery to underwrite and nonrenew homeowners policies without giving customers the underlying photo evidence.

Larry Walker, an independent insurance agent from Perry, Georgia, told the committee insurers commonly consult aerial imagery and sometimes nonrenew policies for perceived roof or yard hazards. He said customers cannot usually see the image or verify its date and therefore lack an opportunity to fix a problem before losing coverage. "If you're gonna make an adverse decision against this customer, you've gotta provide him a copy of the picture," Walker said.

The bill, modeled on drafting work Walker described from the National Council of Insurance Legislators, would require an insurer that takes an adverse underwriting action (nonrenewal, declination, reduced coverage or surcharge) to include, with the notice to the insured, a dated image showing the condition relied on. Walker told the panel the image must be recent—within nine months of the nonrenewal decision—and must align with the state's 60‑day nonrenewal notice timeframe to give homeowners a practical opportunity to remedy issues.

Committee members asked whether using public imagery (for example, mapping services) raises constitutional privacy concerns. Several members and staff said Fourth Amendment protections typically apply to government actors rather than private companies and that private insurer use of public imagery is more likely a civil tort question than a constitutional violation. The committee also discussed how a homeowner could demonstrate repairs; members noted that rates are regulated and filed with the insurance commissioner, so an insurer cannot unilaterally set an arbitrary renewal premium if a repair is completed.

A technical issue prompted an amendment: insurers' images can be higher resolution than photos homeowners can obtain. Members proposed and the sponsor offered language requiring any aerial or satellite images submitted by the property owner to be of "equal or greater" resolution and quality to the insurer's image, to avoid disputes over evidentiary value. The committee voted to adopt the amendment and then voted to advance the bill as amended.

The committee recorded the amendment and moved SB409 forward for further consideration; no final statewide action was taken in this meeting.