‘We need clarity’: Ga. House weighs bill to study impact of tort reform
A bill described as “the first part of Gov. Brian Kemp’s multiyear approach to tort reform,” received a favorable Georgia House Insurance Committee reading on February 15.
A bill described as “the first part of Gov. Brian Kemp’s multiyear approach to tort reform,” by its sponsor state Rep. Will Wade, R-Dawsonville, received a favorable Georgia House Insurance Committee reading on Feb. 15.
The Republican-backed legislation would allow the State Insurance Commission to gather and track data including how many torts are filed against people holding an insurer’s policy, attorney fees from those suits and the total value of the claims. The intent is to determine the potential impact of tort reform efforts—to see how insurance companies assess tort-related risks, what parts of tort-related risk have the greatest impact on insurance premiums and to track the potential impact of newly passed tort reform measures. The current version of the bill also says the final report will include historic and predictive trends.
“[We’ve heard from our constituents and business community] anecdotally that there have been insurers that have left the Georgia market or are currently not issuing new policies and many have stopped writing any new business and just keep the current business they have,” Wade said. “We need to understand exactly what Georgia’s tort liability system impacts, how it impacts the insurance market and what we can do to mitigate those effects.”
“We need clarity, as we’ve been chasing a lot of anecdotal information,” added Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King, who spoke in support of the bill.
According to Wade, who said he was carrying the bill on behalf of the Kemp administration, the data would be gathered “in a confidential and anonymous way so the insurance companies are not forced to publicly share their confidential or trade secrets.”
If signed into law, as is, the legislation would require the commissioner to submit an initial report by Nov. 1, with potential additional reports to be submitted through 2029, as needed. Wade said he didn’t envision the initial data being made publicly available and it may not necessarily have to adhere to open records requests, but the final report would be released to the public.
“We are thankful the Governor is proposing a study committee to look at the cause of rising insurance premiums,” said Madeleine Simmons, president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. “As reported recently by the AJC, current data suggests the increases are a result of car repairs and labor, thefts and losses from weather-related claims, not civil lawsuits. We are hopeful this study committee sheds more light on the insurance industry’s practices and procedures.”
Wade and King were the only two people to speak on the bill during the Feb. 15 committee meeting and no one testified against it.
The legislation is HB 1114, the Data Analysis for Tort Reform Act, in the Georgia General Assembly.