Georgia Car Insurance Law on SR22
Reader’s Question:
Can you tell me the law in Georgia regarding SR22?
Mike
Atlanta GA
In the US alone, different states have various laws and regulations with regards to Driving under the Influence or DUI. In Georgia car insurance law, it is unlawful to have a vehicle without car insurance coverage. Permitting an individual without insurance operate a vehicle is likewise illegal.
In Georgia car insurance law, the minimum required liability coverage is as follows:
1. $25,000.00 for bodily injury liability per person per accident-
2. $50,000.00 . for bodily injury liability for two or more persons per accident
3. $25,000.00 for property damage per accident
The law enforcement officer will request the driver to show proof of mandatory liability insurance. IDs or papers from the insurer have to be presented.
If the insurance has lapsed at the time of the accident, the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend the your drivers license until insurance policy has been renewed.
If you have been convicted of DUI, you will be required to get a special kind of car insurance called SR 22. This SR22 is a certificate that shows proof proof of financial responsibility of the driver. It’s an assurance that the driver will keep the minimum liability insurance coverage required by the state.
Get The Best Georgia Car Insurance Rates
Reader’s Question:
I moved from Alabama to Georgia and my car insurance rates increased! Why?
Henry
Atlanta GA
The state of Georgia and Alabama have both the same basic coverage of minimum Bodily Injury Liability limits of $25,000 per injured person up to a total of $50,000 per accident, and a minimum limit of $25,000 for Property Damage Liability per accident.
There are several reasons for Alabama and Georgia car insurance rates variations. The first is that there are more population and drivers in the state of Georgia. Alabama had a population of a little over 4.6 million in 2007 while in Georgia they’d a population of 9.5 million. Because of the bigger population, so that means there are more accidents, especially fatalities, in GA than in AL.
The increase in Georgia car insurance rates may be due to the area that you live in. Car insurance is much more costly in cities due to the higher density of traffic, greater probability of theft and vandalism, and higher occurrence of fraud. When you relocated from a more countryside area of AL to a city area of GA your Car insurance rates would increase in part.
It’s been reported lately that there was a sudden increase in Georgia car insurance rates. Car insurance premiums have increased nearly seven percent on average because of new law that doesn’t demand insurance providers to have state approval before modifying car insurance rates.
Although some insurance providers in Georgia have increased their car insurance rates you may still find some auto insurance companies who’ve not changed their underwriting standards and premium rates. Additionally, some insurance providers have only minimally increased their car insurance rates while some have gone for that optimum car insurance rate increase. For this reason in Georgia you should look around for the best Georgia car insurance rates possible.
Do You Need Gap Car Insurance In Georgia?
If you don’t have the patience to read my post, then check out this video from YouTube about gap insurance. It does a pretty good job at explaining why you may need to add gap insurance coverage to your Georgia car insurance policy. If you’re still confused, let me break it down for you.
- Gap insurance is…
Gap insurance is the type of coverage that you add to your car insurance policy to fill the gap between the actual cash value of your car and the amount that you actually owe on it. When you total your car, the amount that you own on it isn’t taken into mind when calculating what your claim payment will be, so this can be very important.
Right now I’m making payments on a 2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser. We owe about $16,500 on the car right now, but it’s only worth around $12,000. If we were to total that car today and we didn’t have gap insurance, then after our claim payment came through, we would be without a car and we would still owe over four thousand dollars on our car.
- Who requires it?
Gap insurance is only necessary to add to your insurance coverage if you’re still making payments on a car. Most of the time, your financer or car dealership will require you to purchase gap insurance much like they require you to purchase comprehensive or collision insurance on your new vehicle. They do this to protect their investment.
In order to buy gap insurance, your insurance policy must already have collision and comprehensive coverage on it. You cannot purchase gap insurance otherwise.
The reason why people need gap insurance is because, unless you put a sizable down payment on a new car, then in the time soon after you have bought it you will be in an upside down loan, which means that you will owe more than the car is worth. This happens because new cars depreciate very rapidly.
Georgia Student Car Insurance Discounts
Reader question:
What kind of deal can a busy college student get on her Georgia car insurance premium?
Maggie
Great question, Maggie.
I guess it all depends on why you’re busy! Georgia car insurance companies are both very punitive towards students because of their age, and at the same time pretty kind to them. Although your initial car insurance rates might be twice as much as those of someone twenty years older than you, companies offer you a variety of breaks that allow you to purchase your car insurance premium at a more reasonable price.
A favorite break of mine is the good student discount, which is offered by most companies and allows students to get a certain amount off of their insurance premium if they make certain grades. The requirements differ depending on the state and the car insurance company, so to be certain of how you will benefit, call your agent first.
Here’s a list of companies and how they treat the good student discount.
- GEICO offers a car insurance discount to students between the ages of sixteen and twenty five. In some states, you have to be unmarried and under the age of twenty one to benefit, but they don’t offer state specific details. In order to get the discount, you have to get a B average or above. The amount of the discount can be as much as fifteen percent off of your car insurance premium. GEICO has a lot of discounts, as a matter of fact, and if you think you might be eligible for more than just the good student discount, you should consider checking out their website and/or calling an agent to see where you stand and how that would affect your rates.
- Farmer’s Insurance is a little more strict in its requirements. In order to qualify, you must be unmarried; under the age of twenty five; you must be a full time student in either high school or college; you should be in the top twenty percent of your class; you need to have a B average or higher; and, if your school has a Dean’s List or Honor Roll, you need to be on it. Tougher, but if you’re as a busy a student as you say, you’ll probably be able to make it.
- Esurance also has a deal for good students who are enrolled full time in either high school or college. For these dedicated young people, qualification for the car insurance discount requires you to be under twenty five and have a grade point average of at least 3.0. Some states have additional requirements.
I hope this information was helpful to you, Maggie. Of course, these aren’t the only three companies that offer the good student discount, but looking at their requirements does give you a good idea of what to expect even if you’re going to go with a different car insurance company.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Where Do You Find Georgia Car Insurance Company Ratings?
Reader question:
How do I know that my Georgia car insurance company will be able to settle my claim?
Megan
Thanks for asking, Megan!
That is actually a very good question, and I think the best way to address it would be to go back to square one. When you are figuring out whether or not an car insurance company will be able to settle your claim if filed, you should not be to the point where you are calling it your own company yet. This is a step that you should take while you are still in the process of shopping around for an insurance policy.
- Georgia car insurance companies have ratings, too!
That’s right, they can’t just rate you–other companies rate them as well. There are several companies which rate car insurance providers on standards ranging from customer service to financial stability. An insurance company might quote you some fantastic low ball quote, but that’s a perfect incentive to check its financial rating and make sure there isn’t some tricky reason behind that low quote. Unless you’re getting involved with a national car insurance company that obviously has enough money to cover you, then you should check.
There are two main companies that provide you with the information you need on insurance companies:
- Standard & Poor’s: this is the most popular financial rating company and the most helpful. Not only does it rate Georgia car insurance companies, but it also provides profiles for more than four thousand of them.
- Fitch Ratings: also a good source, this company provides only ratings.
One thing that these companies use to rate the insurance companies is the length of time that they have been in business. If the company just started up last week, then there won’t be any information, and that right there is a good reason to avoid it.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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