A new Georgia law means insurers are now mostly protected from lawsuits being filed directly against them after crashes involving trucks. Supporters see the measure as a response to financially crippling nuclear verdicts.
Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed the bill, which passed 172-0 in the state House of Representatives and 46-2 in the Senate. Insurers can now be sued directly only if a plaintiff can’t find the driver or the carrier that was involved in the accident, or if the carrier has gone bankrupt.
Backers say protecting insurers against such lawsuits would boost the struggling insurance market for carriers and reduce premiums.
An overwhelming majority of states already forbid most direct-action lawsuits against insurers of carriers and truck drivers, according to Insurance Journal, and insurers in states that do allow such actions have responded to huge jury verdicts and settlements by increasing rates or halting coverage altogether.
Bryce Rawson, assistant to Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King, said in January that the existing law “has destroyed our market. No one wants to insure trucking here,” Insurance Journal reported.
A similar bill in 2023 failed.