Is Georgia a No-Fault State?

Although residents of the Peach State aren’t required to have PIP on their policies, or any FPMB for that matter, many residents opt to add this optional coverage type to their Georgia auto insurance policies because of the benefits it provides. Let’s check out what no-fault insurance is, why the state doesn’t require it, and how residents of the Peach State can add it to their policies.

No, Georgia isn’t a no-fault state. Car insurance in Georgia is treated on a tort or at-fault basis, meaning drivers in the state must carry liability coverage to protect other drivers from any accidents the policyholder may cause. Liability coverage extends to other drivers, providing financial assistance from the at-fault policyholder’s insurance to cover any medical expenses or vehicle repairs the victim of an accident may incur.

In no-fault states, drivers carry an FPMB to cover their medical expenses and sometimes vehicle repairs if such coverage is offered. Typically, states with no-fault laws will require drivers to carry PIP for their medical expenses, and some states, like Michigan, will require drivers to carry property protection insurance (PPI) to cover their own vehicle repairs. 

Contrary to no-fault states, at least one driver in Georgia must be deemed at fault in an accident. If the victim of an accident caused by a policyholder is injured or their vehicle requires repairs, that person will use the funds from the policyholder’s liability coverage to help cover their bills.

All drivers in the Peach State are required by law to carry at least $25,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $50,000 of bodily injury liability per accident, and $25,000 of property damage liability per accident on their auto insurance policies, otherwise noted as 25/50/25 liability coverage. This means that once the policyholder pays their deductible, the victim of an accident caused by the policyholder can use these liability funds up to each limit. 

Policyholders who lease or finance their vehicles may be legally required by their lender or leaser to have collision and comprehensive coverages. The policyholder can use these coverages to cover any vehicle repairs required from an accident, even if the policyholder was at fault for the accident.

State law doesn’t mandate no-fault insurance in Georgia for a couple of key reasons. Typically, two main factors go into a state mandating no-fault insurance: high population and many uninsured drivers. Georgia ranks in the median in population and population density and is on par with the national amount of uninsured drivers at about 12%. 

When states have high populations or population density, there’s an increased number of drivers on the road, leading to a higher statistical likelihood of car accidents. In an accident, drivers file claims with insurance companies or sue each other, causing the court and insurance systems to become overwhelmed with cases and claims.

To relieve this burden states with high populations or densely populated cities may enact a no-fault law, requiring drivers to carry coverage they can use for their own expenses and making it more difficult for drivers to sue each other. 

While Georgia is an at-fault state, keeping the court and insurance systems hard at work, these systems don’t receive the same kind of pressure as states with higher-than-average populations. If these systems were to become overworked, barring them from working efficiently, the state might pass a no-fault law, but it doesn’t need one for now.

Even though Georgia isn’t a no-fault state, some residents feel safer with some no-fault insurance on their policies. While few options for no-fault insurance exist in the state, there are a couple of coverages policyholders can add to their full coverage policies that they can use in many accident scenarios.

The two main no-fault coverages offered in Georgia are collision coverage and medical payments coverage (MedPay). Collision coverage helps the policyholder cover the cost of repairs to their vehicle, regardless of who was at fault when it was damaged.

MedPay is the only FPMB available in the Peach State. This coverage helps the policyholder cover the medical expenses they accrue from an accident, regardless of who was at fault. The standard MedPay limit insurers offer new policyholders is typically about $2,000, but some insurers offer a limit of up to $50,000 in coverage.

MedPay may cover various medical expenses, depending on your insurer, like ambulances, hospital or doctor’s office visits, prescription medication, diagnostic tests, physical therapy, and even funeral costs, as long as you can prove these are necessary due to an accident. The policyholder must reach their deductible before their insurer will cover these costs.

Not only are these expenses covered for the policyholder, but they may extend to the policyholder’s passengers or someone driving the policyholder’s vehicle with their permission. Always check with your insurer to see the caveats of their coverages, as some insurers may offer a more comprehensive version of MedPay than others. 

No, Georgia isn’t a no-fault accident state. At least one driver must be deemed at fault in an accident in Georgia, and the at-fault driver will have to use their liability coverage to help the victim pay for their medical expenses or vehicle repairs. 

While drivers must carry liability coverage to protect other drivers on the road, as driving without insurance is illegal in the Peach State, policyholders may opt to have an FPMB such as MedPay on their policies for extra protection.

A policyholder may use their FPMB if they’re injured in an accident they caused, as they’ll be ineligible to receive any benefits from the other party’s insurance coverage. Here at Clovered, we always recommend carrying a full coverage policy with as many additional coverages as you can afford so you’re fully protected in any scenario.

For example, say you only have a liability coverage policy, and you’re injured in an accident caused by an uninsured driver. Since you don’t have uninsured motorist coverage (UM) or any other first-party coverages you can use to cover your expenses, your only other option besides paying out of pocket is suing the uninsured driver. 

The legal process is lengthy and often expensive, so paying higher premiums for a full coverage policy is much more cost-effective than risking financial ruin in a worst-case scenario. 

The two main reasons states adopt no-fault laws are high populations and many uninsured drivers. Georgia isn’t a no-fault state because its population and uninsured drivers are on par with the national average. 

When a state has a high number of uninsured drivers, there’s a higher likelihood of these drivers getting into an accident and being unable to bear the financial consequence. If an uninsured driver hits an insured driver, and the policyholder doesn’t have UM coverage, the policyholder has every right to sue the uninsured driver. With a high number of uninsured drivers comes a higher number of legal cases, thus clogging up the court system and putting pressure on the state to do something to mitigate this overwhelm.  

Since Georgia has an average amount of uninsured drivers, and an average population, the state hasn’t experienced the significant stress on the legal or insurance systems that requires action to be taken for relief. 

Yes, Georgia is an at-fault state, meaning drivers must carry liability coverage on their insurance policies, and at least one driver must be deemed at fault in every accident. Since the state’s population and number of uninsured drivers are on par with the national average, the state doesn’t require a no-fault law to relieve the pressure from the legal and insurance systems. 

Being an at-fault state comes with perks, as many at-fault states have lower average premiums than those with no-fault laws. Georgia’s average full coverage premium is about $1,780 annually, only about 5% higher than the national average of about $1,670 annually. Since the average premium is lower, residents have an easier time finding cheap policies in the state. 

The quickest way to find the best policy in the state that meets your needs and perhaps includes a significant limit of an FPMB is to get and compare quotes online.

Right here at Clovered, we have a free quoting tool you can use to get quotes for full coverage policies from the state’s top insurers so you can find the best deal in real-time. If you prefer to speak to an agent about your quote, you can call us at 833-255-4117 or email us at [email protected].