Section 33-2-8.1. Purpose of Code section; preparation by Commissioner of supplemental report on property and casualty insurance; contents of report; request for information

   (a) The General Assembly and the public have been confronted with a need for relevant and verifiable information on the property and casualty insurance industry. The purpose of this Code section is to provide the General Assembly and the public with accessible information on the property and casualty insurance industry, on the solvency of such insurers, on market availability and profitability, and on troubled liability insurance lines.

(b) On July 1 of each year, the Commissioner, as a supplemental report to the annual report provided in Code Section 33-2-8, shall compile a report containing the information specified in this Code section. The Commissioner shall not be required to distribute copies of the supplemental report to the members of the General Assembly but shall notify the members of the availability of the supplemental report in the manner which he or she deems to be most effective and efficient.

(c) The Commissioner shall investigate every licensed property and casualty insurer that is designated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as needing immediate or targeted regulatory attention and shall include in his report the number of such insurers which his investigation confirms are in need of immediate or targeted regulatory attention and the names of such insurers which are in formal rehabilitation, liquidation, or conservatorship. The Commissioner shall obtain from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners the necessary information to implement this subsection and, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50, shall withhold from public inspection any such information received from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners under an expectation of confidentiality.

(d) The Commissioner shall include in his report an evaluation of the insurance coverages considered by him to be unavailable or unaffordable with regard to the following lines, classes, and subclasses of insurance:

   (1) Owners, landlords, and tenants;

   (2) Manufacturers and contractors;

   (3) Products and completed operations;

   (4) Governmental subdivisions;

   (5) Public schools;

   (6) Child care learning centers;

   (7) Liquor retailers;

   (8) Recreational;

   (9) Professional liability;

   (10) Medical malpractice;

   (11) Commercial and private passenger automobile and all other general liability; and

   (12) Workers' compensation.

(e) In considering insurance coverages that are unavailable or unaffordable the Commissioner shall include, if practicable, in his report, for a five-year period on either a prospective or retrospective basis, on a state basis, and on an aggregate country-wide basis, the following information for each licensed property and casualty insurer and each residual market mechanism:

   (1) The number of policies written as of December 31 of each year;

   (2) The number of policies canceled or nonrenewed and whether the policies were canceled by the insurer or the insured;

   (3) Major trends in policy forms;

   (4) Limits and deductibles offered;

   (5) Trends in increases or decreases in premiums; and

   (6) Earned premiums, total limits incurred losses, loss ratios, and the number of incurred claims for policies written and premiums written.

(f) The Commissioner shall include in his report consumer information on market assistance programs and joint underwriting associations. The Commissioner shall also include in his report a summary of actions taken by the department on personal lines property and casualty insurance rate filings that result in the filing of lower rates by insurance companies and estimates of the amount of money saved by consumers as a result of such actions.

(g) The Commissioner shall have the authority to require property and casualty insurers to submit any information necessary to enable him to compile the supplemental report required by this Code section.

Code 1981, § 33-2-8.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1989, p. 885, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 33; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1496, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1036, § 25/SB 49; Ga. L. 2012, p. 218, § 8/HB 397; Ga. L. 2013, p. 135, § 12/HB 354.