DUI Convictions Will Cost You - Minimum Limits for Auto Insurance Raised by Georgia Assembly

This year, Georgia amended O.C.G.A. 33-7-16 to increase the minimum auto insurance policy limits for those convicted of DUI. This amendment, enacted into law on April 9, 2025, requires drivers convicted of their first DUI will be required to maintain higher policy limits of $50,000/ $100,000 for BI and $50,000 for property. If a driver is convicted of 2 or more DUI's, they will be required to maintain minimum limits of $100,000/$300,000 for BI and $100,000 for property. Any individual who is required to obtain the motor vehicle liability coverage provided for in subsection (a) or (b) of this Code shall maintain no less than such coverage uninterrupted for a period of three (3) years from the date of conviction and keep proof of same during the operation of any motor vehicle.

It will be incumbent upon insurance carriers who do not offer limits over the minimum limits of $25,000/$50,000 to notify their insureds that if they are convicted of a DUI that the carrier cannot insure them and they will need to find another carrier who can offer them the legally required coverage. While this is accomplished simply enough during the application and renewal process by pulling MVR's or speaking to the insured, it will be interesting to see how this landscape develops if an insured is convicted of DUI during the policy period, after inception, but before renewal and then causes an auto accident. There will be several legal issues that we can anticipate as this law begins to impact insurance companies that only provide minimal limits and their insureds who are, from this point forward, legally required to maintain higher policy limits. One question will be whether the failure of an insurance company to have knowledge of an insured's DUI conviction during the policy period may be actionable when there is an accident with injuries and the carrier was unaware of the insured's conviction. Inherent in this question is what steps an insurer will need to take to demonstrate that their conduct was not negligent in maintaining a policy of minimum limits for an insured driver who was convicted of a DUI during the policy terms but failed to notify their insurer.

Stay tuned as this new law develops in Georgia courts.