IMPORTANT INSURANCE NOTICE
Department of Motor Vehcicle Safety 4/29/2004

MOTOR VEHICLE LIABILITY INSURANCE COVERAGE INFORMATION
Motor vehicle owners in this state are required to obtain and keep Georgia liability insurance coverage on their vehicles.

Insurance Information Cards
Your insurer must issue you, their insured, an insurance information card for each vehicle they insure.

Why Are Insurance Information Cards Needed?
· When traveling in another state       
· If you are involved in an accident
· An acceptable proof of liability insurance coverage for a self-insured vehicle
· A valid fleet insurance information card
· When someone other than the vehicle owner is operating vehicle

Insurers Must Electronically Transmit Insurance Information to the GEICS Insurance Database

Note: Self-insured/fleet vehicles must have Georgia liability insurance, but are exempt from the GEICS reporting requirements.

Acceptable Proof of Georgia Liability Insurance
· A valid insurance indicator on your vehicle's tag record on the Department's database
· A valid fleet insurance information card issued by a Georgia licensed insurer
· A binder - temporary proof for 30 days only
· A dealer's bill of sale and a valid insurance declaration page - temporary proof for   30 days only
· A self-insured insurance information card and a certificate of self-insurance

Voluntary Cancellation of Tag by Registered Owner
You may voluntarily cancel your vehicle's tag with your County Tax Commissioner's office without surrendering your license plate (tag) when the vehicle is not going to be operated.

Military personnel unable to cancel their registration before deployment may submit a competed Service Member's Affidavit for Mandatory Insurance Relief (Form MV-18G) if their vehicle has not been operated during their deployment.

Only your insurance company can add, delete or edit information on insurance database.

Incorrect VIN
If your insurance information card does not reflect your vehicle’s correct VIN, contact your insurer immediately.

For additional information, visit our web site:
www.dmvs.ga.gov

PENALTIES AND FINES
Lapse Of Insurance Coverage, Tag Suspension And Reinstatement

Notice of Insurance Termination
When a notice of insurance termination is electronically transmitted to the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety's (DMVS) insurance database, GEICS, Georgia Electronic Insurance Compliance System, the transmitted vehicle identification number (VIN) will be cross-referenced with the Department tag and title database, GRATIS, Georgia Registration And Title Information System. If the transmitted VIN matches a VIN on GRATIS, the following action will be taken: GRATIS will allow thirty-days (30) for new liability insurance information to be electronically transmitted by an insurer to the GEICS insurance database. If new insurance information is updated within thirty-days (30) and there is no lapse in coverage (i.e., new insurance's effective date and termination date are the same), GRATIS will retain a valid insurance coverage indicator on the vehicle's tag record.

Lapse in Coverage
If new insurance is received within thirty-days (30) and there is a lapse in coverage (i.e., new insurance policy's effective date is after the insurance policy's termination date), GRATIS will retain a valid insurance indicator on the vehicle's tag record, a $25.00 lapse fee will be calculated and a "lapse in coverage notice" will be mailed to the vehicle owner(s). If the lapse fee is not paid within thirty-days (30) of the letter's date, the vehicle owner's tag will be suspended until paid. The Tax Commissioner may waive the lapse fee if the vehicle owner voluntarily cancelled their tag before their vehicle's insurance coverage was terminated.

Note: A single day without insurance on a vehicle will cause a lapse.

Termination Process - Lapse of Coverage
The vehicle owner must do the following to reinstate their tag: Obtain Georgia liability insurance coverage on their vehicle,
pay a $25.00 lapse fee plus any other registration fees and vehicle ad valorem taxes due when it is during the owner's registration period.

Note: If the lapse fee is not paid within thirty-days (30), the owner's tag will be suspended until paid. If new insurance information is received within thirty-days (30) and there is no lapse in coverage (i.e., the insurance policy's effective date is the same as the policy's termination date), GRATIS will retain a valid insurance indicator on the vehicle's tag record. If no new insurance is received within thirty-days (30), GRATIS will generate a thirty-day (30) "notice of pending suspension" to be mailed to the vehicle owner(s). If no new insurance information is received prior to the end of the thirty-day (30) period, GRATIS will change the insurance status to "no insurance" and the tag status to "suspended".

Important: A license plate (tag) will not be issued, transferred, replaced or renewed until insurance coverage is reinstated. The vehicle should not be operated without Georgia liability insurance coverage or with a suspended or cancelled tag! If the vehicle is operated without liability insurance coverage or with a suspended or cancelled tag, the owner is subject to additional fines and the vehicle is subject to impoundment if stopped by law enforcement.

Reinstatement Process
If there is a tag suspension and it is the first (1) occurrence, the vehicle owner must do the following to have their tag reinstated:
Obtain Georgia liability insurance coverage, pay a lapse fee of $25.00, pay a $60.00 restoration fee and pay any other registration fees and vehicle ad valorem taxes that may be due, if it is during their registration period. Contacts their County Tax Commissioner's office for the total registration fees and vehicle ad valorem taxes due.

Suspended Tag - Second Occurrence Within Five Years of First Occurrence
The law requires a mandatory suspension of the tag for ninety-days (90) when it is the second occurrence within five years. The vehicle owner must do the following to have their tag reinstated: Obtain Georgia liability insurance coverage on their vehicle, pay a $25.00 lapse fee, a $60.00 reinstatement fee plus any other registration fees and vehicle ad valorem taxes that may be due if it is during the owner's registration period. Contacts their County Tax Commissioner's office for the total fees and taxes due. Remember, County Tax Commissioners in this state may collect lapse and restoration fees.

Suspended Tag - Third Occurrence Within Five Years of First Occurrence
The law requires a mandatory suspension of the tag for six months (6) when it is the third or subsequent occurrence within five years. The vehicle owner must do the following to have their tag reinstated: Obtain Georgia liability insurance coverage on their vehicle,
pay a $25.00 lapse fee, a $160.00 reinstatement fee plus any other registration fees and vehicle ad valorem taxes that may be due if it is during the owner's registration period. Contacts their County Tax Commissioner's office for the total fees and taxes due.

Additional penalties will apply if the vehicle owner has been convicted of driving a vehicle with a suspended or cancelled tag.

Check Your Vehicle's Insurance Status On-Line

The Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety developed a web page that allows registered vehicle owners to view their insurance status on-line. The web page uses two numbers found on the vehicle registration document to verify insurance status - the vehicle identification number and the title number.

Agents can now advise their insureds to use the service to find out in advance if there will be a problem obtaining a tag or proving their vehicle is porperly insured to law enforcement.  

To check a vehicle's insurance status using the DMVS on-line tool, go to https://online.dmvs.ga.gov/vincheck/VinCheck.aspx .

New ACORD Form

ACORD has revised its insurance identification card to comply with the new Georgia regulation regarding the card’s name, format, and content. The document is now known as the "Georgia Insurance Policy Information Card." Agents issuing cards must opt either to insert the VIN on the card or the word "Fleet."

FINALLY, SIMPLE ADVICE TO AVOID TROUBLE FOR YOU AND YOUR INSURED

IIAG’s members have faced numerous headaches regarding the GEICS law, the various changes and delays, and misunderstandings with companies and tag offices. We hope this is all behind us. There are many details to master and much confusion on various fine points. However, here is some simple advice which can help you avoid most difficulties. Make sure every vehicle you insure has one of two things: either a "Yes" in the state’s computer system or a policy information card that has "FLEET" printed on it.

The Georgia Electronic Insurance Compliance System (GEICS) was fine-tuned (again) in the 2003 session and (again) its full implementation was delayed. As we near the end of the year, however, we can look forward with great excitement to the date on which the paper ID cards will cease to serve as proof of insurance for the purposes of law enforcement and tag and title. On January 1, 2004, the electronic data will again be the definite word on whether a vehicle is insured.

The 2003 amendments provided that through December 31, 2003, the old fashioned ID card would serve as proof of insurance for law enforcement and for annual vehicle registration. There were still some bugs in the system which necessitated the delay in implementation of the GEICS law. Among these bugs were the very confusing provisions regarding vehicles insured under commercial policies, some of which were in the GEICS system and some not.

For personal policies, the insurers have never stopped reporting insurance to the state through GEICS. Vehicles insured by personal policies remain in the system, though the paper ID cards are temporarily valid proof of insurance. There are about 6.1 million vehicles in GEICS out of a total of about 6.8 million, according to the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety (DMVS).

For commercial policies, the insurers are beginning to report insurance electronically to the state. Through December 31, paper ID cards are proof of coverage under commercial policies as well as for personal policies.

Though the ID cards will still be issued and must be carried in the vehicle for various purposes (accidents, driving out of state, etc.), at the beginning of 2004, they will not serve as proof of insurance in Georgia. With the exceptions listed below, the GEICS computer will be the proof of coverage, not the paper ID card.

Vehicles insured under commercial fleet policies will not be in the system. Old fashioned ID cards will continue to serve as proof of insurance. Under the law, a "fleet policy" is defined as "a commercial vehicle policy that insures two or more vehicles that are not identified individually by vehicle identification number on the policy or a commercial policy that is subject to adjustment by audit for vehicle changes at the end of the policy period." It is important to note that, for the purposes of the GEICS law, it is the statutory definition of "fleet" that counts.

If the vehicle is insured under a certificate of self-insurance issued by the Commissioner of Insurance providing the required minimum insurance coverage under which the vehicle owner did not report the vehicle identification number to the Commissioner of Insurance, the insurance information card issued by the Commissioner of Insurance shall be considered satisfactory proof of required minimum insurance coverage for the vehicle, but only if accompanied by a copy of the certificate issued by the Commissioner of Insurance.

Last year all you know what broke loose when DMVS started notifying your customers that their vehicles were not in the computer system. There were many reason that vehicles with valid insurance could be not be in the system, so confusion reigned from Rabun Gap to Tybee Light. Similar letters will go out in February or early March, but we expect a smoother process this time. Only vehicles showing up in the system with "no valid insurance" will be the subject of these letters. "Unknown" status, by itself, will not generate a letter.

We have been advised that the specifications of the Fleet ID card set out in the DMVS regulations do not match exactly with the ACORD form. A DMVS official says this should not be a problem either in for a customer getting a tag or for one who happens to meet a law enforcement officer on the state highways. The match is close enough, as long as "FLEET" appears prominently on the card. This advice, however, is not official, and no one can guarantee that encounters with police officers and tag offices will be problem free. Industry people are in touch with ACORD to get the form revised to match the DMVS regulations verbatim.

For more information on Fleet ID Cards, please see the DMVS document at this address:  http://www.dmvs.ga.gov/rules/375-8-1-03.pdf

The GEICS law provides that the computer’s OK is proof of insurance for getting your tag and when you meet a state patrolman or local policeman. But how about the drivers license road tests?

When a new driver or anyone who must take a road test to obtain a Georgia drivers license is ready to take the test, DMVS will demand proof of insurance on the vehicle used to take the test.

Before leaving for the DMVS office to take the road test, make sure the registered owner of the vehicle has put the auto insurance ID card in the glove box. The DMVS examiner will ask to see it since state law requires that the vehicle used for the driving test is insured. DMVS examiners do not have access to the database for insured vehicles. That database is only available to law enforcement and the county tag and title offices.

(This item on road tests is reprinted with permission from the website of the Georgia Insurance Information Service.)

As always, IIAG stands ready to assist members with any problems relating to GEICS. Call or email Gould Hagler, 770-458-0093 X 101 or 800-878-6487 X 101, ghagler@iiag.org.

Note: IIAG wishes to thank Keith Thomas of DMVS and Dave Colmans of the Georgia Insurance Information Service for their assistance in the preparation of this GEICS update.