No surcharge if you weren't at fault

Georgia car accident insurance laws

Written by Todd Whittington, Editor·Last reviewed October 19, 2026 Verified 2026-10-19

How long does an accident stay on your record in Georgia? Georgia sets no limit on your rate; insurers typically surcharge for 3 years. Your driving record lists a crash only if you were convicted of a moving violation in it. Claims reports keep it up to 7 years.
Does Georgia have accident forgiveness? Georgia law doesn't require it. Progressive, GEICO, Farmers and Liberty Mutual say they offer it in Georgia. It often costs extra or has to be earned, and the big insurers' versions cover one accident.
How much does insurance go up after an at-fault accident in Georgia? About 49% a year on average for full coverage, nationally. Among the big insurers it runs from about 29% (State Farm) to 74% (GEICO). These are national figures; no insurer publishes its Georgia number. Georgia bars a surcharge for a multi-car accident you didn't cause.

What an at-fault accident costs with each insurer

Here is what each large insurer's rate typically does after one at-fault accident, and whether it offers accident forgiveness in Georgia.

Insurer	Typical rise after one at-fault accident industry_typical	How long industry_typical	Accident forgiveness in Georgia carrier_guidance
State Farm	29%	3 years	No product foundNo State Farm accident forgiveness product page was found (statefarm.com/insurance/auto/accident-forgiveness returns 404). State Farm advises checking whether your policy includes any forgiveness feature.
Progressive	50%	3 years	YesFree Small Accident Forgiveness (first claim of about $500 or less) and free Large Accident Forgiveness (5+ years as a customer, accident- and violation-free) through Loyalty Rewards; a paid add-on forgives one accident per policy period. Paid add-on not available in all states.
GEICO	74%	3 years	YesGEICO Claim Forgiveness waives the surcharge for the first qualifying at-fault loss, per policy (not per driver). Earned free after 5 years accident-free (may not apply under 21), or purchased.
Allstate	56%	3 years	Some states; askAllstate says forgiveness is not available in every state and does not name them; confirm it for Georgia.
USAA	42%	3 years	Some states; askUSAA says forgiveness is not available in every state and does not name them; confirm it for Georgia.
Nationwide	59%	3 years	Some states; askNationwide says forgiveness is not available in every state and does not name them; confirm it for Georgia.
Farmers	50%	3 years	YesOptional paid Accident Forgiveness on Farmers Flex Personal and Smart Plan Automobile policies forgives one at-fault accident every 3 years; Flex customers are offered it free after 36 continuous months.
Liberty Mutual	49%National average; Liberty Mutual isn't in the source table.	3 years	YesOptional Accident Forgiveness: your price won't go up because of your first accident. Requires 5 years accident- and violation-free (5 consecutive clean years for drivers 25 and under); new customers only per the footnote. Cost not stated.
Other / not sure	49%	3 years	Ask your insurerAsk whether your policy has accident forgiveness and whether you qualify.

industry_typical: the rise is computed from NerdWallet's national table of full-coverage rates (one at-fault accident with $10,000 of property damage), not from a Georgia rate filing; we have not read any insurer's Georgia filing yet. The length is the 3-year floor NerdWallet states. carrier_guidance: each insurer's own website, read October 19, 2026; the insurer name links to the page we read. NerdWallet source.

How long an accident affects your rate in Georgia

No statutory limit in Georgia; carriers typically use 3 years. No Georgia statute or insurance rule we found caps how long an at-fault accident can raise your rate. Industry sources say a rate increase lasts at least three years, and some insurers look back five. industry_typical

“An at-fault accident can increase your auto insurance rates for at least three years, depending on your state and insurer.” — NerdWallet

Georgia has no law or rule that limits how many years an insurer can charge you more for an at-fault accident. The 36-month rules in Georgia law only limit when an insurer can refuse to renew your policy.

Your rate is only one of three records. The others:

Your Georgia driving record. Georgia doesn't publish how long a crash stays on your driving record. Not verified
Your claims history (CLUE report). Insurers share claims through reports like LexisNexis C.L.U.E., which keeps up to seven years of auto claims. A new insurer will see a claim there even after your current one stops charging for it.

More on all three: how long an accident stays on your record.

Does Georgia limit accident rate increases?

Georgia law bars one kind of accident surcharge:

No surcharge for a not-at-fault multivehicle accident.
“No insurer shall surcharge the premium or rate charged on a policy of motor vehicle insurance” — O.C.G.A. § 33-9-40

Georgia's $750 / 36-month figures in O.C.G.A. § 33-24-45 limit non-renewal only, not surcharges.

Does Georgia regulate accident forgiveness?

Georgia has no accident-forgiveness law. Insurers must file their auto rating plans (including surcharge rules) with the Insurance Commissioner. If an insurer charges you more based on information that differs from what you told them, it must give you the reasons.

“must file with the Commissioner any rate, rating plan, rating system, or underwriting rule for all personal private passenger motor vehicle insurance” — O.C.G.A. § 33-9-21(b)

“The charging of a higher rate on the basis of information which differs from that which the applicant or policyholder furnished” — O.C.G.A. § 33-39-3(1)(A)(iv)(II)

“provide the applicant, policyholder, or individual proposed for coverage with the specific reason or reasons for the adverse underwriting decision in writing” — O.C.G.A. § 33-39-11(a)

How forgiveness works, and its catches: our accident forgiveness guide.

When you must report a crash in Georgia

To the police

If a crash hurts or kills anyone, or causes $500 or more in apparent property damage, the driver must tell the police right away. Inside a city, call city police. Outside a city, call the sheriff or the State Patrol.

“involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person or property damage to an apparent extent of $500.00 or more shall immediately” — O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273

To the state

Georgia drivers do not have to file their own crash report with the state. That rule was repealed in 1990. Police reports go to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

“Former Code Section 40-9-30, pertaining to the requirement that accidents be reported, which was repealed by Ga. L. 1990, p. 591, § 1, effective July 1, 1990” — O.C.G.A. § 40-9-30 (editor's note on former § 40-9-30)

“Each state and local law enforcement agency shall submit to the Department of Transportation the original document of any accident report prepared by such law enforcement agency” — O.C.G.A. § 40-9-31

“This Code section shall not abrogate or affect a driver’s duty to file any written report which may be required by the local law enforcement agency.” — O.C.G.A. § 40-6-274

Reporting an accident is not the same as filing a claim

Reporting to the police or the state is the law. Telling your insurer about a crash is a condition of your policy: auto policies generally require prompt notice of an accident, even if you never ask them to pay. Filing a claim means asking your insurer to pay for damage. You can report a crash and still pay for your own repair. Not telling your insurer at all can backfire: if the other driver files against you later, your insurer can point to the notice clause.

“If you are involved in an auto accident, you should promptly report it to your insurance company, as well as to the local police department.” — New York Department of Financial Services, Filing Claims Under Your Own Policy

We found no Georgia rule on whether an insurer can raise your rate for a crash you reported but didn't claim. We could not verify this against a primary source. Not verified

If the other driver was at fault

If the other driver caused the crash, you may also be owed your car's lost resale value after the repair. Georgia diminished value rules cover who pays, the deadline and what happens if you were partly at fault.

What this means when you're deciding

Call the police if anyone is hurt or the damage looks like $500 or more. You don't file your own crash report with the state; that rule ended in 1990.
Not at fault in a multi-car crash? Your insurer can't surcharge you. If a surcharge shows up, ask for it in writing and cite O.C.G.A. § 33-9-40.
You caused it? Georgia doesn't limit how long a surcharge lasts. Ask your insurer how many years it uses before you decide whether to file.
The other driver at fault? Georgia lets you claim your car's lost resale value from their insurer, and in some cases from your own.

Your fault, or not sure? File a claim or pay the shop?

The collision calculator weighs what a claim pays after your deductible against what the accident adds to your premium, with your state's rules.

Run the collision calculator →

Not your fault? Check what your car lost in value.

The diminished value calculator runs the insurer's formula on your car and says whether a claim is worth your time.

Run the diminished value calculator →

Other states

Sources

Police report: O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273. Source. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-274. Source.
Report to the state: O.C.G.A. § 40-9-30 (editor's note on former § 40-9-30). Source. O.C.G.A. § 40-9-31. Source. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-274. Source.
Driving record: we could not verify this against a primary source. Content rule is verified (accidents appear only when tied to a moving-violation conviction). Retention period is unverified: no statute or DDS page found stating how long accident entries remain. DDS sells 3-year, 7-year and lifetime MVRs (https://dds.georgia.gov/dds-forms-and-manuals/how-do-i-mvr-driving-history), but that is a report window, not a retention rule. Insurer agent rating lookups under § 40-5-2(c)(1)(B)(ii) are limited to violations in the preceding three or five years.
How long an accident can affect rates: no Georgia statute or rule found (we checked O.C.G.A. § 33-9-21(b) (rating plans filed with Commissioner); O.C.G.A. § 33-24-45 (nonrenewal only)); the 3-year figure is industry_typical, from NerdWallet.
Reported but not claimed: no Georgia rule found. This quoted clause is a prohibited reason for NONRENEWAL, not a surcharge limit. No Georgia statute or OCI rule found barring a surcharge for a reported accident with no paid claim, an inquiry, or a fully subrogated claim. The only surcharge bans found: § 33-9-40 (not-at-fault multivehicle accident) and § 33-9-39 (on-duty police, firefighter, EMT accidents).
Forgiveness and surcharge rules: O.C.G.A. § 33-9-21(b). Source. O.C.G.A. § 33-39-3(1)(A)(iv)(II). Source. O.C.G.A. § 33-39-11(a). Source.
Rate-increase limits: O.C.G.A. § 33-9-40 (source); from our at-fault surcharge dataset.
Insurer figures: industry_typical, NerdWallet; forgiveness, carrier_guidance from each insurer's own site (linked in the table).

We read every cited source on October 19, 2026. We cite statutes, regulations and official state pages, not law-firm or comparison-site summaries. Anything we could not check against a primary source is marked "Not verified". Data: accident-state-rules.json.