Latest Georgia Headlines

All the headlines from our Georgia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Georgia Home Depot Customer Injured By Forklift Awarded $1.5 Million

Jul 2 2009 // A Georgia jury has awarded a Home Depot customer and his wife $1.5 million in a lawsuit stemming from a forklift accident at a store. The complaint by 58-year-old Larry Reece says a pallet of plywood fell on him from a...

Georgia Warns Insurance Agents of Possible Identity Theft Scam

Jul 1 2009 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine said insurance agents in several states have been called by scammers posing as insurance regulators in order to collect personal data that would make I.D. theft...

State Senator Hudgens Joins Race to Be Georgia Insurance Commissioner

Jun 30 2009 // Republican State Senator and businessman Ralph Hudgens, who is Senate chairman of the Insurance and Labor Committee, is running to be Georgia’s next insurance commissioner. Hudgens, of Hull, was first elected to the...

Georgia Court Rules Insurer Not Liable for Voluntary Settlement

Jun 2 2009 // An insured who voluntarily agrees to pay a settlement that is not dictated by a jury verdict cannot sue its insurance company for bad faith failure to defend, even if the settlement is within the policy limits, the Georgia...

Wallace Joins Ga.-Based Risk Innovations

May 21 2009 // Brenda Wallace joined Atlanta, Ga.-based Risk Innovations’ workers’ compensation division. Wallace has more than 25 years insurance experience including more than 20 years working with a national insurance...

Georgia Firefighters Lack Tools for Wildfires, Hazardous Materials

May 20 2009 // Georgia firefighters say they are feeling the negative effects of the current economic crisis and lack some key equipment, according to a national survey of firefighters. The survey identified the top three challenges...

Ratings Recap: Georgia Farm, Okla. Farm, State Auto, Premier, Medmarc

May 20 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to ‘B++’ (Good) from ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings to “bbb+” from “a-” of Georgia Farm Bureau Group...

Mennonites Seek Auto Insurance Law Exemption

May 18 2009 // The small community of Mennonites that multiplied along a web of dirt roads in rural southeast Georgia has steadily grown the same way it does just about everything: Quietly. The community’s 100 or so members have...

Georgia’s Oxendine Returns Funds From Insurance Executive

May 12 2009 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine, who blasted a news report alleging he accepted what appear to be illegal campaign contributions from an insurance executive, said he has...

Religious Group Seeks Exemption From Georgia Auto Insurance Law

May 11 2009 // The small community of Mennonites that multiplied along a web of dirt roads in rural southeast Georgia has steadily grown the same way it does just about everything: Quietly. The community’s 100 or so members have...

Peachtree City Mayor Logsdon Joins Georgia Insurance Commissioner Race

May 5 2009 // Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon wants to be Georgia insurance commissioner. According to his Web site, Logsdon made his announcement over the weekend at the Fayette County Republican breakfast in Fayetteville. “I...

Gainsco Insurance Drives Into Georgia

Apr 29 2009 // Dallas-based Gainsco announced that beginning in May it will be offering high-quality, minimum-limits auto insurance in the state of Georgia. MGA Insurance Company Inc., which markets its policies and services using the...

Pediatricians Fight Georgia Ruling on Vaccine Liability

Apr 21 2009 // Pediatricians and other medical professionals are trying to block a Georgia Supreme Court ruling they fear could encourage lawsuits and harm production of vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which...

Georgia Trucking Insurance Agent Charged

Apr 20 2009 // A Chattanooga, Tenn. insurance agent has been charged with insurance fraud and theft for allegedly adding commissions to policies when he told policyholders that the coverage was being sold on a net basis – with a...

Ratings: Am. Freedom, Columbia, Central States, Lyndon, Zurich (bonds)

Apr 17 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘B++’ (Good) and issuer credit rating of “bbb+” of Illinois-based American Freedom...

Insured Losses from Georgia’s April 10 Storms Estimated at $60 Million

Apr 15 2009 // Violent weather that struck Georgia on April 10 caused an estimated $60 million in insured losses, according to Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine. “That’s a preliminary figure from the...

Georgia Charges Tennessee Trucking Insurance Agent with $2.6 Million Fraud

Apr 10 2009 // A Chattanooga, Tenn. insurance agent has been charged with insurance fraud and theft for allegedly adding commissions to policies when he told policyholders that the coverage was being sold on a net basis — with a...

Major Flooding Hits South Georgia

Apr 6 2009 // More than a dozen homes are underwater in and around Valdosta and several neighborhoods are evacuated as major flooding hits south Georgia after heavy rain this past week. Valdosta officials are building sand bag and...

Business Moves

Apr 6 2009 // AIG American International Group (AIG) has taken down the most prominent sign at its downtown Manhattan offices. According to a Reuters report, the company replaced the large AIG sign — outside the entrance to its...

Liaisons Highlight Consumer Insurance Concerns

Apr 6 2009 // Consumer Advocates Focus on How Insurers Treat Insureds in Difficult Economic, Credit Climate Insurance agents, brokers and regulators should be aware that when it comes to insurance, consumers are concerned with such...