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What Are the Minimum Liability Insurance Limits Required to Legally Operate a Vehicle in Georgia and What Do They Cover?
$25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage, written 25/50/25. They cover harm the insured driver causes to others, not the driver’s own injuries or car. Since May 14, 2025, a DUI conviction involving a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher, drugs, or other intoxicating substances requires higher limits for three years.
Where the numbers come from
Three statutes connect:
- The duty to insure. No owner of a vehicle required to be registered in Georgia, and no other person, “shall operate or authorize any other person to operate the motor vehicle unless the owner has motor vehicle liability insurance equivalent to that required as evidence of security for bodily injury and property damage liability” under the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act (O.C.G.A. § 33-34-4).
- The amount. That Act requires limits “of not less than the amounts specified in subparagraph (a)(1)(A) of Code Section 33-7-11” (§ 40-9-37(a)).
- The figures. Section 33-7-11(a)(1)(A) states them: $25,000 for one person, $50,000 for two or more people in one accident (subject to the one-person limit), and $25,000 for property.
What each number pays
| Limit | Amount | What it caps |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury, one person | $25,000 | Everything the policy pays for one person's injuries or death in one accident |
| Bodily injury, one accident | $50,000 | Everything the policy pays for all injured people together, with no one person above $25,000 |
| Property damage, one accident | $25,000 | Everything the policy pays for others' vehicles and property |
For example, imagine a minimum-limits driver causes a crash that injures three people, with damages of $60,000, $30,000, and $10,000. The first person can receive at most $25,000, and the three together at most $50,000, so at least $50,000 of the $100,000 in combined damages has to come from somewhere else or goes unpaid. Property damage is a separate $25,000.
Liability coverage pays for harm to others. It does not pay the insured driver’s own medical bills or car repairs; those need first-party coverages such as medical payments or collision, which Georgia does not require.
Higher minimums after a DUI conviction
Senate Bill 121 (2025) added O.C.G.A. § 33-7-16. As passed, the act took effect on the Governor’s approval, May 14, 2025, and applies “to any convictions on or after such date”. The rule reaches a person convicted under § 40-6-391, or an equivalent law of another state, of driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or higher, or of drugs or other intoxicating substances. Such a driver may not operate a motor vehicle in Georgia without at least 50/100/50, or 100/300/100 after a second or later conviction, kept “uninterrupted for a period of three years from the date of conviction”, and these limits apply “in lieu of” the ordinary minimums in § 33-7-11. A conviction here means “a jury’s finding of guilty, a guilty plea, or a plea of nolo contendere.”
Proof of coverage and penalties
The owner or operator must keep proof of the required coverage “in the vehicle at all times during the operation of the vehicle”, on paper or electronically, including a display on a mobile device (§ 40-6-10). A driver required to carry the higher limits of § 33-7-16 must keep proof of that coverage “during the operation of any motor vehicle” (§ 40-6-10(a)(1.3), added by Senate Bill 121). A person who fails to comply “shall be guilty of a misdemeanor” and faces a fine “of not less than $200.00 nor more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than 12 months, or both” (§ 40-6-10). Officers are directed to check the required coverage whenever they stop a vehicle or ask for the driver’s license.
Uninsured motorist coverage comes with the policy
Apart from umbrella and excess policies, Georgia does not let an insurer issue an auto liability policy without uninsured motorist coverage unless an insured named in the policy rejects it in writing (§ 33-7-11(a)(1), (a)(3)). Its limits are, at the insured’s option, at least 25/50/25 or equal to the policy’s liability limits, and the insured may affirmatively choose lower UM limits than the liability limits. When the other driver carries only the minimum, this is the coverage that can pay the rest; see uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia.
When the other driver has only the minimum
The injured person’s options beyond the $25,000 per-person limit are their own UM coverage, other at-fault parties, and the at-fault driver personally. When the driver had been drinking, the other parties can include a seller or host who served the driver, but only in the two situations explained in when an alcohol seller or host answers for a drunk driver’s crash. The order in which coverages respond is explained in Georgia’s fault-based car insurance system. If the other driver was logged into a rideshare app, Georgia requires primary coverage above these minimums, kept by the transportation network company or the driver, as set out in which insurance applies at each phase of a rideshare trip.
Questions about your own policy
- Are your liability limits above 25/50/25?
- What are your UM limits, and is the coverage add-on or reduced-by?
- Did anyone on the policy sign a written rejection of UM coverage?
- Do you carry medical payments and collision coverage for your own losses?
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 33-7-11, 40-6-10, 40-9-37 (text as published in March 2024; § 40-6-10 was amended in 2025 by Senate Bill 121); § 33-34-4 (text of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 release; no amendment listed in the 2023 to 2026 summaries of general statutes enacted).
- Office of Legislative Counsel, 2025 Summary of General Statutes Enacted (Act 287, SB 121); Senate Bill 121 (2025), as passed, LC 46 1220S, §§ 1-3.
This page describes Georgia law as of October 2026 for general information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.