Georgia carriers can resume non-payment cancellations across most of the state – but 17 counties remain off-limits.
In a directive issued May 8, 2026, Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King partly lifted a statewide cancellation freeze he had put in place just over two weeks earlier. The change gives carriers room to act in most of Georgia while keeping the freeze in place for 17 named counties.
The original order, Directive 26-EX-1, was dated April 23, 2026. It barred carriers from cancelling policies in affected counties and was set to stay in force until the Commissioner himself lifted it. That structure left the duration open-ended from the start, with no fixed calendar end date and the lift left to the Commissioner's discretion.
That lift has now partly arrived. Under the new directive, the earlier order "shall no longer apply in all counties except for" 17 still under the freeze: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Ware, and Wayne. The directive credits the partial lift to recovery efforts, stating the change comes "as a result of recovery efforts" in the areas no longer covered.
For carriers, the message is straightforward. Outside those 17 counties, the prohibition on cancelling policies for failure to pay is over. Inside them, it stays on until the Commissioner says otherwise. Carriers writing business in the affected counties will need to keep policies in force for non-paying customers, while everywhere else in Georgia the usual cancellation processes can resume.
The directive applies across all lines of coverage and to every licensed insurance company in the state. That sweep matters. It is not limited to a single line. Any licensed line written in those 17 counties – whether property, auto, commercial, or otherwise - remains under the freeze.
King did not set a fresh end date for the remaining freeze. Another directive will be needed to lift it in the 17 counties still covered. For now, carriers operating in those counties should plan on continued non-payment forbearance there, and continue watching for the next directive from the Commissioner's office before adjusting their cancellation workflows in that part of the state.
