My son just moved to Georgia. He does not have a car, however he is going to get his GA license. Does he have to carry any type of insurance

Georgia does not require a person obtaining a driver's license to show proof of insurance. When moving to Georgia you must apply for a Georgia driver’s license or permit within 30 days of becoming a Georgia resident if you wish to drive upon the highways of this state. If your son is already licensed in his previous state than he should be able to surrender that license to obtain a GA driver's license.

As the Georgia Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) states, your vehicle must be covered with Georgia Liability insurance before it can be legally operated in this state and before a tag can be issued, renewed, replaced or transferred. So you need to insure your car to get it registered in Georgia.

Motor vehicle owners and lessees in this state are required to maintain continuousmandatory liability insurance coverage on their vehicle(s) to:

• Legally drive the vehicle(s);
• Register and obtain Georgia license plates (tags); and,
• Renew, replace, or transfer their existing Georgia license plates (tags).

There is no mention by the GA MVD or the Division of Driver Services (DDS) that auto insurance is required just to have a driver's license. So your son should be able to exchange his out of state license for a Georgia license when he moves there and not obtain insurance since he does not own a car and does not live in a household that has an insurance policy he could be put on.

If he does get a car he then of course will need to get Georgia auto insurance on it. Or if he borrows a friend's car he will need to make sure there is insurance on it to cover him.

Georgia has in place a Safety Responsibility Law. The purpose of this law is to remove irresponsible drivers from Georgia highways and to protect insured motorists from uninsured motorists. In the event your son should fail to satisfy a claim for damage resulting from a motor vehicle accident, and a claim is filed against him under the Safety Responsibility Law, he would receive from the DDS an order suspending his license for one year.

To avoid such a suspension, one may:

• If they were covered by liability insurance, have their carrier file Form SR-21with the DDS, or
• File with the DDS a release, either general or conditional, signed by the claimant, or
• Post security, which may be a cashier’s check, certified check, money order, real property bond or surety bond, in addition to posting of financial responsibility, Form SR-22.

So if he does drive someone else's vehicle he needs to be covered by insurance to make sure he covered and when he gets his own vehicle will need to get insurance so he does not break any Georgia auto insurance laws. If he wants to have coverage without owning a car he could obtain a non-owner's policy.

Non-owners insurance is coverage to give a motorist liability protection for when they are at fault in an accident but do not own a vehicle. Non-owners policies can typically include liability, medical payments, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages.

At CarInsurance.com when we can offer this type of policy in your state then on the vehicle screen it will have the option of choosing "Check this box if you do not own a vehicle and would like to purchase a non-owners policy." Our sales center may be able to assist your son in getting a non-owner's policy if he is interested in it, please call 1-800-964-4849.

If your son wants this type of policy he can see if a non-owners policy is available through our car insurance company affiliates in his area also by clicking here for aquick quote.

source: carinsurance.com/kb/content51815.aspx