The letter shows up in a plain envelope and it doesn't sound urgent. Your homeowners policy will not be renewed. Somewhere in the second paragraph there's a reason, and more often than not lately, that reason is the roof.
If you've received one of these in Buford, Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Dacula or anywhere else in Gwinnett County, there's something worth knowing. As of January 1, 2026, you have twice as long to do something about it as you would have had a year ago.
Georgia Senate Bill 35 was signed into law in May 2025 and took effect at the start of this year. It amended O.C.G.A. § 33-24-46, the section governing non-renewal of residential property insurance, and made one clean change: the minimum notice an insurer must give you before non-renewing a homeowners policy went from 30 days to 60 days.
The change applies to policies issued, delivered, or renewed in Georgia on or after January 1, 2026.
Thirty days was never enough time to get a roof replaced, get it inspected, and get re-quoted by a new carrier, especially in a busy season. Sixty days is workable, but only if you start on day one instead of day forty.
We covered the underlying trend in an earlier post on roof condition and insurance non-renewals, and it hasn't slowed down. Carriers writing policies in North Georgia have tightened up on roof age and roof condition, and they're finding problems without ever sending a person to your house. Aerial and satellite imagery has made desk-based underwriting cheap and routine.
What tends to trigger it:
A non-renewal notice in Georgia isn't allowed to be vague. Under § 33-24-46, the insurer must:
If your notice doesn't state a reason, that's worth a phone call to your agent before anything else. You can't fix a problem the letter won't name.
A few limits are worth knowing, because homeowners often assume they have fewer rights than they do. Under the same Code section, an insurer generally cannot non-renew your policy because of:
And a related point people miss. If your carrier is reducing your coverage rather than ending it, say by moving your roof from replacement cost to actual cash value, that requires its own separate notice, prominently labeled "NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE," at least 30 days in advance.
Worth being precise here, because the two letters look similar and the timelines are very different.
Non-renewal means your policy runs to the end of its term and then stops. That's the 60-day notice under § 33-24-46.
Cancellation means the policy is being ended mid-term. That falls under O.C.G.A. § 33-24-44, and the notice can be as short as 30 days, or just 10 days if the reason is nonpayment of premium or if the policy has been in force less than 60 days.
If you're holding a cancellation notice rather than a non-renewal notice, your window is much tighter. Read the heading carefully.
Days 1 to 7: Find out exactly what they saw.
Call your agent and ask specifically what the roof finding was: age, a photo, a specific defect. Ask whether they'll reconsider with documentation of repair or replacement. Many will. Then get a professional set of eyes on the roof, meaning a real inspection, on the roof, with photos, not a guess from the driveway. Our roof inspections are free and you'll get documentation you can hand to an agent.
Days 7 to 21: Decide repair or replace, and get it priced.
Sometimes the fix is genuinely small: flashing, a section of shingles, a pipe boot. Sometimes the roof is at the end of its life and a repair just resets the same conversation next year. Our roof replacement cost calculator will give you a real number to work with, and we honor the quotes it produces. If cost is the obstacle, financing options are worth looking at before you rule anything out.
Days 21 to 45: Get the work done.
This is the part that needs the runway. A straightforward residential replacement is typically a one to two day job, but scheduling, materials and permitting take time, and fall is our busiest stretch of the year.
Days 45 to 60: Document and re-shop.
Get the final invoice, the manufacturer warranty paperwork, and dated photos. A new roof is one of the strongest things you can put in front of an underwriter. Take it back to your existing carrier first, then shop it if they won't reconsider. If storm damage is part of the picture, our roof insurance claims page explains how we document damage for your carrier.
A non-renewal notice and a hard-to-sell house tend to be the same problem wearing different clothes. Buyers in Gwinnett are running into financing trouble on homes whose roofs won't qualify for coverage. We wrote about why a bad roof is making Georgia homes harder to sell, and the fix solves both problems at once.
Douglas Construction has been on roofs across Gwinnett County since 2018. We work in Buford, Suwanee, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Dacula, Sugar Hill, Braselton and the surrounding communities. We know which subdivisions took hail in which year, and what the carriers writing policies here are looking for.
If a non-renewal notice is sitting on your kitchen counter, don't let the clock run. Call us at 833-895-7663 or schedule a free inspection and we'll tell you honestly what your roof needs, and what it doesn't.
This article is general information about Georgia insurance law and is not legal advice or insurance advice. Douglas Construction is a licensed roofing contractor, not an insurance agent, public adjuster, or law firm. For questions about your specific policy, contact your insurance agent. To file a complaint, contact the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire.
Call us at 833-895-7663 or complete our online form, and a team member will be in touch within 24 hours.
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