The short answer: Georgia gives your claim real deadlines and real teeth. The insurer must acknowledge your claim within 15 days, decide it within 15 days of your completed proof of loss (capped at 60 days), and pay within 10 days once the amount is set. Bad-faith refusal risks a penalty of up to 50% of the loss or $5,000 plus attorney's fees. Public adjuster fees are capped at 33⅓%. Roofers may not negotiate claims. For current and older policies outside Act 635’s July 1, 2027 applicability boundary, one trap remains: the deadline to sue can be as short as one year.
Reg. 120-2-52-.03
O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6
O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.3
White v. State Farm
Enacted next: Georgia Act 635 begins changing the rules in 2027
Not governing law today: HB 1344, now 2026 Georgia Act 635, is enacted but generally does not take effect until January 1, 2027, and its policy provisions are tied to qualifying policies, contracts, or certificates executed, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after that date. The new two-year minimum suit-limit rule has its own later boundary: July 1, 2027. BlackBox and this site keep those future rules separate from the law in force today.
Georgia claim law in one pass
Georgia's rules for property insurance claims live in three places: a claim-handling regulation with hard calendar deadlines, a set of statutes that police insurer conduct, and a licensing chapter that controls who is allowed to represent you and what they can charge.
The deadlines. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 120-2-52-.03 requires the insurer to acknowledge your claim within 15 days of notice and to send proof-of-loss forms within 15 days. Once you return a completed proof of loss, the carrier has 15 days to affirm or deny liability — extendable only with written explanations, and capped at 60 days total unless documented information is genuinely missing. Once coverage is confirmed and the undisputed amount is determined, payment is due within 10 days. And if the carrier denies, the same regulation requires the denial to reference the specific policy provision, condition, or exclusion it relies on. A denial that just says "not covered" is deficient on its face.
The conduct rules. O.C.G.A. § 33-6-34 lists 16 prohibited unfair claims settlement practices — misrepresenting policy provisions, failing to investigate reasonably, lowballing to force lawsuits, and the rest. And when a refusal to pay crosses from wrong into unreasonable, O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6 puts a number on it: after a proper demand, an insurer that fails to pay within 60 days and is found to have acted in bad faith owes the loss plus up to 50 percent of it or $5,000, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees. Paying late doesn't cure it. Straight talk: the bad-faith action itself is a lawsuit, filed by a policyholder attorney — a public adjuster's job is building the record that wins it.
Who may represent you. Adjusting or negotiating another person's claim in Georgia requires a public adjuster license (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-23-43, 33-23-43.1). The contract is regulated — required terms, prohibited terms, and a three-business-day right to rescind (§ 33-23-43.2) — and the fee is capped at 33⅓ percent of the settlement (§ 33-23-43.3). When the dispute is only about the size of the number, Georgia policies also carry an appraisal clause, and Georgia courts treat the amount of loss as exactly what appraisal is for — our appraisal guide walks through invoking it.
Georgia claim-law guides
Each guide below answers one question in depth, with the statute quoted and linked in full:
The two Georgia rules that surprise people
The suit-deadline issue today. In White v. State Farm (2012), the Supreme Court of Georgia enforced the one-year clause for the theft claim before it and explained that the Standard Fire Policy's two-year floor protects the fire portion of a multi-line policy. White did not decide wind, hail, water, tolling, waiver, or estoppel. Act 635 changes this prospectively for qualifying first-party property policies beginning July 1, 2027; it does not erase an earlier policy deadline today. Read the actual clause and have Georgia counsel calculate and preserve the earliest plausible deadline.
White did not decide tolling, waiver, or estoppel. Do not assume negotiations extend the deadline; read the clause when a claim goes sideways and have Georgia counsel calculate and preserve the earliest plausible date.
The roofer restriction. The person offering to "handle the insurance" after a storm is usually a roofing contractor — and in Georgia, roofers legally cannot adjust or negotiate your claim (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12). The same statute gives you five business days after a denial notice to cancel a roofer's contract that is contingent on insurance proceeds. If your roof claim has already been denied, our step-by-step guide to fighting a denied Georgia roof claim covers the full sequence.
How Georgia compares
We hold public adjuster licenses in Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina, and the differences matter when your property sits near a state line — or when you're deciding how seriously to take a carrier's stalling:
| Rule | Georgia | Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| Claim-handling deadlines | Fixed by regulation: 15-day acknowledgment, 60-day decision cap, 10-day payment | No fixed calendar — the standard is reasonably prompt handling |
| Bad-faith penalty | Up to 50% of the loss or $5,000, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees, after a 60-day demand | Up to 25%, after a 60-day demand |
| Public adjuster fee cap | 33⅓% of the settlement | 15% before the insurer's offer; 25% of the increase after |
Georgia's calendar deadlines are its strength: a carrier that blows the 15-day or 60-day marks has handed you documented regulatory violations. Tennessee counters with tighter, more consumer-friendly fee caps and its own 25 percent bad-faith penalty — the full picture is on our Tennessee claim law hub. South Carolina, where we also practice, now caps public-adjuster compensation and reimbursement at 10% and reserves public-adjusting work for licensed persons under S.C. Code ch. 38-92, enacted by Act 209 of 2026.
The Georgia decisions that decide these fights
Statutes set the rules; courts say what they mean. Every decision below is published here in the court's own words — the complete opinion, not a summary, with no firm commentary added. All 79 are free to read in the Georgia case-law collection.
Questions Georgia policyholders ask us
How long does an insurance company have to settle a claim in Georgia?
Georgia regulation 120-2-52-.03 sets the clock: the insurer must acknowledge your claim within 15 days of notice and supply proof-of-loss forms within 15 days. Once you return a completed proof of loss, it must affirm or deny liability within 15 days — extendable only with written explanations, and capped at 60 days total unless documented information is still missing. After coverage is confirmed and the undisputed amount is determined, payment is due within 10 days.
What is the penalty for insurance bad faith in Georgia?
Under O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6, an insurer that refuses in bad faith to pay a covered loss within 60 days of a proper demand owes the loss plus a penalty of up to 50 percent of the loss or $5,000, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees — and paying late does not erase the exposure. The bad-faith action itself is a lawsuit, which is attorney work; a public adjuster's role is building the documented record that proves the refusal was unreasonable.
How much can a public adjuster charge in Georgia?
Georgia caps public adjuster fees at 33 1/3 percent of the settlement under O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.3. The contract itself is regulated too — O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.2 imposes required and prohibited terms and gives you three business days to rescind. Friedman & Associates works on contingency within the cap: no recovery, no fee.
Can my roofing contractor negotiate my insurance claim in Georgia?
No. O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43 makes it unlawful to adjust or negotiate someone else's claim without a public adjuster license, and O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12 specifically bars residential roofing contractors from doing it. If you signed a roofer's contract contingent on insurance proceeds, that statute also gives you five business days after a denial notice to cancel it in writing.
How long do I have to sue my insurance company in Georgia?
For a current policy, check the policy's own deadline today. White v. State Farm (2012) enforced the one-year clause for the theft claim before it. Georgia Act 635 has enacted a future two-year minimum for first-party property portions, but that provision expressly applies only to qualifying policies issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after July 1, 2027. Have Georgia counsel calculate and preserve the earliest plausible deadline.
Do I have to accept my insurance company's estimate in Georgia?
Not automatically. If the policy contains an applicable appraisal clause and the dispute falls within the amount-of-loss questions assigned to the panel, either party may demand appraisal under that clause. McGowan v. Progressive (2006) distinguished value from broader liability questions. Lam v. Allstate (2014) treated the complaint before it as a coverage dispute, so wording cannot override the policy or claim facts.
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