How much does a public adjuster charge in Georgia?

What does Georgia law actually cap the fee at?

Since July 1, 2021 (House Bill 254), Georgia has had a hard statutory ceiling. Here is the operative language of O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.3(a), verbatim:

"Except as provided by subsection (b) of this Code section, an adjuster may receive a commission for service provided under this article consisting of an hourly fee, a flat rate, a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim, or another method of compensation. A public adjuster may not charge the insured an unreasonable fee, and the total commission received shall not exceed 33.3 percent of the amount of the insurance settlement of the claim."

Three things worth reading slowly in that paragraph:

• The cap is on the total. Hourly fees, flat rates, percentages, expenses billed as "other methods of compensation" — however the contract is structured, the total commission cannot exceed 33.3 percent of the settlement.
• "Unreasonable" is banned separately. Even a fee under the cap is illegal if it is unreasonable for the work — the ceiling is not a safe harbor.
• The base is the settlement. The percentage applies to what the insurer actually pays to resolve the claim, not to an estimate, a demand, or money that never arrives.

Why does the internet give three different answers?

Search this exact question today and you will find pages saying 10 percent, pages saying 33.3 percent, and pages saying Georgia has no cap. Only one of those is Georgia law:

• "Georgia has no cap." Stale. That was accurate before July 1, 2021, when HB 254 took effect and wrote the 33.3 percent ceiling into the Code. Any page still saying it hasn't been updated in years.
• "Georgia caps fees at 10 percent." There is no 10 percent figure anywhere in Georgia's fee statute. Ten percent caps exist in other states' laws — Tennessee's fee statute, for instance, has a narrow 10 percent catastrophe tier — and national listicles recycle those numbers into Georgia articles.
• "33⅓ percent." Correct. That is § 33-23-43.3(a), quoted above, and you can read the full section — payment-handling rules and all — in our Reading Room, which links the official text.

When a licensing question decides who keeps tens of thousands of dollars, don't settle for a listicle's answer. Read the statute. That habit is the entire reason this page quotes it.

How a contingency fee actually works — the honest math

Nearly all residential public adjusting in Georgia is done on contingency: the fee is a percentage of what the insurer pays, and if nothing is recovered, nothing is owed. Here is a worked example. The percentages and dollar figures are illustrative only — an example, not a quote and not a real case.

• Your carrier offers $21,500 on a storm-damaged roof and interior.
• You sign a contingency contract at an example rate of 20 percent — a contract can lawfully sit anywhere at or under the 33⅓ percent cap.
• After re-inspection, documentation, and negotiation, the claim settles at $60,000.
• The fee is 20 percent of $60,000 = $12,000. You keep $48,000 — against the $21,500 you were originally offered. Even at the absolute statutory ceiling of 33⅓ percent, the fee on that settlement could never exceed $20,000.

Two honesty notes on that arithmetic. First, the percentage applies to the whole settlement, including the part the carrier had already offered — that is how Georgia's statute defines the base, and any adjuster who obscures it is hiding the ball. Second, the math only favors you when there is a real, documentable gap between the offer and the loss. When a claim is already fairly priced, the right answer at a free review is "you don't need us" — and you should hear it.

This is also why "no recovery, no fee" is not a slogan but a structural alignment: the adjuster is paid only out of money actually recovered for you, so the adjuster's incentive on every disputed shingle and every line of the estimate is identical to yours. Georgia law reinforces it — § 33-23-43.2 flatly prohibits contract terms that let an adjuster collect a fee on money that is due but unpaid, or take the entire fee out of the first check rather than as a percentage of each check as it is issued.

Who gets the check? Georgia's payment-handling rules

The same statute that caps the fee polices the money. Under § 33-23-43.3(c)–(e):

• Everyone paying policy proceeds must include you as a payee on the draft or check and require your written signature and endorsement. An adjuster is forbidden from accepting any payment that violates this.
• A public adjuster may endorse a check on your behalf only with your written authorization, and only for deposit into the adjuster's escrow or trust account, distributed in the exact percentages the contract states.
• You must be notified of the deposit, every distribution must come with a detailed breakdown, and you may revoke the authorization at any time in writing.

Practical translation: in Georgia, your claim money is never supposed to disappear into an adjuster's operating account. If anyone — adjuster, contractor, "claims consultant" — asks the carrier to cut a check in their name only, the statute is being broken.

The contract rules that protect you — and the 3-day exit

Georgia doesn't just cap the fee; it dictates the contract. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.2, a public adjuster contract must be written on a form approved by the Insurance Commissioner, captioned "Public Adjuster Contract," and must state the fee and typical reimbursable expenses, the adjuster's license number, and — in 12-point boldface — the words "WE REPRESENT THE INSURED ONLY."

Just as important is what the contract cannot say. It cannot restrict your right to talk directly to your insurer or your own attorney. It cannot require checks issued only in the adjuster's name. It cannot block you from pursuing civil remedies. And it cannot identify the adjuster as also being a contractor or appraiser on your loss — Georgia forbids wearing two hats on the same claim.

Then the statute writes an escape hatch into every contract, whether the adjuster included it or not: you may rescind within three business days of signing, in writing, delivered or mailed to the address in the contract (electronic delivery to the contract's email or fax counts). Anything of value you handed over must be returned within 15 business days. Signed something in a driveway you now regret? You likely have a clean exit — check the date and act inside the window.

The 72-hour exception: when a percentage fee is illegal

Subsection (b) of the fee statute handles the case where the insurer does the right thing fast. If, within 72 hours of the loss being reported, the carrier pays or commits in writing to pay the policy limit, a public adjuster may not take a percentage of that money at all — only reasonable time-and-expense compensation for work actually performed up to that commitment. The logic is fair: nobody should collect a third of money that was already on its way. It is also a useful diligence question to ask any adjuster you interview — one who explains this rule unprompted is reading the same statute you are.

One more boundary worth knowing: percentage-based claim negotiation is exclusively licensed work. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43, adjusting or negotiating someone else's claim without a public adjuster license is unlawful — which is why a roofer or contractor "handling the insurance" for a fee is not a bargain but a red flag. If your dispute is over a denied or underpaid roof, start with our step-by-step guide to fighting a denied roof claim in Georgia, and if the fight is about the number rather than coverage, read how Georgia's appraisal clause forces a binding valuation.

Questions Georgia policyholders ask about fees

The fee only exists if the recovery does. A free, confidential case review by a licensed Georgia public adjuster costs nothing — and if we take the case, our contingency fee lives within the statutory cap: no recovery, no fee.

See if my case qualifies 770-230-2616