How long does a Georgia insurer have to acknowledge a professional liability claim?

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Quick answer: Under the Georgia Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (O.C.G.A. Sections 33-6-30 to 33-6-37) and Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 120-2-52, a carrier must acknowledge your claim within 15 calendar days. It must affirm or deny coverage within 15 days of a completed proof of loss, or within 30 days of the claim report when proof of loss is not required.

A Georgia insurer has 15 calendar days to acknowledge that it received a professional liability claim. This deadline, along with the timelines that follow it, comes from the Georgia Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (O.C.G.A. Sections 33-6-30 through 33-6-37) and Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 120-2-52, which set the minimum standards a carrier must meet when handling any claim in the state.

After the initial acknowledgment, two different clocks can apply depending on whether the claim needs a proof of loss, which is a formal, documented statement of what happened and what is being claimed. If a proof of loss is required and has been completed, the carrier must affirm or deny coverage within 15 days of receiving it. If no proof of loss is required for that type of claim, the carrier must affirm or deny coverage within 30 days of the original claim report.

An example shows why the distinction matters. Say an architecture firm's client alleges a design error caused a costly delay and reports the claim directly, without the policy requiring a separate proof-of-loss form. Under the 30-day rule, the carrier has to tell the firm whether the claim is covered within 30 days of that report, not 30 days after some later paperwork step. If the same policy did require a proof of loss and the firm submitted a complete one, the clock resets to a tighter 15-day window from that submission.

These are floor requirements, not aspirational targets. A carrier that consistently misses acknowledgment or coverage-decision deadlines is out of compliance with Georgia regulation, and a pattern of missed deadlines can factor into a bad faith claim if the carrier also fails to pay a covered loss, covered in what happens if a Georgia carrier acts in bad faith on my claim.

These timelines apply within the claims-made framework described in what claims-made means on a Georgia professional liability policy. For coverage details and exclusions, see Georgia professional liability insurance and professional liability insurance. A coverage review can walk through a specific policy's claim reporting requirements before a claim ever needs to be filed.