What happens if a Georgia carrier refuses to pay a covered landlord claim?

A Georgia landlord whose carrier refuses to pay a covered claim can make a written demand for payment under O.C.G.A. Section 33-4-6. If the carrier does not pay within 60 days of that demand, and a court later finds the refusal was made in bad faith, the carrier owes a penalty of up to 50 percent of the loss amount or $5,000, whichever is greater, on top of the claim payment itself, plus reasonable attorney's fees.

Bad faith, in this context, is a legal finding, not simply a claim being denied or delayed. A carrier that investigates a claim, applies its policy language, and denies coverage based on a genuine, defensible reading of the policy is not automatically acting in bad faith, even if a court later disagrees with that reading. The bad-faith penalty targets a refusal that lacked a reasonable basis, such as ignoring clear evidence of a covered loss or failing to investigate the claim at all.

A Georgia landlord whose rental property suffers wind damage to the roof, with a clear cause of loss and photo documentation submitted at the time of the claim, and whose carrier denies the claim outright without an inspection or explanation, has grounds to send a written demand under O.C.G.A. Section 33-4-6 and start the 60-day clock.

The written demand has to identify the claim, state the amount owed, and be sent in a form that establishes the date the carrier received it, since the 60-day period runs from that date. A demand letter is a legal document with consequences attached to its timing and content. Legal counsel experienced in Georgia insurance bad-faith claims typically drafts or reviews this type of letter, given those statutory requirements.

This process runs separately from a standard appeal or reconsideration request through the carrier's claims department, which carries none of the same legal deadlines or penalties. The same demand process applies whether the underlying denial involves wind, fire, or a covered water loss; a flood claim follows a different track entirely, since flood is excluded from landlord policies and paid through a separate NFIP or private policy. See does landlord insurance cover flood damage in Georgia for that distinction.

Olive Cover's landlord insurance page and Georgia landlord insurance page cover what a landlord policy is built to pay for in the first place. Related questions cover whether landlord insurance is required by law in Georgia and what form a Georgia landlord policy is written on. A coverage review can confirm what a current policy actually covers before a dispute arises, and the list of carriers available through Olive Cover shows the range of insurers involved in claims handling for Georgia rental properties.