What is the deadline for a Georgia insurer to pay a commercial auto claim?

Under Georgia's Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, O.C.G.A. 33-6-30 through 33-6-37, an insurer must acknowledge a commercial auto claim within 15 days of receiving notice. For a first-party property claim, meaning a claim the business files under its own policy for damage to its own vehicle rather than a claim someone else files against the business, the insurer must decide the claim within 15 days of receiving a completed proof of loss. A proof of loss is the documentation the policyholder submits describing the damage and the amount being claimed, such as repair estimates, photos, and a completed claim form.

These are the outer deadlines the law sets for insurer response and decision, not a guarantee of payment within those windows. If the insurer denies or does not act on the claim, Georgia law provides a separate remedy under O.C.G.A. 33-4-6 for bad faith. A policyholder can send the insurer a written demand for payment. If the insurer does not pay within 60 days of that demand and a court later finds the refusal was made in bad faith, the insurer can be ordered to pay a penalty of up to 50 percent of the loss or $5,000, whichever is greater, in addition to the underlying claim amount, plus the policyholder's attorney's fees.

Example: A Georgia landscaping business files a claim after a company truck is damaged in a collision. The business submits repair estimates and photos as its proof of loss. Under the 15-day rule, the insurer has to decide that first-party property claim within 15 days of receiving the completed documentation. If the insurer instead lets the claim sit for months with no explanation, the business can send a written demand; if the insurer still refuses to pay after 60 days and a court finds bad faith, the business becomes eligible for the additional penalty and attorney's fees on top of the original claim.

Georgia commercial auto insurance covers how a claim gets filed in Georgia in more detail, and commercial auto insurance explains what the policy covers before a claim happens. A business evaluating how a carrier's claims process holds up against these timelines can look at carriers available through Olive Cover or start with a coverage review. This claim-timeline question relates to whether commercial auto covers cargo being hauled, since a cargo loss and a vehicle-damage loss can trigger separate proof-of-loss processes on separate policies.