Roofing Insurance Laws in Georgia

Authority

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 120-2-52 is the state's first-party property settlement regulation and contains no labor-depreciation provision; its depreciation language is directed at motor-vehicle claims and caps betterment or depreciation at 20 percent. No Georgia appellate or supreme court decision resolves labor depreciation. Marchman v. Grange Mutual Insurance Co. (1998) holds that depreciation withheld is not recoverable until replacement cost is actually incurred, but it does not reach labor.

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 120-2-52 (Fair and Equitable Settlement of First Party Property Damage Claims) — no labor-depreciation provision

Authority

No Georgia statute, regulation, or Insurance Department bulletin imposes matching. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 120-2-52, the only first-party settlement regulation, is scoped to private passenger motor vehicle policies. O.C.G.A. § 33-6-34 lists the unfair claims settlement practices and includes no matching provision. Georgia never adopted the NAIC model matching language. Lam v. Allstate Indemnity Co., 327 Ga. App. 151, 755 S.E.2d 544 (2014), is the one on-point appellate decision. The insured demanded a whole-roof replacement to match four conceded shingles; the court held that demand is a coverage and scope question, not an amount-of-loss question, and therefore outside the policy's appraisal clause. The court did not decide whether matching is substantively owed.

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 120-2-52 — Fair and Equitable Settlement of First Party Property Damage Claims (scoped to private passenger motor vehicle policies; no matching requirement) · Lam v. Allstate Indem. Co., 327 Ga. App. 151, 755 S.E.2d 544 (2014) (full opinion; whole-roof-to-match demand is coverage/scope, not amount of loss subject to appraisal) · O.C.G.A. § 33-6-34 — Unfair Claims Settlement Practices (enumerated practices; no matching provision)

Authority

O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43(c)(4) makes it unlawful to advertise or promise to pay or rebate all or any portion of any insurance deductible as an inducement to the sale of goods or services. "Promise to pay or rebate" reaches allowances, discounts against fees, and compensation in any form. The ban is not limited to adjusters. O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43(d) defines "public adjuster" for purposes of subsection (c) to include "persons committing any act under paragraph (4) of subsection (c)," which sweeps in roofing contractors. Subsection (e) supplies the misdemeanor penalty and license sanction. The residential roofing contractor statute, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12, says nothing about deductibles, but deceptive "free roof" and "no out-of-pocket" advertising is separately actionable under the Fair Business Practices Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.

O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43 — deductible rebate/advertising ban (c)(4); definition (d) extending scope to 'persons committing any act under paragraph (4)'; misdemeanor (e) — FindLaw statutory text · O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43 — full statutory text incl. verbatim subsection (d) (onecle) · O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12 — residential roofing contractor (cancellation rights; bar on claim negotiation; no deductible provision) — ga.elaws.us · O.C.G.A. § 33-1-9 — insurance fraud; venue; penalty (felony) — FindLaw statutory text

Authority

O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12(e): "A residential roofing contractor shall not represent or negotiate, or offer or advertise to represent or negotiate, on behalf of an owner or possessor of residential real estate on any insurance claim in connection with the repair or replacement of roof systems. This subsection shall not apply to a public adjuster licensed under Chapter 23 of Title 33." The same section gives the homeowner a five-business-day cancellation right after written notice that a claim is not covered and bars taking payment before that period runs. O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.8 is an independent bar, not limited to roofing or to residential property: "A contractor shall not act as a public adjuster or advertise to adjust claims for any property for which the contractor is providing or may provide contracting services," with the reciprocal prohibition on a public adjuster participating in the repair or taking remuneration from the repair firm. O.C.G.A. § 33-23-1 defines a public adjuster as one who solicits, advertises for, or agrees to represent an insured under a property policy in settling property damage claims; § 33-23-43(b) permits investigating, settling, or adjusting claims on behalf of insureds only if licensed as a public adjuster; § 33-23-4 requires the license. Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Bulletin 23-EX-1 (Jan. 18, 2023) directs consumers to file complaints against anyone acting as a public adjuster without a license or a valid contract or committing prohibited acts under § 33-23-43.8, and notes that public adjuster contract forms must be pre-approved under § 33-23-43.2(a). Two qualifications. Section 10-1-393.12 ends at subsection (e) and carries no internal penalty clause; enforcement is structural, because the section sits inside the Fair Business Practices Act. And the estimate-versus-negotiate line is a structural reading rather than an express carve-out: § 10-1-393.12(e) reaches conduct "on behalf of" the owner on the claim and § 33-23-43.8 reaches acting as a public adjuster, neither of which describes a contractor pricing and documenting its own scope of work. Keep every communication framed as your scope and your price.

O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12 — Residential roofing contractors; cancellation rights; prohibition on representing or negotiating insurance claims (full section text) · O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12 (Georgia Code, Title 10, Ch. 1, Art. 15, Part 2 — Fair Business Practices Act) — alternate code text · O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.8 — Prohibited acts; "A contractor shall not act as a public adjuster..." · O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43 — Authority of adjusters; adjusting on behalf of insureds only if licensed as a public adjuster; penalty · O.C.G.A. § 33-23-1 — Definitions, including "adjuster" and "public adjuster" · O.C.G.A. § 33-23-4 — License required to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance / act as adjuster · Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, Bulletin 23-EX-1, Consumer Warning Regarding Public Adjusters (Jan. 18, 2023) [official .gov PDF, verified] · Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner — file a consumer insurance complaint (unlicensed public adjusting)