Georgia Policyholders Receive New Regulatory Relief
Rule 120-2-52-.03(3) Standards for Prompt and Fair
By: Remington Huggins, Huggins Law Firm, LLC
Policyholders in Georgia won big recently when the Georgia Department of Insurance passed Rule 120-2-52-.03(3), a new regulation which sets guidelines for insurance carriers. The new regulation provides specific timelines insurance companies must abide by when adjusting an insurance claim and will help policyholders after they experience a loss.
Those who have worked in the Georgia property insurance industry long enough have undoubtedly experienced an insurance claim where the coverage decision takes months, if not years, to receive. This regulation aims to eliminate unnecessary delays by limiting the time a carrier has to adjust a claim and provide a coverage decision.
The regulation is also unique because it applies to “losses arising from fire or extended coverage type policies.” In Georgia, these perils are often covered by homeowner’s and commercial insurance policies. Thus, in my opinion, this regulation directly applies to property insurance policies – the first regulation of its kind in Georgia.
The regulation also requires carriers to complete “a coverage investigation […] to affirm or deny [coverage] within thirty (30) days” of a policyholder putting the carrier on notice of a loss, so long as the underlying insurance policy does not require a proof of loss. If a proof of loss is required, the insurance company will have “sixty (60) days [after] receiving the completed proof of loss” to affirm or deny liability. The new rule will expedite adjustments and will provide relief to many policyholders in Georgia by limiting undue delay on behalf of the carrier.
Over the coming months and years this regulation may change, grow, and evolve through interpretation by the Courts, but there is no doubt Georgia consumers are in a better place today due to the new timelines imposed by the regulation.