Whether Georgia is your first PA license or one of several, the rules still have to fit around the work. You're managing clients and building claim files while checking whether the advertisement, contract, fee, and license behind an engagement still line up with Georgia law. Add that to the hundred other things already on your plate.

You don't need another recital of the Code. You need a checklist you can use before the work goes out the door.

This guide gathers the recurring Georgia checks — the dos, the don'ts, the must-haves, and more. It's part of a series of articles for public adjusters and other insurance-claim professionals built around the questions that come up in real work.

The goal is to help you avoid common mistakes by highlighting the Georgia rules you'll deal with regularly. It isn't a comprehensive statement of every law that could apply. Start with Chapter 23 of Title 33 of the Georgia Code, Georgia Rules and Regulations Chapter 120-2-3, and the current instructions from the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, or OCI. Then check for later amendments, orders, and instructions before you rely on a deadline, form, fee, or exemption.

Think of this as your cheat sheet for staying on the right side of Georgia law while you do your work. If you need broader claim-law information — deadlines, assignments of benefits, bad faith, and more — use our Georgia Guide to Property Insurance Claims. Now let's get to it.

Jump to: Definition · Prohibited acts · Policyholder contracts · Compensation · Licensing

Georgia's Definition of Public Adjusting

What makes someone a “public adjuster” under Georgia law? The definition lives in Georgia Code §33-23-1. In the simplest terms, you're considered a public adjuster in Georgia if you get paid to represent an insured on specified first-party property claims.

More specifically, Georgia treats a person as a public adjuster if, for compensation, that person does any of the following:

  • Help an insured negotiate or settle a first-party claim for damage to real or personal property. The definition includes related income and living-expense losses, but excludes claims arising from motor-vehicle accidents and damage to vehicles licensed for the road.
  • Advertise, solicit business, or hold yourself out as a public adjuster handling first-party property claims. Georgia looks at the activity, not the label you give it.
  • Assist someone else in the adjusting business by directly or indirectly soliciting business, investigating or adjusting losses, or advising an insured about first-party property claims. An assistant or admin may need a license depending on the work performed. The title alone doesn't decide it.

The exceptions are narrower than they first appear. Georgia Code §33-23-43.1 allows a Georgia attorney to act for an insured on a loss without a PA license. A licensed property-and-casualty or personal-lines agent has a different, insurer-side exception: the agent may act for the insurer on a loss under a policy issued by that agent. That isn't a general right for an insurance agent to represent an insured in a property claim.

Why does the definition matter? If your work fits it, you need the appropriate license and must follow the conduct rules below. Compensation is one part of the definition, but the absence of a fee doesn't settle the licensing question by itself. Review the activity, any direct or indirect value, the advertising, and the person represented. When a support role gets close to solicitation, investigation, adjustment, or claim advice, check the actual duties before the work begins.

Prohibited Acts for PAs in Georgia

A Georgia PA license comes with a long list of prohibited acts. Georgia Code §33-23-43.8 contains many of them. Section 33-23-43 adds other restrictions, so don't treat one section as the entire conduct code.

Much of the list comes back to one principle. Under Georgia Code §33-23-43.9, a public adjuster owes the client objectivity and complete loyalty. That principle is easier to remember than a section number — but you still need the section numbers.

Solicitation and Marketing Restrictions

Georgia restricts when a public adjuster can solicit and what an advertisement can say. Here's the short list of no-nos when you're trying to attract new clients:

  • Don't solicit business during a loss-producing natural disaster. For this rule, “natural disaster” means an event for which Georgia's governor has proclaimed a state of emergency. A separate prohibition in §33-23-43 addresses solicitation during a loss-producing occurrence as defined in the insured's contract. Don't use “storm,” “disaster,” and “occurrence” as if they were the same trigger.
  • Don't solicit business late at night or early in the morning. Direct solicitation is allowed from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and from noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays. The rule doesn't prohibit accepting a call or personal visit initiated by the insured during the other hours.
  • Don't advertise without the Commissioner's approval. Get the advertisement approved before you use it, then recheck the current OCI process before each new campaign or changed form.
  • Don't advertise without displaying your name and Georgia license number as they appear in the Commissioner's records.
  • Don't do any of the following in an advertisement or solicitation:
    • invite an insured to submit a claim by offering money or another valuable inducement;
    • invite an insured to submit a claim by saying there is “no risk” in doing so;
    • use a statement, logo, or shield that implies or could be mistaken to imply government origin, sanction, or endorsement; or
    • invite an insured to submit a claim when the insured doesn't have covered property damage.

Georgia Code §33-23-43.7 also requires a disclaimer on written PA advertisements, which the statute defines here as newspapers, magazines, flyers, and bulk mailers. Except for standard-size business cards, it must appear in bold capital letters in type no smaller than the body text:

THIS IS A SOLICITATION FOR BUSINESS. IF YOU HAVE HAD A CLAIM FOR AN INSURED PROPERTY LOSS OR DAMAGE AND YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH THE PAYMENT BY YOUR INSURER, YOU MAY DISREGARD THIS ADVERTISEMENT

Conflicts of Interest

Georgia's conflict rules put the insured first. That means watching the work you perform, the interests you acquire, and the money you receive from anyone connected with the loss.

  • Don't participate in reconstruction, repair, or restoration of property on a claim you're adjusting. You also can't hold or receive a direct or indirect financial benefit from a salvage, repair, construction, or other firm that gets work connected with the claim.
  • Don't acquire an interest in salvaged property without the insured's written knowledge and consent. The statute doesn't add an “after settlement” condition, so don't add one from memory.
  • Don't work both sides of the same claim or transaction. A public adjuster represents the insured, not the insurer. A person licensed in both roles can't represent both sides in the same transaction.
  • Don't act on behalf of an attorney while adjusting an insurance claim. An attorney's separate license exception doesn't turn the PA into the attorney's adjusting proxy.
  • Don't advance money to a potential client or insured.
  • Don't accept referral consideration involving an attorney, appraiser, umpire, construction company, contractor, salvage company, or other covered third party. Read the current statute for the exact payer, payee, and relationship before setting up any referral arrangement.

The conflict list isn't the end of it. Georgia also requires a complete transaction record to be kept in the state for at least five years after the transaction ends. Claim proceeds received by a PA are held in a fiduciary capacity and can't be diverted or misappropriated. Clean files and clean trust handling aren't just back-office housekeeping here.

The license has subject-matter limits, too. A PA can't misrepresent being an attorney authorized to give legal advice. A PA also can't solicit or act on a bodily-injury loss under a life, health, or accident policy or on a claim for someone who isn't an insured under the policy. Those boundaries are part of knowing when to stop, not evidence that the property-claim work is unimportant.

Violations can reach the license itself. Georgia Code §33-23-43.10 allows the Commissioner to deny, suspend, or revoke a license for statutory or rule violations, fraud, fiduciary misappropriation, specified material misrepresentations, incompetence or untrustworthiness, a final felony conviction, and other listed grounds. The statute also provides notice and hearing rights. Treat documentation, loyalty, and money handling as license-level obligations.

Requirements for Your Policyholder Contracts

Georgia heavily regulates the contract between you and your policyholder. Georgia Code §33-23-43.2 supplies the core requirements, while OCI supplies the current approval process. For simplicity, it helps to break the contract check into four commandments.

Include These Twelve Things in Your Contract

The statute supplies a required title plus eleven numbered contents. Counting the title, your contract needs these twelve things:

  1. “Public Adjuster Contract” as a prominently captioned title.
  2. The legible full name of the public adjuster signing the contract, as it appears on the Georgia license, plus language attesting that the PA is fully bonded under state law.
  3. The PA's permanent home-state business address and contact information, including an email address.
  4. The PA's department license number and a statement that the license is valid and in full force on the date the contract is signed.
  5. The insured's full name and street address.
  6. A description of the loss and its location, if applicable.
  7. A description of the services the PA will provide.
  8. The signatures of the public adjuster and the insured.
  9. The dates the public adjuster and insured each signed.
  10. A statement of the fee, compensation, or other consideration the PA will receive, including typical costs and expenses the insured will reimburse.
  11. A prominently captioned statement in at least 12-point type explaining that the PA has no direct or indirect interest—including a conflict, compensation from, or interest in a firm working in connection with the damage—other than the insured's compensation or fee for the PA's services.
  12. A prominently displayed notice in 12-point boldface type that states “WE REPRESENT THE INSURED ONLY.”

Use the current text of §33-23-43.2(b) when preparing the form. The wording and formatting requirements are part of the checklist.

Avoid Doing These Seven Things in Your Contract

The same section prohibits seven contract terms. Your contract can't:

  1. Restrict the insured's right to initiate and maintain direct communications with an attorney, the insurer, the insurer's adjuster or attorney, or another person about settlement.
  2. Give you the right to initiate direct settlement communications with the insurer, its adjuster, or its attorney without the insured's specific written authorization.
  3. Allow a percentage fee to be collected when insurer money is due but unpaid, or allow the entire fee to come from the first insurer check instead of the applicable percentage of each check.
  4. Require the insured to authorize the insurer to issue a check only in the PA's name.
  5. Prevent or restrict the insured from pursuing civil remedies related to the claim.
  6. Purport to let you act in multiple capacities.
  7. Identify you as also being a contractor, appraiser, or another position.

Those are the seven jobs in §33-23-43.2(c). Don't paraphrase one so broadly that you accidentally lose its trigger or qualification.

Get Pre-Approval from Regulators

The order matters. Under the statute, you can't act as a public adjuster without first entering a written contract on a form approved by the Commissioner, and you can't use an unapproved form.

The order is: active license → timely contract submission → OCI approval → consumer work.

OCI says it can't approve your contract before your license is active. After the license is approved, the agency sends submission instructions, and a newly approved PA has 30 days to provide the contract. Meeting that submission deadline doesn't authorize consumer work; you still must wait for the contract's approval.

Use the current OCI public-adjuster licensing and contract instructions rather than an old mailbox saved in a prior article. Resubmit changes to an approved form as OCI requires. Preapproval may be a pain in the neck, but it is a prerequisite—not a guarantee that the form or your later conduct will remain compliant forever.

Know that the Policyholder Has Rights

Regardless of anything you put in the contract, the following provisions apply by operation of Georgia law:

  • The insured can rescind the contract within three business days after signing. The notice must be written and mailed or delivered within that window. Electronic transmittal to the contract's specified email address or fax number can qualify.
  • After a valid rescission, you must return anything of value given under the contract within 15 business days after you receive the notice. The three-day and 15-day clocks have different triggers, so keep both dates in the file.
  • Before initiating settlement contact with the insurer, its adjuster, or its attorney, provide the insurer a notification letter signed by the insured. The letter must confirm that the insured authorizes you to communicate directly on the insured's behalf. This is a document- delivery duty, not merely permission in your notes.

Section 33-23-43.2(d) contains those rights. The contract must also be executed in duplicate, with an original for you and an original for the insured; your original must remain available for inspection. And don't sign a client merely to collect a commission—Georgia requires an intent to perform the services public adjusters customarily provide.

Compensation: How Georgia Regulates your Pay

You provide valuable services, so you deserve fair compensation. Georgia Code §33-23-43.3 allows hourly, flat-rate, percentage, and other compensation methods, but each comes with the statute's limits. Here's what you need to know:

  • Percentage commissions are usually allowed. If the insurer pays or commits in writing to pay the policy limit within 72 hours after the loss is reported to the insurer, however, the PA can't take a percentage of the amount paid to resolve that claim. The PA may still receive reasonable compensation for time and expenses incurred before payment or the written commitment.
  • The fee must be reasonable, and the total commission can't exceed 33.3 percent of the insurance settlement amount. The decimal and the settlement base are part of the rule; don't round them into “one third of the claim.”
  • Payments affecting the insured's rights generally must include the insured as a payee and require the insured's written signature and endorsement. The statute excepts the insured's payment of the PA's commission and allows a PA endorsement only under specified written conditions, so “every check” is too broad.

As long as the compensation follows the statute, you and the client can choose the structure that fits the relationship. Spell out the fee, typical reimbursable costs, and expenses clearly in the approved written contract. A clean fee clause should tell the client what you earn and when—not make either of you reverse-engineer it when a check arrives.

Getting Licensed in Georgia

For a resident applicant, a Georgia PA license comes down to five jobs: the basic application, fingerprints, bond, course, and exam rules.

  • Confirm basic statutory eligibility. Georgia Code §33-23-5 includes age 18, Georgia residence/presence or principal-place-of-business requirements, good character, and other qualifications. Resident and nonresident paths aren't interchangeable.
  • Complete electronic fingerprints when the rule requires them. Covered new resident applicants submit fingerprints through the vendor selected by OCI and bear the vendor cost. The amount can change, so check current OCI instructions instead of relying on an old dollar figure.
  • Obtain and continuously maintain the resident PA bond. Rule 120-2-3-.18 sets the bond at $5,000, in favor of the Commissioner. Failure to maintain it cancels the license. Review the current OCI bond requirements and current OCI public-adjuster bond form before filing.
  • Complete the required property-and-casualty coursework and examination. Rule 120-2-3-.25 requires at least 20 hours per major line of authority. Because a PA's authority is property and casualty, that means at least 20 hours for property plus 20 hours for casualty. Confirm the currently approved P&C course with OCI. Unless an exception applies, pass the public-adjuster exam within 12 months after completing the course, then apply within 12 months after the passing grade.
  • Put each exception in the right box. Course exceptions and exam exceptions are not the same:

    • A Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, or CPCU, is listed as an exception to both the prelicensing course and the examination.

    • Two qualifying college or university insurance courses, an insurance degree, and Commissioner discretion appear as prelicensing-course exceptions—not examination exceptions. OCI still decides whether the evidence qualifies.

    • If you're applying as a nonresident PA, confirm the PA-specific path. Start with OCI's general nonresident-adjuster instructions, then confirm your path directly with OCI. Don't assume reciprocity means an exam waiver.

      The reason for the caution is in the source text: Rule .25 cites statutory subparagraphs that don't exist in the current 2026 structure, while the nearest similarly numbered provisions concern insurance agents, not PAs. That broken cross-reference isn't a safe basis for an exemption.

Work the requirements in order: confirm the correct applicant path, complete the current OCI checklist, keep the bond active, and don't start consumer work until both the license and contract form are ready.

For more resources, use our Guide to Property Claims in Georgia or the current Georgia OCI page for adjusters and public adjusters. Check the primary sources again before relying on a form, fee, deadline, or exemption. That's the part of the job no cheat sheet can do for you forever.