We help Georgia businesses and large-loss policyholders when the insurer delays, denies, or underpays: warehouses and distribution centers, food and poultry plants, carpet and flooring mills, multifamily and mixed-use buildings, condominium and homeowner associations, hotels, churches, and healthcare, retail and office properties. We also take catastrophic residential losses of $100,000 and above. We review your policy and the carrier's position free, anywhere in the state.
Why this is happening
Georgia property takes wind, hail, fire and water. Hurricane Helene crossed the state in September 2024 and damaged buildings from Valdosta to Augusta. Hail and straight-line wind work on the large flat roofs of metro Atlanta's warehouses and shopping centers. Hard freezes burst sprinkler lines and plumbing in buildings that were never built for them. After a loss like that, the pattern is familiar: requests for more documents, a low estimate, then silence.
An insurance policy is a contract, and Georgia sets fair claim-handling standards that the Commissioner of Insurance enforces. If an insurer refuses in bad faith to pay a covered loss within 60 days of a proper demand, Georgia law may allow a penalty on top of the loss, plus attorney's fees (O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6). The deadline to sue is set by the policy and is often far shorter than Georgia's general limit for written contracts, so we check it first.
What we handle
If your damage is property-related and your insurer isn't paying what they should, we should talk.
Poultry and food plants in northeast Georgia, carpet and flooring mills around Dalton, and manufacturers across the state. Fire and explosion, equipment breakdown, spoilage and contamination, and production downtime the carrier says the policy does not reach.
Apartment communities and mixed-use buildings in Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Marietta, Athens and Savannah. Roofs replaced building by building, water from a failed line running through stacked units, fire that empties a building, and lost rents while it is repaired.
Downtown Atlanta's convention hotels, Savannah's historic district, and the Golden Isles. Storm, fire and water losses, with the lost-income claim that follows a closed property.
Church roofs and sanctuaries, medical offices, shopping centers and office buildings. Hail called cosmetic, water damage called gradual, and repair estimates that leave out code-required work.
Distribution centers along I-75, I-85 and I-20, cold storage, and the warehouses that serve the Port of Savannah. Roof and membrane damage after hail or wind, sprinkler discharges and freeze breaks, fire and smoke through stored inventory, and the argument over what the stock was worth.
Mid-rise and high-rise associations in Midtown and Buckhead, townhome communities in the suburbs, and coastal associations on St. Simons and Tybee. Master-policy disputes over roofs, siding, common elements and named-storm deductibles.
The income your business lost while it was shut or slowed, and the extra cost of keeping it open. Disputes over the period of restoration, how the loss is measured, and what counts as extra expense.
House fires, total losses and major water or tree damage of $100,000 and above. Homeowners can also start on our Georgia major loss claims page.
Why Georgia businesses choose us
We don't represent insurance companies. Ever.
That's not a marketing line, it's a structural choice.
Policyholders only. No carrier defense work. Our entire practice is built around policyholder representation — never carriers, never adjuster panels, never insurance defense. This matters for commercial buyers because conflicts of interest are denser in commercial work (the same carriers appear across files). PPL cannot be conflicted out of your file by an existing defense relationship — we don't have any.
Most commercial matters are handled on a contingency fee: no fee unless we win. That phrase refers only to fees charged by the attorney. Contingent fees are not permitted in all types of cases. Court costs and other expenses of legal action usually must be paid by the client. Larger matters can be structured differently; we put the terms in writing before you engage us.
We review commercial claims anywhere in Georgia by phone and video. Georgia matters are handled by or with Georgia-licensed counsel, including any suit in a Georgia state, superior or federal court.
How it works
Most Georgia commercial policyholders are surprised how little operational time the claim takes once an attorney is involved — even with carriers used to grinding down policyholders without representation.
Commercial intake protocol. Free, confidential conversation. Bring your policy declaration page, full policy with endorsements (especially ISO CP 00 10, CP 00 30, CP 04 05, applicable Equipment Breakdown endorsements), the carrier's denial or estimate letter, your forensic accountant's BI calculation if you have one, and any prior correspondence with the carrier or your broker.
Investigation and expert work-up. We engage forensic accountants on BI calculations, engineers on causation and scope, public adjusters on contents and equipment valuation, and IT/manufacturing consultants where applicable. We obtain the policy's underwriting file, the carrier's claim notes (where producible), and any prior loss runs that bear on the dispute.
We send the carrier a documented demand that sets out what the loss is worth and where the claim handling fell short. It includes the 60-day demand that Georgia's bad-faith statute, O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6, requires before a penalty and attorney's fees can be claimed. Many commercial claims resolve at this stage.
With Georgia-licensed counsel, in a Georgia state or superior court or in federal court, and always inside the policy's suit deadline.
Questions before you engage
Yes, frequently. Brokers know our practice and refer commercial property losses; we collaborate without disturbing the broker relationship and brief brokers throughout the claim. Public adjusters often partner with us on technical estimating where coverage litigation is also needed — PAs handle the loss-side estimate, we handle the coverage-side legal posture. We don't compete with brokers or PAs; we add the litigation backstop they don't provide.
Most commercial matters are handled on a contingency fee: no fee unless we win. That phrase refers only to fees charged by the attorney. Contingent fees are not permitted in all types of cases. Court costs and other expenses of legal action usually must be paid by the client. Larger matters can be structured differently; we put the terms in writing before you engage us.
These are formal investigation tools the carrier can require under most commercial policies. An EUO is a recorded examination under oath; a Sworn Proof of Loss is a notarized formal claim statement. Both are mandatory if properly demanded, but both have significant procedural requirements the carrier often gets wrong. We attend EUOs with our clients, prepare the witness, and challenge defective demands. We assist with Sworn Proofs of Loss to ensure the carrier cannot use a technical defect to deny the claim. Treat any EUO or SPL demand as a serious moment to engage counsel — the carrier is preserving its denial position.
It depends on the loss. Appraisal under most commercial policies is a panel process: each side appoints an appraiser, the two choose an umpire, and the panel sets the amount of the loss. It decides the amount, not whether the loss is covered. It can be the right move when coverage is clear and only the number is in dispute. It is often the wrong one when causation or coverage is contested or the business-income claim is complex. We look at both paths before you respond, and we handle the appraisal if that is where the claim goes.
The policy sets the method: the income the business would have earned, less what it did earn and the expenses that stopped, over the period it should reasonably take to repair. Carriers dispute each of those three numbers. We work with forensic accountants to rebuild the figures from your own records.
Yes, at $100,000 and above: house fires, total losses, and major water or tree damage.
We represent only policyholders — never carriers, never adjuster panels, never insurance defense. This eliminates the most common conflict in commercial property work: the same carriers appear repeatedly across files, and defense firms that work with those carriers cannot represent you against them. We're not conflicted out by an existing carrier relationship because we don't have any. We also screen new matters carefully — if you've been referred by your broker or PA, we confirm there's no conflict on their side before engaging.
The policy itself, enforced as a contract. Georgia's bad-faith statute, O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6, under which an insurer that refuses in bad faith to pay a covered loss within 60 days of a proper demand may owe a penalty and attorney's fees on top of the loss. And the Commissioner of Insurance, who enforces Georgia's claim-handling standards; a policyholder cannot sue under those standards directly, but a complaint can move a stalled claim. All of it has to happen inside the policy's deadline to sue.
Ready to talk?
Free policy review by phone or video.
