The Insurance Company Offered Policy Limits in Georgia: What Should You Do?

A policy-limits offer means the at-fault driver’s insurer is offering the most its policy will pay, often because your claim may be worth more. Before you accept, confirm the limits in writing and look for other insurance. If you have uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, use a limited release that keeps your UM claim alive (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1).

Accepting the limits is often the right decision. The costly mistakes happen in how you accept: a general release, a missed umbrella policy or a lien no one negotiated. This guide walks through each step under Georgia law.

What Should You Do After a Policy-Limits Offer?

Do not sign anything yet. Work through these steps first:

• Get the limits confirmed in writing, including any umbrella or excess policy.
• Look for other people and policies that may owe, such as the vehicle owner or the driver’s employer.
• Check your own UM coverage and every policy in your household.
• Notify your UM carrier in writing.
• If others were hurt, agree in writing on how the limits are shared.
• Identify every lien before the money is distributed.
• If you have UM coverage, sign a limited release under O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1, not a general release.

Written by attorney Jonathan Flack. Before founding Flack Injury Law, Jonathan spent two and a half years on the insurance side of commercial truck, tractor-trailer and medical transport van cases. Super Lawyers Rising Star (2024 to 2027). The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, Civil Plaintiff (2026). GTLA member. Last reviewed: November 1, 2026.

Why Do Insurers Offer Their Policy Limits?

Insurers usually offer limits when a jury could award more than the policy covers. If an insurer unreasonably refuses to settle within its limits, it may be liable to its own policyholder for the judgment above them. The test is whether an ordinarily prudent insurer would see trying the case as an unreasonable risk (Cotton States Mutual Insurance Co. v. Brightman, Ga. 2003).

Georgia’s time-limited demand statute, as rewritten in 2024, also gives insurers a safe harbor. If, by the deadlines in a qualifying demand, the insurer accepts the material terms in writing, gives any required sworn coverage statement, and pays the lesser of the demand or its limits, no claim for failure to settle can be brought against it (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1(i)).

Jonathan Flack spent two and a half years on the insurance side of commercial vehicle cases. A limits offer tells you the insurer has done the math on its own risk. It does not tell you whether other money is available.

In one case, a client came to us after a year with another firm in which, she told us, nothing had happened in her DUI crash case in Barrow County. Within one month of her switching to Flack Injury Law, we secured a $250,000 policy-limits settlement, which was the maximum coverage available. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

How Do You Confirm the Policy Limits?

Do not rely on an adjuster’s phone call. Georgia lets a claimant demand written coverage disclosure (O.C.G.A. § 33-3-28):

• You send the insurer a written request by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. It must state the specific nature of your claim under oath.
• Within 60 days, the insurer must provide a sworn statement from an officer or claims manager. It lists each known policy, including excess or umbrella coverage, with the insurer, each insured and the limits. The insurer may send the declarations pages instead.
• The at-fault driver must name each known insurer that may be liable within 30 days of a written request from you or your attorney.

A time-limited demand under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1 can also require the insurer to state under oath whether it has disclosed all of its policies that may cover the claim.

Where Else Can Money Come From?

A limits offer covers one policy. Others may apply:

• Other policies on the driver or vehicle. If the driver did not own the car, the owner’s policy and the driver’s own policy may both apply, along with any umbrella policy.
• An employer. If the driver was working, the employer may be liable for the crash (O.C.G.A. § 51-2-2). Commercial policies often carry much higher limits than personal ones.
• Your own UM coverage. Georgia UM coverage is add-on unless you chose reduced-by coverage in writing (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11). With $25,000 in liability limits and $100,000 in add-on UM, up to $125,000 may be available. With reduced-by coverage, the total is $100,000.
• Household UM. A spouse or relative you live with may have a policy that also covers you (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11).

Our guide to uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia explains how these policies fit together.

How Does a Limited Release Protect Your UM Claim?

A general release of the at-fault driver can end your UM claim. Georgia’s limited release statute solves that when two or more insurers cover the claim and you accept the at-fault driver’s full policy limits (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1). A limited release:

• Releases the settling insurer from liability for your injury claims.
• Releases the driver from personal liability, except to the extent other insurance, such as your UM coverage, is available.
• Does not release other people or other insurers unless it says so.

Know what you give up. Beyond the available insurance, you can no longer pursue the driver’s personal assets. If the driver has significant assets, discuss that before you sign.

The exact wording matters. Compare a general release vs. a limited release in Georgia, or send us your settlement release for a free review before you sign.

Do You Have to Notify Your UM Carrier Before Settling?

You do not need its permission. A UM policy issued in Georgia cannot bar you from accepting the liability insurer’s limits under the limited release statute, or require the UM carrier’s consent (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1).

Notice is still wise. Your policy may have its own notice terms, and a UM carrier that pays you gains your rights against the at-fault driver (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11). If you file suit and a UM claim is in play, the UM carrier must be served with the lawsuit as if it were a party (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11). Send written notice of the limits offer before you sign.

What If Several People Were Hurt in the Same Crash?

Liability policies have a per-person limit and a per-accident limit. Georgia’s minimum is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash (O.C.G.A. §§ 33-34-4, 40-9-37 and 33-7-11). If three people are badly hurt, they may have to share that $50,000.

With several claimants, the limited release statute lets the insurer pay its limits under a written agreement among them (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1). Agreeing on the split is often the hardest part. Each person’s own UM coverage may then cover some of what the shared limits do not.

What Comes Out of a Policy-Limits Settlement?

When the total is fixed, every lien dollar comes out of your share:

• Hospital and provider liens. Hospitals, nursing homes, physician practices and chiropractic practices can claim a lien against your injury claim (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470). See hospital liens in Georgia.
• Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare generally must be repaid within 60 days, and interest may be charged if it is not (42 C.F.R. § 411.24). Georgia Medicaid has a lien on recoveries from a liable third party (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-149). See Medicare and Medicaid liens.
• Health insurance. A Georgia-regulated health plan can be repaid only if your recovery exceeds all of your losses, reduced by its share of attorney fees (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-56.1). When the limits fall short of your losses, that plan may have no right to repayment. Some employer plans follow federal rules instead.

For crashes on or after April 21, 2025, insurers can also argue the reasonable value of your care using health plan rates (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1). See our guide to SB 68.

Do You Need a Lawyer to Accept Policy Limits?

Not always. Suppose the limits are confirmed, no other policy applies, the driver has no meaningful assets and you have no UM coverage. The limits may then be all anyone can recover. A lawyer’s fee comes out of that same amount, so ask what a lawyer can add.

A lawyer can add value by finding more coverage, protecting your UM claim with the right release and reducing liens. Those are the places where a limits case is won or lost.

A free review answers that question. Send us the offer and release or call (678) 653-0309. You can speak directly with Jonathan Flack, and you owe no fee and no case costs unless we recover money for you. If the offer is below the limits, read whether to accept a first settlement offer.

Policy Limits Offer Questions

Should I accept a policy-limits offer in Georgia?

Often yes, once you confirm the limits and check for other coverage. If you have UM coverage, use a limited release that protects your UM claim (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1).

Can I get more than the at-fault driver’s policy limits?

Sometimes. Your UM coverage, an employer, another policy or the driver’s own assets may add more. An insurer that unreasonably refused an earlier demand within limits may also be liable to its own policyholder for a verdict above them.

Does accepting policy limits end my UM claim?

Not if you sign a proper limited release. A general release of the at-fault driver can end it.

How do I find out the at-fault driver’s policy limits in Georgia?

Send the insurer a written request, with the nature of your claim stated under oath, by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery (O.C.G.A. § 33-3-28). It must respond within 60 days with a sworn statement or the declarations pages.

Do I need my UM carrier’s permission to accept the limits?

No. Georgia law bars a UM policy from requiring its permission to settle with the liability insurer under O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1. You should still notify it in writing first.

Who gets the money if several people were hurt?

The injured people share the per-accident limit. The insurer can pay it under a written agreement among them (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1).

Related Guides

• Should I Accept the Insurance Company’s First Settlement Offer in Georgia?
• General Release vs. Limited Release in Georgia
• Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Georgia
• Medicare and Medicaid Liens in a Georgia Personal Injury Settlement

See all our guides for people hurt in Georgia crashes.