State guide · Southeast
Georgia subrogation law guide
The insured recovers nothing if it is 50% or more responsible; below that, damages are reduced by its percentage. Fault is apportioned among all parties and properly noticed nonparties, including in single-defendant cases since a 2022 amendment.
Georgia at a glanceGA
- Property damage
- 4 years
- Bodily injury
- 2 years
- Fault rule
- Modified, 50% bar
- Gov. notice
- 180 days
Overview
Georgia gives property subrogation a generous four-year limitation period under O.C.G.A. 9-3-30 and 9-3-31, twice the two years allowed for bodily injury, so a single collision can carry two very different clocks. The comparative fault rule bars recovery when the insured is 50% or more responsible, and the apportionment statute requires the jury to allocate fault among everyone who contributed, including nonparties identified by notice, with no contribution among defendants. A 2022 amendment extended apportionment to single-defendant cases. Claims against cities need ante litem notice within six months that states a specific damages amount; counties and the State allow twelve months. Medical payments and health benefit recoveries face the strict complete compensation rule in O.C.G.A. 33-24-56.1. The 2025 tort reform law, SB 68, signed April 21, 2025, reshaped injury litigation: seatbelt nonuse is now admissible on comparative negligence and apportionment, medical damages are tied to amounts actually paid or owed for newer claims, either party can request a bifurcated trial in injury cases, and arguments on noneconomic damages are limited. Those changes mainly affect bodily injury, uninsured motorist and medical payments recoveries; property subrogation rules are largely unchanged.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 4 years
- O.C.G.A. 9-3-30 (trespass upon or damage to realty) and O.C.G.A. 9-3-31 (injuries to personalty)
- Bodily injury SOL
- 2 years
- O.C.G.A. 9-3-33
- Product liability
- 2 years for personal injury (O.C.G.A. 9-3-33) and 4 years for property damage (O.C.G.A. 9-3-31); 10-year statute of repose from the date of first sale for use or consumption (O.C.G.A. 51-1-11(b)(2) and (c)), which does not bar claims based on the duty to warn or on willful, reckless or wanton disregard for life or property
- Written contract
- 6 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Modified, 50% bar
- O.C.G.A. 51-12-33(g); O.C.G.A. 51-11-7
- Government notice of claim
- 180 days
- Written ante litem notice must be presented to the municipality's governing authority within 6 months of the event, describing the time, place and extent of the injury, the negligence that caused it, and the specific amount of monetary damages sought (O.C.G.A. 36-33-5). Claims against counties must be presented within 12 months (O.C.G.A. 36-11-1). Claims against the State under the Georgia Tort Claims Act require ante litem notice within 12 months, delivered to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services with a copy to the state entity involved (O.C.G.A. 50-21-26).
Fault rule in practice
How Georgia's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
The insured recovers nothing if it is 50% or more responsible; below that, damages are reduced by its percentage. Fault is apportioned among all parties and properly noticed nonparties, including in single-defendant cases since a 2022 amendment.
Authority: O.C.G.A. 51-12-33(g); O.C.G.A. 51-11-7
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in GA | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | Barred | $25,000 |
| 60% | Barred | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Georgia doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
Duncan v. Integon General Insurance Corp., 267 Ga. 646 (1997) adopted a complete compensation rule, and O.C.G.A. 33-24-56.1 codifies it for benefit providers, including auto medical payments carriers: reimbursement is allowed only if the insured's recovery exceeds all economic and noneconomic losses, and it is reduced by a pro rata share of attorney fees. Contrary policy provisions are unenforceable as against public policy. The defense belongs to the insured, so a tortfeasor cannot raise it, and uninsured motorist carriers keep a statutory subrogation right against the tortfeasor (O.C.G.A. 33-7-11(f)).
Economic loss doctrine
Georgia bars tort recovery when a product damages only itself, but Vulcan Materials Co. v. Driltech, Inc., 251 Ga. 383 (1983) recognizes an accident exception for sudden and calamitous failures that create a risk to persons or other property. Damage to other property, such as a house burned by a failed appliance, is recoverable under the product liability statute, O.C.G.A. 51-1-11.
Joint and several liability
O.C.G.A. 51-12-33 requires the jury to apportion fault among all persons who contributed to the injury, including nonparties named by timely notice, and each defendant pays only its share. Apportioned damages are not subject to contribution or settlement setoff (McReynolds v. Krebs, 290 Ga. 850 (2012)), and a 2022 amendment extended apportionment to cases with a single defendant.
Anti-subrogation and waiver
A carrier cannot subrogate against its own insured or a co-insured (AEW No. 2 Corp. v. Federal Insurance Co., 603 S.E.2d 22 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004)), and it cannot work around the rule by having one co-insured sue another and remit the recovery. A lessee covered as an insured under the lessor's policy is protected from subrogation for damage to the leased equipment.
Practice notes
Working Georgia subrogation files.
- 1
Run two clocks on mixed Georgia losses. Vehicle and building damage claims have four years under 9-3-30 and 9-3-31, but a medical payments or uninsured motorist recovery tied to the same crash follows the two-year injury period in 9-3-33. For product claims, check the first-sale date: a water heater sold eleven years before the loss is beyond the ten-year repose unless the claim rests on failure to warn or reckless conduct.
- 2
Apportionment and the 50% bar compound each other. If a carrier pays $55,000 after a three-vehicle collision and the jury assigns 30% to the insured, 50% to the other driver and 20% to a nonparty truck that left the scene, the carrier recovers $27,500 from the driver and nothing for the nonparty share. At 50% insured fault it recovers nothing. Identify every vehicle and witness early.
- 3
A police cruiser collision or a city sewer backup requires ante litem notice to the municipality within six months, and since 2014 the notice must state a specific dollar amount, which serves as an offer of compromise rather than a cap on the later suit. County claims have twelve months, and State claims need notice to the Department of Administrative Services Risk Management Division within twelve months. Use certified mail, return receipt requested, for State claims.
- 4
SB 68 matters most for injury-related recoveries. Seatbelt nonuse is admissible on comparative negligence and apportionment under amended O.C.G.A. 40-8-76.1, which can shift fault onto an injured insured, and medical damages for newer claims turn on amounts actually paid or owed under O.C.G.A. 51-12-1.1. Revalue open medical payments and uninsured motorist files with those rules in mind; property and collision recoveries are largely unaffected.
- 5
Ishqkala sets four-year expiry dates for Georgia property damage and two-year dates for injury-related dollars in the same file, and opens a six-month ante litem clock when a city vehicle, sewer or road condition appears in the narrative. For medical payments dollars it applies O.C.G.A. 33-24-56.1, holding automatic demands until the file shows the insured's recovery exceeds total economic and noneconomic loss.
Key cases
Duncan v. Integon General Insurance Corp.
267 Ga. 646, 482 S.E.2d 325 (1997)
Adopted the complete compensation rule: where the insurer or the insured must go unpaid, the loss falls on the insurer that collected the premium. Medical payments reimbursement requires proof the insured was fully compensated.
McReynolds v. Krebs
290 Ga. 850, 725 S.E.2d 584 (2012)
Under the apportionment statute, defendants pay only their apportioned shares, with no setoff for settlements and no contribution among them. A carrier must win its recovery defendant by defendant.
Zaldivar v. Prickett
297 Ga. 589, 774 S.E.2d 688 (2015)
Fault can be apportioned to a nonparty only on proof that the nonparty breached a legal duty in tort that proximately caused the harm. Expect defendants to build an evidentiary case against absent parties.
Inter-company arbitration
Arbitration Forums panels apply Georgia law, including the 50% bar, and signatory carriers must arbitrate company-paid damages up to $100,000 in the Automobile and Property forums. The Medical Payment forum is compulsory only where state law permits medical payments subrogation, and O.C.G.A. 33-24-56.1 sharply restricts it in Georgia, so confirm the right exists before filing. Because property damage carries four years, arbitration filings rarely face limitation problems, but injury-related claims on the same loss do.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
GA rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Georgia loss state are calendared against the 4 years property damage period or the 2 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under modified, 50% bar before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Files involving a public entity get a 180-day notice deadline that outranks the general SOL in the priority queue.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
FAQ
Georgia subrogation FAQ
4 years (O.C.G.A. 9-3-30 (trespass upon or damage to realty) and O.C.G.A. 9-3-31 (injuries to personalty)). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Modified, 50% bar (O.C.G.A. 51-12-33(g); O.C.G.A. 51-11-7). The insured recovers nothing if it is 50% or more responsible; below that, damages are reduced by its percentage. Fault is apportioned among all parties and properly noticed nonparties, including in single-defendant cases since a 2022 amendment.
Written ante litem notice must be presented to the municipality's governing authority within 6 months of the event, describing the time, place and extent of the injury, the negligence that caused it, and the specific amount of monetary damages sought (O.C.G.A. 36-33-5). Claims against counties must be presented within 12 months (O.C.G.A. 36-11-1). Claims against the State under the Georgia Tort Claims Act require ante litem notice within 12 months, delivered to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services with a copy to the state entity involved (O.C.G.A. 50-21-26).
Duncan v. Integon General Insurance Corp., 267 Ga. 646 (1997) adopted a complete compensation rule, and O.C.G.A. 33-24-56.1 codifies it for benefit providers, including auto medical payments carriers: reimbursement is allowed only if the insured's recovery exceeds all economic and noneconomic losses, and it is reduced by a pro rata share of attorney fees. Contrary policy provisions are unenforceable as against public policy. The defense belongs to the insured, so a tortfeasor cannot raise it, and uninsured motorist carriers keep a statutory subrogation right against the tortfeasor (O.C.G.A. 33-7-11(f)).
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