Resource Guide · Personal Injury
The Georgia Injury Claim Guide
How an injury claim works in Georgia, from the first week after a crash to the final check: the deadlines, the fault rules, the insurance, and what changed in 2025.
In Georgia you generally have two years from an injury to file a lawsuit, and you can recover only if you are less than 50% at fault, with your damages reduced by your share of the blame. Claims against a city, county, or the state need written notice much sooner. Most claims settle with the at-fault driver's insurer, but the deadlines run whether or not talks are going well.
A Georgia injury claim in six steps
- 1
Get care and protect evidence
Medical treatment first. Photos, witness names, the crash report, and your own notes.
- 2
Report and notify
Report the crash, notify your insurer, and be careful with the other driver's adjuster.
- 3
Treat, then total your losses
Bills, lost pay, and the effect on your life, once your doctors know where you'll land.
- 4
Demand and negotiate
A written demand to the insurer, often with a deadline to respond.
- 5
File suit if needed
If the claim won't settle fairly, a lawsuit, before the limitations period runs.
- 6
Resolve and pay liens
Settlement or verdict, then hospital, health plan, and Medicare or Medicaid paybacks.
The claim timeline guide walks through each step in detail.
Step 1 · Just Hurt
Just hurt? Start here
The first questions after a Georgia crash or injury: deadlines, fault, insurance, and what to do this week.
How long do you have to file?
Georgia's two-year deadline, the much shorter notice rules for government claims, and when the clock pauses.
Partly at fault? The 50% rule
How Georgia's modified comparative negligence rule reduces or bars recovery, with examples.
Which insurance pays after a crash?
Georgia's minimum limits, uninsured motorist coverage (added-on vs. reduced-by), and MedPay.
Your car: repairs, total loss, diminished value
How vehicle damage claims work in Georgia, including the 60-day demand that pressures slow insurers.
Step 2 · Building Your Claim
How a Georgia claim actually works
Demands, liens, medical bills, lawsuits, and the 2025 changes to Georgia injury law: what happens between the crash and the check.
Claim timeline: crash to check
Every stage of a Georgia injury claim in order, and what speeds it up or slows it down.
Settlement demands and deadlines
Georgia's rules for time-limited demands in car crash claims, rewritten in 2024, and why they matter.
Hospital liens
When a hospital or doctor can claim part of your settlement, the filing deadlines, and the health insurance rule.
Medicare, Medicaid & health plan paybacks
Georgia's made-whole rule, self-funded ERISA plans, Medicaid's lien, and Medicare's right to repayment.
What happens when you file a lawsuit
State vs. Superior Court, the answer, discovery, mediation, offers of settlement, and trial.
Settling a child's injury claim
The $25,000 thresholds under O.C.G.A. § 29-3-3, court approval, conservators, and deadlines for kids.
Step 3 · Getting Help
Choosing and working with a lawyer
How contingency fees work, what a consultation looks like, and what to do if your current lawyer isn't working out.
New in 2025
Georgia's 2025 tort reform
In April 2025 Georgia changed how injury cases are tried: what juries hear about medical bills and seatbelts, how damages can be argued, and when property owners answer for crimes on their property. If you were hurt recently, these rules may apply to your case.
Weren't wearing a seatbelt? What changed
Georgia juries can now hear seatbelt evidence. What the 2025 law says and the open question about older cases.
Medical bills: billed vs. paid after 2025
What O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1 changed about medical damages, health insurance, and letters of protection.
Negligent security after 2025
Hurt by a crime on someone's property? The new five-part test and how fault is split with the attacker.
Georgia tort reform 2025: what changed
SB 68 and SB 69 in plain English: the eight changes that matter if you were hurt in Georgia.
Key Georgia deadlines
General rules only. Exceptions can shorten or extend these periods, so confirm your own deadline with a lawyer. See the statute of limitations guide for the details.
| Claim | General deadline | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury lawsuit | 2 years from the injury | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 |
| Property damage (your vehicle) | 4 years | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-31 |
| Notice of claim against a Georgia city or town | 6 months | O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5 |
| Notice of claim against a Georgia county | 12 months | O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1 |
| Notice of claim against the State of Georgia | 12 months | O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26 |
This guide is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Talk to Jerry Parisi
Hurt in Northeast Georgia or metro Atlanta? Tell us what happened. The case review is free.