Five states bar percentage fees when insurers pay policy limits within 72 hours

If your insurer responds to a loss by paying — or committing in writing to pay — the full policy limit within 72 hours, five states say your public adjuster cannot collect a percentage-based fee. The adjuster is limited to reasonable compensation for time spent and expenses incurred. The rule exists in Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Rhode Island, and it uses nearly identical language in each.

What the rule does

The 72-hour policy-limit carve-out converts a public adjuster’s fee from a percentage of the settlement to a time-and-expense basis. The trigger is specific: the insurer must pay or commit in writing to pay the policy limit within 72 hours of the date the loss is reported. If that happens, the adjuster may not collect a percentage commission on the claim.

The logic is straightforward. A public adjuster’s value is in negotiating and documenting a claim when the insurer disputes scope, pricing, or coverage. When the carrier pays limits immediately, there is little negotiation to perform, and a percentage fee would compensate work that was never done.

The statute language, state by state

Each state enacted its own version, but the operative language is nearly identical:

Texas — Tex. Ins. Code § 4102.104(b):

“A license holder may not receive a commission consisting of a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim on a claim on which the insurer, not later than 72 hours after the date on which the loss is reported to the insurer, either pays or commits in writing to pay to the insured the policy limit of the insurance policy.”

Georgia — O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.3(b):

“An adjuster shall not receive a commission consisting of a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim on a claim on which the insurer, not later than 72 hours after the date on which the loss is reported to the insurer, either pays or commits in writing to pay to the insured the policy limit of the insurance policy.”

Louisiana — R.S. 22:1704(C):

“If the insurer, not later than seventy-two hours after the date on which the loss is reported to the insurer, either pays or commits in writing to pay to the insured the policy limit of the insurance policy, the public adjuster shall […] be entitled only to reasonable compensation from the insured for services provided by the public adjuster on behalf of the insured, based on the time spent on a claim and expenses incurred by the public adjuster.”

North Carolina — G.S. 58-33A-65(c):

“If the insurer, not later than 72 hours after the date on which the loss is reported to the insurer, either pays or commits in writing to pay to the insured the policy limit of the insurance policy, the public adjuster shall […] not receive a commission consisting of a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim.”

Rhode Island — 230-RICR-20-50-4.12(A)(5):

“If the insurer, not later than seventy-two (72) hours after the date on which the loss is reported to the insurer, either pays or commits in writing to pay to the insured a policy coverage limit(s), the public adjuster shall, with respect to that coverage […] not receive a commission consisting of a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim.”

What “commits in writing” means

The trigger requires a written commitment to pay the full policy limit — not a verbal promise, not a partial payment, not a reservation-of-rights letter. An email, letter, or documented statement from the insurer committing to pay limits satisfies the requirement. A partial offer or a denial does not.

Save every written communication from your insurer in the first 72 hours. The date and content of that commitment is the evidence that determines whether the percentage-fee bar applies.

What happens to the adjuster’s fee

The adjuster does not work for free. In all five states, the statute entitles the adjuster to “reasonable compensation” based on time spent and expenses incurred up to the point the claim was paid or the written commitment was received. This is functionally an hourly or flat-fee arrangement, determined after the fact.

If you signed a contingency contract before the insurer’s commitment arrived, the 72-hour rule overrides the percentage term. The contract remains in force for any other services, but the percentage commission on the policy-limit payment is void by statute.

When the rule does not apply

The 72-hour carve-out is narrow. It does not apply when:

• The insurer pays less than the full policy limit.
• The insurer takes longer than 72 hours to commit.
• The commitment is verbal rather than written.
• The claim involves multiple coverage parts and only some reach policy limits (the rule applies per-coverage-part in Rhode Island; consult the statute in other states).

Most claims do not trigger this rule. Disputes over scope, depreciation, and coverage interpretation typically take weeks or months to resolve. A public adjuster working a contested claim on a percentage basis is doing substantive work that justifies the fee.

Sources

• Tex. Ins. Code § 4102.104 — Texas fee and 72-hour rule
• O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.3 — Georgia adjuster compensation
• La. R.S. 22:1704 — Louisiana contract and 72-hour rule
• G.S. 58-33A-65 — North Carolina public adjuster fees
• 230-RICR-20-50-4.12 — Rhode Island public adjuster regulation

Use the fee calculator to compare fee caps across all verified states, or see the policy-limit carve-outs table for a side-by-side comparison.

Related

• Louisiana public adjusters can't charge a percentage — what they charge instead, and the 72-hour rule that mirrors Texas
• Texas: if your insurer pays policy limits within 72 hours, a public adjuster can't take a percentage at all