ADJUSTER LICENSE RECIPROCITY BY STATE

What is Adjuster License Reciprocity?

Adjuster license reciprocity is an agreement between states that allows an adjuster to apply for an adjuster license in another state without the need to take the second state's exam or pre-licensing course. The license you would apply for in the second state (or third, fourth, etc.) is referred to as a nonresident adjuster license. There are a few limitations with nonresident adjuster licenses of which you need to be aware. We explain in the following paragraphs.

Adjuster Licensing Always Begins with Your Home State Statutes

Licensing always starts with your own home state, which means the state in which you hold your legal residence. If the state where you live does not license adjusters (Independent, All Lines, General, etc.) even if they DO license PUBLIC adjusters, you will have to select a state to become your designated home state for licensing purposes. Nonresident adjuster license reciprocity depends on the agreement between your home state (or designated home state or DHS) and the other states in which you would like to apply for a nonresident adjuster license.

The following states offer licenses for independent or company adjusters. If you live in one of the states listed below, you must hold a license there FIRST before you can become a nonresident licensed adjuster in any of the other states:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

For Adjuster Licenses to be Reciprocal, They Must Be "Substantially Similar"

The adjuster license that you hold in your home state or your DHS must be "substantially similar" to the nonresident adjuster license you are applying for in the reciprocal state. For example, let's say your home state is Louisiana and you hold a Louisiana Automobile Adjuster license. You would like to apply for a non-resident adjuster license in Texas, but Texas does not offer an automobile adjuster license. In this situation, you would be required to go back and take the state licensing exam for Property & Casualty Adjuster in your home state of Louisiana to be permitted to apply for a nonresident Property & Casualty Adjuster license in Texas.

Another important example would be if your home state is Texas and you would like to hold a nonresident license in Florida to adjust claims after a hurricane. Let's say you hold a Property & Casualty Adjuster license in Texas and you apply for the nonresident Florida All Lines Adjuster license, you will be denied. Florida does not offer a Property & Casualty Adjuster license and their All Lines 620/7020 license includes the authority to adjust workers' compensation claims. In this case, you would have to go back and get the Texas All Lines Adjuster license that provides workers' compensation authority to be granted a Florida All Lines Adjuster license.

Reciprocal License States Must Have Similar Continuing Education Requirements

When a state accepts a nonresident adjuster license application, the applicant must have completed their home state or DHS licensing examination that is substantially similar to the reciprocal state's exam. Additionally, the nonresident applicant's home state or DHS must have a substantially similar continuing education requirement that must be fulfilled before the applicant can renew their home state or DHS adjuster license. In this situation, if your home state does not have a continuing education requirement for adjusters, but your nonresident licensing state(s) DO have a CE requirement, you may have to complete the continuing education requirements for your nonresident state(s) in order to renew your nonresident licenses.

What if You Live in a State that DOES NOT License Independent or Company Adjusters?

If you want to become an Independent or Company adjuster and you live in one of the following states, you will need to select a state to designate as your home state (DHS) for licensing purposes:

Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin.

Florida 70-20 DHS Course for nonlicensing Independent, Company Adjuster States

If you live in one of the above states, we recommend designating Florida as your home state for licensing purposes. Why? Because Florida offers an extensive exam with every topic covered. With a Florida 70-20 DHS license, you will never have to worry that your designated home state license will not be accepted by other states for a reciprocal nonresident license because of a "substantially similar" requirement. Additionally, Florida requires 24 hours of continuing education credit every two years to renew an adjuster license. 24 hours is the highest number of CE hours required anywhere in the country for adjusters so again, reciprocal states would not reject a nonresident license application due to insufficient continuing education requirements in the applicant's designated home state.

To view our Florida All Lines DHS Adjuster Course CLICK HERE!

If Not Florida, Then Make It Texas

If you would rather not make Florida your designated home state, we would recommend our Texas All Lines Adjuster course. Texas has a fast turn around time on licenses, their license covers most lines of authority and their continuing education requirements for license renewal are second to no other state.

To view our Texas All Lines Adjuster Course CLICK HERE!

PLEASE NOTE: The states of Alaska and Arizona do not accept DHS licenses for nonresident reciprocity. This means that if you live in a nonlicensing state like Colorado and you hold a Texas DHS license, you will still have to take the Alaska or Arizona state licensing exam if you would like to obtain a nonresident license for those states.

ALSO NOTE: The states of California, Hawaii, and New York do not grant reciprocity to any other state's adjuster license. This means that if you would like to hold independent adjuster licenses in California, Hawaii, or New York, you must take the state exams no matter how many other adjuster licenses you hold in any of the other states.

To view all adjuster courses offered by Insurance Schools CLICK HERE!

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