How do I choose a pre-licensing course to become a public adjuster?

Start with your state's requirement, because public adjuster prelicensing education varies sharply. New York requires a Department-approved course of at least 40 hours, California requires a 20-hour prelicensing course, and Illinois requires no prelicensing course at all for its public adjuster exam. Where a course is required, it must come from a state-approved provider, and many states also require a surety bond and fingerprinting before the license is issued.

Choose a course from the state's approved-education list that covers the required 16-hour Property and Casualty public adjuster curriculum. Classroom and online formats are both accepted, but course completions must be uploaded electronically from the education provider; paper completion forms are not accepted. You must pass the public adjuster exam within one year of completing the course.

Louisiana does not require a prelicensing course for public adjuster applicants, so there is no required course to choose; prelicensing education applies only to the bail bond apprenticeship and public adjuster pre-approval process. Instead, you must file the license application first (LDI then notifies PSI of your exam eligibility), and you must hold a $50,000 surety bond before the license issues.