How to get an adjuster license: requirements, steps, and state rules

Becoming an insurance adjuster starts with an adjuster license issued by your state's insurance department. In the states that require one, the path is nearly identical: complete any required pre-licensing education, pass a state exam, submit fingerprints for a background check, and file an application. A minority of jurisdictions do not license adjusters at all, and their residents use a designated home state license from Texas or Florida instead. No college degree is required to enter the field, and most candidates move from first step to license within a few weeks to a few months.

What adjusters do, and who they work for

An insurance adjuster investigates insurance claims, decides whether the policy covers the loss, and determines how much the insurer pays. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics^[1] describes the work as investigating and evaluating claims, checking that claims are not fraudulent, negotiating settlements, and authorizing payments.

Most adjusters fall into three groups. Staff adjusters are salaried employees of a single insurance company. Independent adjusters contract with adjusting firms and insurers, and many travel to regions hit by storms, wildfires, and other disasters. Public adjusters work for the policyholder rather than the insurer, preparing and negotiating the claim for a percentage of the settlement.

Adjuster work sits on the property and casualty side of the industry. Florida's all-lines adjuster license, for instance, covers losses under insurance contracts other than life and annuity contracts (Florida Statutes 626.866^[2]). Entry-level education for the occupation is typically a high school diploma or equivalent, and the broader occupation employed about 389,700 people in 2025 (Bureau of Labor Statistics^[1]).

Where adjuster licenses are required

Most states require independent and public adjusters to hold a state license, but adjuster rules vary more than agent rules do. A minority of jurisdictions do not license company or independent adjusters at all. Illinois is one of them: its Department of Insurance licenses public adjusters only (Illinois Department of Insurance^[3]). And in some states, adjusters on an insurer's payroll may handle claims under the company's own license instead of getting one themselves, the Bureau of Labor Statistics^[1] notes, while independent and public adjusters must be licensed individually everywhere they are regulated.

If you live in one of these jurisdictions, the standard route to an adjuster license is a designated home state license from Texas or Florida, covered below.

The path to an adjuster license

The steps are the same in nearly every licensing state: confirm the license type, meet the education or experience requirement, pass the exam, submit fingerprints, and apply. What varies is the detail inside each step. The table below shows how six states compare on the pieces that differ most.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance^[4], California Department of Insurance^[5], Florida Department of Financial Services^[6], New York State Department of Financial Services^[7], Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[8], Illinois Department of Insurance^[3].

Confirm the license type your state offers

Your state's insurance department decides which adjuster licenses exist and what each covers. Texas issues an all-lines adjuster license, the most common adjuster credential in the state, covering catastrophe, property and casualty, and workers' compensation claims under a single license (Texas Department of Insurance^[9]). Florida issues a comparable all-lines license, class 6-20 for residents and 7-20 for nonresidents (Florida Department of Financial Services^[6]). New York licenses independent and public adjusters separately, and California licenses independent adjusters.

Complete pre-licensing education or build experience

Licensing states split into those that require coursework, those that require experience, and those that require neither. Georgia requires 16 hours of property and casualty adjuster courses, with course completions uploaded electronically by the education provider (Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[8]). New York requires a 40-hour approved course for public adjuster candidates and no course for independent adjuster candidates (New York State Department of Financial Services^[7]). California takes a third approach: two years of certified experience in adjusting, equal to 4,000 hours of compensated work, before the license is issued (California Department of Insurance^[5]).

Pass the state adjuster exam

Where an exam is required, you register with the vendor your state contracts with. Pearson VUE administers the adjuster exams for Texas, Georgia, and Illinois; PSI administers California's and New York's. Exam fees in the states researched run from $49 in Texas to $92 for Illinois's public adjuster exam, which includes a $50 state administrative fee. California charges $79, and Georgia charges $67 per attempt under the October 2026 Pearson VUE Georgia candidate handbook^[10].

The exams demand real preparation. Texas's all-lines adjuster exam had a 47% pass rate in February 2021, the Texas Department of Insurance^[9] reported.

Several states waive the exam for approved training or credentials. Texas exempts applicants who complete a state-approved adjusting course within the last 12 months, or who hold the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) or Associate in Claims (AIC) designation (Texas Department of Insurance^[4]). Florida recognizes more than a dozen approved designations, including the Accredited Claims Adjuster (ACA) and the AIC, plus an insurance degree with at least 18 credit hours of insurance instruction (Florida Statutes 626.221^[11]). Georgia waives the course and exam for CPCU holders and for adjusters licensed in a prior home state who apply within 90 days of moving to Georgia (Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[8]).

Submit fingerprints and apply for the license

Licensing states require a fingerprint-based background check before the license is issued. Texas residents are fingerprinted through IdentoGO, with results sent to the Department of Public Safety, and must apply online through Sircon within one year of passing the exam or retake it (Texas Department of Insurance^[4]). Florida's fingerprint fee is $52.50, paid at scheduling (Florida Department of Financial Services fees page^[12]). New York requires residents to submit electronic fingerprints and nonresidents to mail a fingerprint card, and the exam must be passed within two years of applying (New York State Department of Financial Services^[7]). Applications run through a state portal such as Sircon, or through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) where the state uses it.

What if your state does not license adjusters?

Residents of non-licensing states apply for a designated home state (DHS) license from Texas or Florida, and that license then functions as the home-state credential everywhere else. Texas issues a DHS all-lines adjuster license only to residents of states that do not license adjusters; if your own state offers a resident adjuster license, Texas declines the DHS application and keeps the fee (Texas Department of Insurance^[13]). The Texas DHS path mirrors the resident path: pass the exam for a $49 fee paid when you reserve the seat, complete fingerprints, then file the license application on the state's Sircon portal within a year of the exam or retake it. Florida offers the comparable class 70-20 nonresident all-lines license for designated home state applicants (Florida Department of Financial Services^[6]).

Can you use your license in other states?

In most states, yes. An active license in your home state lets you collect nonresident licenses elsewhere: you submit an application and a fee, and the other state waives its own exam and coursework. Texas shows how far this goes. A nonresident from a reciprocal state who holds a valid home-state license is exempt from the Texas exam, pre-licensing education, continuing education, and the criminal history report, and Texas waives the fingerprint requirement for nonresidents (Texas Department of Insurance^[14]). Florida exempts nonresident all-lines applicants whose all-lines license comes from a reciprocal home state (Florida Statutes 626.8734^[15]). Many working adjusters carry licenses in a dozen or more states this way.

Three states sit outside the reciprocity system: California, Hawaii, and New York. Applicants there complete the full local process, education and exam included, no matter which licenses they already hold, per the Indiana Department of Insurance^[16].

The public adjuster path: an exam, a bond, and experience

A public adjuster follows the same exam-and-application path, plus a surety bond and, in some states, prior experience. Public adjusters represent policyholders, preparing and negotiating property insurance claims, and they owe the claimant a fiduciary duty of loyalty; negotiating a property claim without a public adjuster license is the unauthorized practice of public adjusting (National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters^[17]).

The add-ons vary widely. Florida requires six months of continuous appointment as an adjuster before a public adjuster application, a $50,000 surety bond, and a passing score on the public adjuster exam, which no applicant may skip (Florida Statutes 626.865^[18]). New York requires a 40-hour pre-licensing course, a $1,000 bond, and five certificates of character from community members who have known the applicant for at least five years (New York State Department of Financial Services^[7]). Georgia requires a $5,000 bond and submission of the public adjuster contract within 30 days of license approval (Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[8]). Texas requires a bond of at least $10,000 and an approved contract (Texas Department of Insurance^[19]), and caps the public adjuster's fee at 10% of the settlement, per the Texas Association of Public Insurance Adjusters^[20]. Among the states researched, required bonds run from $1,000 in New York to $50,000 in Florida.

Costs, timeline, and what adjusters earn

Most new adjusters spend a few hundred dollars getting licensed. Application fees range from $15 in Michigan, plus a $5 transaction fee, to $311 per qualified manager for California's two-year independent adjuster license; New York charges $100 for a two-year term and Georgia charges $120 (Michigan DIFS^[21], California Department of Insurance^[5], New York State Department of Financial Services^[7], Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[8]). The exam adds $49 to $92 in the states researched, fingerprinting adds a vendor-set fee in a similar range rather than a state-fixed charge, and California adds a $2,000 surety bond for independent adjusters not covered by an employer's bond.

Processing is usually the shortest part of the wait. Georgia reports an average turnaround of 14 business days (Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[8]), and your course and exam schedule drives the rest of the calendar.

The pay rewards the effort. Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators earned a median annual wage of $78,000 in May 2025, with the lowest 10% earning under $48,850 and the highest 10% earning over $117,040 (Bureau of Labor Statistics^[1]). Employment is projected to decline 6% from 2025 to 2035, though about 21,600 openings arise each year from replacement needs. Auto damage appraisers, a closely related specialty, earned a median of $78,240.

How do you get hired with no experience?

The license is the entry requirement, not the job training, so plan for a bridge into the field. Many independent adjusting firms prefer candidates with a few years of claims experience, and many new adjusters get their first assignments during catastrophe events, when firms staff up quickly after storms. Texas offers one formal bridge: a 180-day temporary adjuster license, not renewable, that requires a licensed sponsor (Texas Department of Insurance^[9]). Some companies will pay your exam fee if you agree to work for them, and a few let you take a company exam in place of the state exam (Texas Department of Insurance^[9]).

Beyond the license, employers commonly expect training in estimating software used to write claims, and some carriers require their own certifications before assigning files.

Keeping your adjuster license current: renewal and CE

Adjuster licenses renew on a one- or two-year cycle in most states, and most licensing states require continuing education (CE) to renew. California requires 24 hours of CE each two-year term, including 3 hours of ethics (California Department of Insurance^[5]). Georgia requires 24 hours biennially, including 3 hours of ethics, for adjusters licensed fewer than 20 years (Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire^[22]). A handful of states require no adjuster CE at all. Florida adds a wrinkle: nonresident all-lines licenses are tied to an appointment as an independent or company adjuster, renewed every two years with the fee paid in advance (Florida Statutes 626.8734^[15]).

Where to start

Start with your own state's insurance department. Confirm whether it licenses adjusters, which license types it offers, and the education, exam, and fingerprint requirements it lists. If it does not license adjusters, begin the Texas or Florida designated home state application instead. Once licensed, add nonresident licenses for the states where you expect to work, starting with the states your region's storms most often reach, and keep an eye on the renewal calendar so the licenses stay active.