How Do Insurance Adjusters Become Licensed?

Insurance claim decisions are decisions that impact peoples lives on the same scale as a personal loan does in the financial world. Just as loan underwriters must have a significant amount of experience or education to approve loans, insurance adjusters must have the same. There is an entire separate world of business out there for licensing and educating insurance claims adjusters of all kinds. Here is a little bit of information as to how they are trained and certified.

First of all, insurance is regulated at the state level, meaning that there are roughly 51 (including Washington DC) different regulatory bodies present. Each state, or district, makes its own laws and regulations to enforce the handling of insurance and each adjuster must comply. Failure to comply with state regulations could mean fines or loss of licenses to those that violate the statutes.

The state Department of Insurance will set the guidelines for what general insurance education must be completed to be an insurance adjuster. The individual applying for the license must take an exam to be qualified to practice insurance in that state. This individual may opt to take the exams on his or her own and pay to learn as well as to take the exam or it may be paid for by a potential employer. Many insurance companies will pay to both train the employee and pay for the exam that the employee must pass.

Once an individual has completed the required licensing courses, he or she will then be able to work for the company that trained them. At this point there are requirements in all states that the individual must complete a certain amount of continuing education courses to keep the license. This ensures that all adjusters are constantly learning about the evolving world of insurance.

These courses are offered by many independent companies, the biggest being the AICPCU (The American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Insurance Institute of America). This is a company that was founded in 1942 by insurance professionals with the sole purpose of educating future adjusters across the world. These individuals realized the importance of having one set of agreed upon standards and began teaching them as such.

As you can see, there is reason to feel confident that the adjuster you have on your insurance claim is educated. However, this doesn't mean that he or she is above reproach and you should question any decision you deem to be unfair or unfounded.