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Why Would Anyone Want To Cap Public Insurance Adjuster Fees? AGAIN!?
Small Business owners and policyholders demand choice

Current Public Adjuster Fee Regulations

A public adjuster may not charge a fee unless a written contract was executed prior to the payment of
a claim.
Public adjusters are prohibited from receiving compensation from any source which would exceed the
statutory fee cap.
Public adjusters are prohibited from charging more than 20 percent of the insurance claim payment on
claims not based on a declared emergency and 10 percent of the insurance claim payment on claims based
upon a declared emergency for claims made during the first year after the declaration of the emergency.
These fee caps apply only to residential property insurance policies and condominium association policies as
defined in s. 718.111(11), F.S..
The fee cap on re-opened or supplemental claims is 20% of the claim; however, the fee cannot be
based on any payments made by the insurer to the insured prior to the time of the public adjuster contract.
Floridas regulation of public adjusters is comparable to, and in some areas more stringent than, other
states. Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability report dated January 2010
Access to Professional Public Adjusters Must Be Protected
If the insurance industry can get the amount low enough where it discourages people from going into a
business to zealously represent folks who have a dispute with their carrier .. to unilaterally reduce by 25% the
compensation of one particular professions line of work without any basis I dont think its good policy.
-Senator Joe Negron, Senate Banking and Insurance Committee meeting of 2/19/2014 in response to a repeat
of the insurance industry effort to further weaken a public adjusters ability to charge a fair and reasonable fee
for services rendered.
The role of the public adjuster is an important one and something that we must continue to emphasize in
Tallahassee. They are small business owners and people that are creating jobs. Preventing access to public
adjusters hurts the public. Florida State Representative Jose Felix Diaz,
We ought to encourage them (public adjusters). Im going to get one next time. It does sound like they are
doing a very important service - Florida Supreme Court Justice, Barbara Pariente - during oral arguments in
the case of Kortum vs the State of Florida regarding the unconstitutional ban on solicitation by public adjusters
"The work of public adjusting is defined by the noble work of helping somebody navigate a path they have no
way of knowing how to navigate themselves, and don't believe they can." - Floridas Chief Financial Officer
and Head of the Florida Department of Financial Services , Jeffrey Atwater, keynote address at FAPIA Annual
Conference in Tampa, August 2013

Common Insurance Industry Myths About Public Adjusters Debunked

Insurance Industry Myth #1:

Lowering public adjuster fees will help reduce insurance premiums.

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Public adjuster fees are paid as a percentage of the recovery, directly by the policyholder from their proceeds.
Insurers do not pay any additional amount over the claim payment toward the public adjuster fees. As a result,
there is no correlation between the amount a public adjuster charges a policyholder for their services and
premiums charged by an insurance policy. Insurers do not calculate public adjuster fees into their
underwriting data because there is no connection between the two.

Insurance Industry Myth #2:

Florida public adjusters charge the highest fees in the nation.

There are 46 states in the nation that either regulate or license the public adjusting industry. Only 11 of which
regulate place a cap or fee restriction on public adjusters. Florida is one of the most highly regulated states in
the country for the public adjusting industry (source Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability
report Number: 10-06 of January 2010). Florida already regulates public adjuster fees placing a 20% maximum
cap on the amount they can charge and placing an even more restrictive 10% cap on claims resulting from a
declared states of emergency, for a period of one year. Every other state that does not already regulate fees
allow public adjusters to charge what the market will allow (see attached data).

Insurance Industry Myth #:

Policyholders dont need public adjusters. When they hire a public adjuster, they
end up with less money to make repairs.

Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability Report on Public Adjusters
Published in January 2010 - It has already been established that the use of qualified public adjusters results,
on average, in a 547% increase in payment to policyholders on daily claims and an over 700% increase on
catastrophic losses. This would lead to the only logical conclusion that when there is a disputed claim, the use
of a professional public insurance adjuster often results in more money to the policyholder to effectuate repairs.

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas

STATE

PUBLIC ADJUSTER FEE REGULATIONS STATE BY STATE

FEE CAP PROVISIONS

No Fee Cap Provision Exists no licensing of public adjusters

No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists public adjusters are not yet licensed and regulated in

California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Arkansas
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
10% of final settlement
2.5% of initial $25,000 and 12% after that
10% of total recovery
20% of daily claims or 10% on claims resulting from a declared state of emergency
for a period of one year.
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap for daily claims 10% for catastrophic claims only
10% fee cap on commercial losses only
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists percentage fees are not permitted
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
10% of amount paid in settlement
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
10%
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
12.5%
No Fee Cap for daily claims 10% for catastrophic claims only
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap for daily claims 10% for catastrophic claims only
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
15%
10%
No Fee Cap Provision Exists percentage fees not permitted
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap for daily claims 10% for catastrophic claims only
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists
No Fee Cap Provision Exists

There are only 11 states that have any type of fee cap
regulation on professional public adjusting, including Florida.

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