Florida Non-Resident Adjuster License Requirements: Exam, Fees, CE

To meet the Florida non-resident adjuster license requirements, you must be at least 18, pass a fingerprint-based background check, hold a qualifying license in your home state (or qualify through a designated-home-state path), and submit the application online through the Department of Financial Services with a $50 fee. If your home state has an exam-reciprocity agreement with Florida, you skip Florida’s licensing examination, and the full process generally takes about two weeks once your paperwork is in order.

Pick the Right License First

Non-residents apply for one of two license classes, and you cannot hold both at the same time.

The Non-Resident All-Lines Adjuster license (Class 7-20) is the common path. It covers property, casualty, and marine claims and authorizes you to adjust on behalf of an insurance company or an independent adjusting firm.¹

The Non-Resident Public Adjuster license (Class 73-20) is for adjusters who represent policyholders rather than insurers. It carries stricter prerequisites, including a $50,000 surety bond and conflict-of-interest restrictions.² An all-lines adjuster who is appointed as an independent adjuster, company employee adjuster, or public adjuster apprentice cannot hold a different appointment type at the same time.³

Who Qualifies

Every applicant must be at least 18 and either a U.S. citizen or a legal alien with valid work authorization.⁴ You cannot use a P.O. Box as your residential address. Everyone gets a fingerprint-based criminal background check.

Criminal History Bars

The Department will not issue a license until all related fines, court costs, and court-ordered restitution are paid. Three bar lengths apply to convictions, guilty pleas, and no-contest pleas regardless of whether adjudication was withheld.⁵

Permanent bar: capital felonies, first-degree felonies, any felony directly related to the financial services industry, embezzlement, money laundering, sale of unregistered securities, and false statements in financial services transactions.
15-year bar: felonies involving moral turpitude that fall outside the permanent-bar categories.
7-year bar: all other felonies, and misdemeanors directly related to financial services.

The clock on the 7- and 15-year bars starts when you complete your sentence or final release from supervision, not from the conviction date. A gubernatorial pardon or restoration of civil rights can sometimes lift these bars, though the Department retains discretion to deny the license anyway, and a clemency order that explicitly excludes financial services licensure provides no relief.⁵

Reciprocity and the Exam Waiver

Florida has reciprocal agreements with most U.S. states and territories. If your home state has an exam-exemption agreement, you skip Florida’s licensing examination. The DFS publishes a reciprocity table listing each state’s status for both exam waivers and continuing education reciprocity.¹

States with exam reciprocity include Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, among others. Puerto Rico also qualifies.¹

Several major states do not have exam reciprocity with Florida, including California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Hawaii. Adjusters from these states must pass Florida’s all-lines adjuster exam before the license can be issued.

If Your State Doesn’t License Adjusters

Roughly 15 states do not license insurance adjusters at all. Without a home-state license to reciprocate from, the standard non-resident path isn’t open to you. Instead, you apply for a Designated Home State (DHS) adjuster license (Class 70-20), which makes Florida your licensing home state for adjusting purposes.⁶

The DHS path usually requires passing Florida’s all-lines adjuster exam. Holders of certain professional designations, including CPCU, AIC, and RCA, are exempt. You cannot hold a resident adjuster license in any other state or a DHS license from another state at the same time. The DHS path is also available to company employee adjusters whose home state licenses only independent adjusters.⁶

Fingerprinting

Electronic fingerprinting is mandatory. You must use IdentoGo, the Department’s approved vendor, which submits prints electronically through the LiveScan system to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The fee runs about $50.75 plus applicable sales tax. If you are outside Florida and cannot reach a LiveScan location, IdentoGo can process fingerprint cards submitted by mail; contact them to set that up. Results reach DFS within about 72 business hours after processing.⁷

Extra Requirements for Public Adjusters

Public adjuster applicants face two additional prerequisites. You must file a $50,000 surety bond with the Department, issued by a surety insurer authorized in Florida. The bond names DFS as the beneficiary and remains in effect for the life of the license, continuing for one year after termination.⁸

You also need at least six continuous months of recent experience: either licensed and employed as a public adjuster, or, if your home state does not license public adjusters, six months of continuous employment as a resident adjuster in any state.²

Once licensed, public adjusters operate under strict conflict-of-interest rules: no adjusting a claim and repairing the same property, no steering to contractors in which you hold an undisclosed financial interest, no referral compensation from anyone you do business with, and no representing a policyholder on a claim you previously adjusted for an insurer or independent firm.⁹

How to Apply and What It Costs

Submit through the MyFloridaCFO portal or through NIPR, which handles the same application types for Florida non-resident adjusters and DHS licenses.¹⁰ You will need your home state license number, business and residential addresses, email, and phone number.

The application fee is $50, paid online during submission, plus a $5 license identification fee.¹¹ The Department accepts Visa, Discover, MasterCard, and American Express. A rejected payment carries a service fee of 5% of the transaction, with a $15 minimum.

After submitting, set up a MyProfile account on MyFloridaCFO. That is where you track status, view any deficiency notices, and communicate with the Department. Processing typically runs seven to ten business days. DFS verifies your home state license through the NAIC database, so confirm your resident license is current and in good standing before you apply.⁴

One boundary worth noting: emergency adjuster permits issued after a hurricane or other declared emergency are a separate track that only Florida-licensed insurance companies and independent adjusting firms can file on an individual’s behalf. You cannot apply for an emergency permit yourself, and public adjusting firms and individuals are excluded entirely.¹²

Keeping the License After You Get It

Florida adjuster licenses are perpetual. No expiration date, no renewal fee. But there are two ongoing requirements that quietly end licenses when ignored.

Appointments

You must maintain at least one active appointment with an insurer or adjusting firm. No one can act as an adjuster in Florida without both a current license and an active appointment.¹³ The appointment fee is $60 per appointing entity for non-residents, with no additional per-county fee.¹¹ Go 48 months without any appointment and you lose eligibility, forcing you to re-qualify as a first-time applicant and repeat the application and exam process.¹⁴ Late initial appointment filings carry a $250 penalty.

Continuing Education

Florida requires a 4-hour law and ethics update course every two years, plus elective credits. If you have held your license fewer than six years, that is 20 elective hours (24 total); at six years or more, 16 elective hours (20 total).¹⁵

Non-resident all-lines adjusters can satisfy Florida’s CE by completing their home state’s CE instead, but only if the home state has a CE reciprocity agreement with Florida; the DFS reciprocity table identifies which states qualify. If your home state has no CE requirement and you are not licensed in another state that does, you must complete Florida’s CE directly.¹⁵

Address and Name Changes

You have 30 days from any change of address or name to update the Department through your MyProfile account. Missing that deadline can result in administrative action and a fine.¹⁶ If you operate from a home office or other business location while adjusting Florida claims, that location may need to be licensed as an adjusting firm; the default rule is that any place of business used to perform adjuster functions requires a separate firm license, with some exemptions.⁴

1
MyFloridaCFO. Non-Resident All-Lines Adjuster Reciprocity
2
Florida Department of Financial Services. Non-Resident Public Adjuster License
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 626.876 – Exclusive Employment Public Adjusters All-Lines Adjusters
4
MyFloridaCFO. Agents and Adjusters
5
MyFloridaCFO. Applicants with Criminal Histories
6
Florida Department of Financial Services. Non-Resident Designated Home State Adjuster License
7
Florida Department of Financial Services. Fingerprinting Instructions
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 626.865 – Qualification for License as Public Adjuster
9
Florida Department of Financial Services. Public Adjuster Code of Ethics and Contract Checklist
10
NIPR. Florida Non-Resident Adjuster Licensing Individual
11
MyFloridaCFO. Fees and Payment Methods
12
Florida Department of Financial Services. Emergency Adjuster License
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 626.112 – License and Appointment Required
14
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 626.431 – Effect of Expiration of License and Appointment
15
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 626.2815 – Continuing Education Requirements
16
MyFloridaCFO. Changing the Addresses or Name of an Agent, Adjuster, or Agency