How to Get Your Florida 6-20 Adjuster License

To get your Florida 6-20 adjuster license, you need to be at least 18 and a Florida resident, clear a criminal background check, either pass the state all-lines adjuster exam or finish an approved designation course, submit the application through MyProfile with a $55 fee, get fingerprinted through IdentoGO, and then be appointed by an insurer or adjusting firm before you can start handling claims. The Florida Department of Financial Services issues the credential, which covers every line of insurance except life and annuity contracts.¹

What the 6-20 License Lets You Do

The 6-20 is a broad credential. It qualifies you to investigate, evaluate, and negotiate claims on property, casualty, liability, auto physical damage, marine, health, and surety policies — essentially any insurance contract other than life and annuities.¹

With this one license you can work as a company adjuster employed directly by an insurer, or as an independent adjuster contracted through a third-party firm. You don’t need a separate credential to move between the two.

It Is Not a Public Adjuster License

This is the boundary that catches people. The 6-20 lets you represent insurers or work as a neutral evaluator. It does not authorize you to represent policyholders against an insurance company. That role belongs to the public adjuster license, which carries its own requirements including a $50,000 surety bond and restrictions on solicitation and dual representation.² If your goal is to advocate for insureds, apply for that credential instead.

Who Qualifies

The baseline requirements are straightforward. You must be at least 18 years old and a Florida resident.³ You need to be either a U.S. citizen or a legal alien with work authorization from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Legal aliens should email supporting documentation to AgentLicensing@MyFloridaCFO.com with the application ID number in the subject line.⁴

Criminal History Rules

Florida applies longer disqualification periods than many applicants expect, and the clock starts when your sentence or supervision ends, not on the date of conviction. The Department also won’t issue a license until any related fines, court costs, and restitution are paid in full.⁵

Some offenses permanently bar licensure: capital and first-degree felonies; embezzlement, money laundering, false statements in financial services transactions, and the sale of unregistered securities; and any felony directly related to the financial services business. Felonies involving moral turpitude that fall outside the permanent-bar list carry a 15-year disqualification, covering offenses such as robbery, burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft, fraud unrelated to financial services, forgery, perjury, and tax evasion. Other felonies, and misdemeanors directly related to the financial services business, carry a 7-year disqualification.⁵

Choose Your Qualification Route

Florida offers two ways to prove you have the technical knowledge for the license. You either sit for the state exam or complete an approved designation course that waives it.⁶ Most first-time applicants take the designation course because it’s self-paced, fully online, and skips the pressure of a separate test day.

The Designation Course

Florida statute lists more than a dozen approved designations. Common ones include the Accredited Claims Adjuster (ACA) from a regionally accredited Florida postsecondary institution, the Certified All Lines Adjuster (CALA) from Kaplan Financial Education, the Associate in Claims (AIC) from the Insurance Institute of America, and the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). The Department’s approved list also includes offerings from WebCE, ALL LINES Training, and the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance.³

Courses generally run about 40 hours and cost somewhere between $300 and $800, covering property and casualty fundamentals, claims practices, and Florida insurance law. Once you pass the course’s own final, the provider issues a designation letter that satisfies your prerequisite. Some providers send proof directly to the Bureau within 21 days of your completion date; confirm with yours to be sure.

The State Exam

The Florida All-Lines Adjuster examination is administered by Pearson VUE and contains 100 scored multiple-choice questions plus 10 unscored pretest questions. The heaviest weighting sits on casualty and liability insurance (28 percent) and fire, allied lines, marine, and dwelling coverage (28 percent), followed by motor vehicle physical damage (15 percent), general insurance concepts and adjusting practices (14 percent), Florida statutes and rules (11 percent), and health insurance and residual markets (4 percent combined).⁷

You must pass the exam within one year before applying for the license. The test leans hard on Florida-specific law, so study materials that cover the state insurance code are worth buying even if you already have adjusting experience from another state.

File the Application

Once you have your designation letter or a passing exam score, create a MyProfile account on the Florida Department of Financial Services website. That portal is where you complete the application, pay fees, track status, and later manage your continuing education.

Select the 6-20 Resident All-Lines Adjuster designation and complete the online questionnaire. The fee is $50 for the application plus $5 for the license ID, totaling $55. Both are non-refundable.⁸

Fingerprinting

You have to be fingerprinted through IdentoGO, the state’s contracted vendor, before your application can be approved. LiveScan electronic fingerprinting costs $49.50 plus local county sales tax. Card-based prints are $50.75 plus tax.⁹ Register and schedule through IdentoGO’s website. Results are transmitted electronically to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and forwarded to the Department of Financial Services.

Military and Veteran Fee Waivers

Active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces, their spouses, and veterans who separated from service within the previous 24 months can have the application filing fee waived. Email supporting documentation such as a military ID, discharge papers, or a separation document to AgentLicensing@MyFloridaCFO.com. The paperwork must show current good standing or an honorable discharge.⁸

Approval Timeline

After you submit, the Department reviews your background check and your educational prerequisite. Most applicants hear back through MyProfile within seven to ten business days. If approved, the system generates a digital license you can download and print right away.

Get Appointed Before You Start Working

This is the step new adjusters most often miss. Holding a license alone does not authorize you to adjust claims. Florida law requires that you be both licensed and appointed by an insurer or adjusting firm.¹⁰ The appointing entity files the appointment with the state and pays a $60 fee, which renews every two years at the same rate.¹¹

The distinction matters for another reason: your license expires if it goes 48 months without an active appointment.¹² As long as at least one appointment stays active, the license itself is perpetual. Leave the field for a long stretch with no appointments in place and you can lose the credential entirely.

Keep the License Active

Every two years, you must complete 24 hours of continuing education: a mandatory 4-hour Law and Ethics update course specific to the adjuster license, plus 20 elective hours on any insurance-related topics the Department has approved.¹³

Your CE deadline is the end of your birth month every two years.¹⁴ The Department tracks your progress automatically through MyProfile.

Late appointment renewals draw a $25 late fee on top of the $60 appointment fee.¹² The bigger risk is letting every appointment lapse past 48 months, which expires the license itself. At that point you’re applying fresh rather than renewing, which may mean retaking the exam or completing a new designation course. If your license was suspended or revoked rather than simply expired, you have to pass the state exam again regardless of how you originally qualified.

What It Costs All In

Budgeting for the 6-20 involves more than the $55 application fee. Expect roughly these out-of-pocket costs before you start working:

Designation course (if skipping the exam): typically $300 to $800 depending on provider.
State exam (if not using a designation): Pearson VUE charges a separate testing fee.
Fingerprinting: $49.50 for LiveScan or $50.75 for card-based, plus local sales tax.⁹
License application and ID fee: $55 ($50 application plus $5 license ID), non-refundable.⁸
Appointment fee: $60, paid by the appointing entity but often passed through to the adjuster.¹¹

Most new adjusters spend somewhere between $450 and $950 to get fully licensed and appointed, with the designation course being the largest variable.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 626.866 – All-Lines Adjuster Qualifications
2
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 626.854 – Public Adjuster Defined; Prohibitions
3
Florida Department of Financial Services. 6-20 Resident All-Lines Adjuster License
4
Florida Department of Financial Services. Citizenship Requirement
5
Florida Department of Financial Services. Applicants With Criminal Histories
6
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 626.221 – Examination Requirement; Exemptions
7
Pearson VUE. Florida Insurance Examination Content Outlines
8
MyFloridaCFO. Fees and Payment Methods
9
MyFloridaCFO. Fingerprinting Information
10
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 626.112 – License and Appointment Required
11
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 624.501 – Fees
12
MyFloridaCFO. Frequently Asked Questions
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 626.2815 – Continuing Education Requirements
14
MyFloridaCFO. Education Center – December 2024