Any individual or business entity who receives, either directly or indirectly, a salary, fee, commission or other compensation for investigating, negotiating, adjusting or providing advice to an insured in relation to first party claims arising under insurance contracts that insure real or personal property of an insured for the purpose of effecting the settlement of a claim on behalf of the insured. Public adjusters do not work for any insurance company, are not public employees, and do not work on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Public adjusters work with insureds to assist in the preparation, presentation, and settlement of claims.
No other type of “adjuster”, including company or independent adjusters, require licensure in Virginia at this time.
Virginia Residents Only: Individual applicants are required to pass the Virginia pre-licensing Public Adjuster Examination. Visit Prometric's website to view the Public Adjuster Examination Content Outline and for exam registration.
For general license requirements, please review our Agent and Agency Licensing/Registration page.
As a condition of licensure, the electronic application includes an “attestation” wherein the applicant must certify that they have, and will keep in force for as long as the license remains in effect, a $50,000 bond in favor of the Commonwealth with corporate sureties licensed by the Commission. The surety bond number, effective date and the name of the insurer must be included on the application for licensure. Currently, the Bureau does not require receipt of the actual bond as a condition of licensure.
In the event that a Partnership, Corporation, or Limited Liability Company acts as a public adjuster, then it must obtain a public adjuster license.
In addition, each partner and employee in a Partnership must be licensed if he/she acts as a public adjuster; and each officer, director, or employee of a Corporation or member, manager, or employee of a Limited Liability Company must be licensed if he/she is acting as a public adjuster.
If the Partnership, Corporation, or Limited Liability Company is also involved in the business of selling, soliciting, or negotiating insurance and receiving commission, then the insurance agency licensing requirements must be met. Virginia does not license Sole Proprietorships.
A Certificate of Authority (COA) or its equivalent must be obtained from the Office of the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission within 90 days of licensure. Failure to obtain a COA within 90 days of licensure will result in license termination. Visit Entity Forms & Fees or contact the Clerk's Office at (804) 371-9733 to obtain a COA.
Insurance agencies are required to maintain a Designated Licensed Producer (DLP), who is licensed in Virginia, as a public adjuster to be responsible for the agency's compliance with insurance laws and regulations. The DLP must be an employee, officer, or director of the agency. With regards to Limited Liability Companies and Partnerships, the Bureau will accept members and partners respectively as the DLP. Business entities are required, within 30 calendar days, to report the removal of the DLP and the name of the new DLP.
As a condition of licensure, the electronic application includes an “attestation” wherein the applicant must certify that they have, and will keep in force for as long as the license remains in effect, a $50,000 bond in favor of the Commonwealth with corporate sureties licensed by the Commission. The surety bond number, effective date and the name of the insurer must be included on the application for licensure. Currently, the Bureau does not require receipt of the actual bond as a condition of licensure.
License renewal notices will be sent 90 calendar days prior to license expiration date.
Individuals
- Individual public adjusters must submit a renewal application and pay a nonrefundable application processing fee by the last day of your birth month based on odd/even year of birth. Visit License Lookup to review your license expiration date.
- For Resident Individual Public Adjusters, the license will not be renewed if Virginia’s CE requirements have not been satisfied.
- For Nonresident Individual Public Adjusters, CE requirements must be met in the home state.
Business Entities
- All Partnerships, Corporations, or Limited Liability Companies licensed as public adjusters will be required to submit a renewal application on or before May 1 of every odd year, along with a nonrefundable renewal application processing fee.
- As part of the renewal, the licensee must attest that a $50,000 bond in favor of the Commonwealth and obtained from an insurance company licensed by the Commission will remain in force for as long as the license remains in effect. The surety bond number, effective date and the name of the insurer must be included on the renewal application. The Bureau does not require submission of the continuation certificate as a condition of renewal.
Renew License
Submit licensing renewals questions to BOILicenseRenewal@scc.virginia.gov.
In conjunction with the renewal process, resident individual public adjusters must complete 24 hours of CE, 3 of which must be Ethics, every 24 months. Requirements are found in the public adjuster section of the Continuing Education Handbook.
The license will not be renewed if the public adjuster has failed to satisfy the CE requirements.
Nonresidents are not required to complete CE.
Visit Sircon to view CE transcripts, available course offerings, and approved providers.
- CE credits will not be awarded for courses completed before the license was issued.
- You are not allowed to receive credit for the same course in the same biennium.
- CE credit cannot be given for a duplicate course taught in alternative formats (classroom course, on-line course, video or audio conference, web-conference based, etc.) if the curriculum is based on the same published materials; this rule applies to any variation of course types.
- Excess CE credits will not be carried forward to the next renewal cycle.
Contact Pearson VUE with any CE questions:
Email: VirginiaInsuranceCE@pearson.com
Phone Number: 877-234-6093
Find Approved Courses
A public adjuster is required to comply with the state’s Standards of Conduct. Visit https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/38.2-1845.12/ to review the standards.
A public adjuster is required to enter into a written Public Adjuster Contract for services rendered to the insured pursuant to Virginia Code §38.2-1845.12. F. Visit https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/38.2-1845.13/ to review the terms that must be in the contract.
A public adjuster applicant (individual and business entities) is obligated to meet all requirements as prescribed in Article 4.1 of Chapter 18, Title 38.2. (§§ 38.2-1845.1-38.2-1845.23) of the Code of Virginia.