Why Public Adjusters Are Needed More Than Ever

Walk onto any property damage scene and count the parties. There's a carrier adjuster dispatched by the insurance company. Possibly an independent adjuster handling the claim on the carrier's behalf. Maybe a third-party field evaluator brought in to scope the loss. And very likely a contractor. Then there's the property owner — holding a policy they've paid premiums on for years, trying to understand whether they're being treated fairly.

Of all those parties, how many are legally obligated to put the owner's interests first? In every state that licenses them, the answer is exactly one: the public adjuster.

This isn't a minor distinction. It is the entire distinction.

And it is precisely why a coordinated effort to restrict — and in some cases eliminate — the public adjuster's role should concern every property owner in America.

Understanding Who Everyone Works For

The modern property insurance claim involves several distinct parties. Understanding their roles — and who they are ultimately accountable to — is the starting point for understanding why public adjusters exist.

Staff (Carrier) Adjusters

Staff adjusters are employees of the insurance company, handling claims on the carrier's behalf. Their role is to evaluate losses and process claims within the carrier's guidelines. Their accountability runs to their employer.

Independent Adjusters

Independent adjusters are licensed contractors retained by carriers to handle claims, typically during high-volume periods or in regions where the carrier lacks staff coverage. They perform the same scoping and evaluation functions as staff adjusters, operating under the carrier's claim guidelines. Their role is claims administration — not policyholder advocacy.

Third-Party Field Evaluators & Ladder Assists

These specialty contractors are often brought in to inspect and document large or complex losses on behalf of the carrier. Their reports carry weight in the claims process. Like staff and independent adjusters, their engagement is with the carrier.

Contractors

Contractors do the actual repair work. Many operate with integrity and advocate hard for thorough scopes. But their approval to proceed — and often their payment — flows through the carrier, which creates structural incentives that don't always align with maximizing the policyholder's recovery.

Public Adjusters

Public adjusters are the only licensed professionals in this process retained by and working exclusively for the policyholder. They handle claim preparation, documentation, damage assessment, and negotiation — with a legal fiduciary duty to the property owner. Every other party's accountability runs to the carrier or to their own business interests. The PA's runs to the client.

"The insurance company hires experts to prepare the claim for them. Although they claim to be 'independent,' they are not."

What the Data Says About Representation

The structural difference in who public adjusters work for shows up clearly in outcomes. A study by Florida's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) — a nonpartisan legislative research office — found that policyholders represented by public adjusters received settlements dramatically higher than unrepresented policyholders. For catastrophic claims, the gap averaged 747%. Other analyses consistently show PA-represented claims settling 30–50% higher on average.

The math is straightforward: carriers employ teams of professionals whose job is to process claims efficiently within the carrier's guidelines. Public adjusters exist to ensure the policyholder has an equally informed advocate on the other side of that negotiation.

"Policyholders who hire public adjusters for catastrophe claims receive settlements averaging 747% higher than those who do not."

A Growing Movement to Restrict Public Adjusters

If public adjusters consistently produce better outcomes for policyholders, why are state legislatures increasingly targeting the profession with fee caps, licensing barriers, and new restrictions? The pattern is difficult to ignore.

The NCOIL Model Act

In February 2024, the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) adopted the Public Adjuster Professional Standards Reform Model Act — a template states can adopt directly into law. It caps PA fees at 15% for non-catastrophic claims and 10% for catastrophic claims. The organizations most actively involved in drafting it included the Kentucky Farm Bureau and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

State-by-State Actions (2023–2026)

• Florida: 20% fee cap standard; 10% during declared emergencies (FL Stat. §626.854). HB 1047 (2025) added further conduct restrictions.
• Illinois: SB 1495 (2024) caps residential PA fees at 10%.
• Louisiana: 12% fee cap under LA Rev. Stat. §22:1703.
• Indiana: HB 1329 prohibits percentage-based PA fees if the carrier pays within five days of notice.
• South Carolina: Bill 196 (2025) proposes a blanket 10% cap.
• California: AB 597 (2025) would cap PA fees at 15% on disaster claims.
• New York: A.9390-A / S.9082 (2026) proposes post-loss solicitation restrictions and a 200-foot buffer around affected properties.
• Kentucky — HB 568 (February 2026): Proposes to ban the issuance of all new public adjuster licenses in the state. Not a fee cap — a prohibition on new entrants. If passed, the licensed PA pool would shrink through attrition until the profession is effectively eliminated. As of March 2026, not yet enacted, but its introduction signals where the most aggressive legislative efforts are heading.

Fee cap math: A PA who negotiates a $500,000 settlement from a carrier's initial $200,000 offer on a complex disaster claim, after 90 days of work, expert engagement, and travel, grosses $50,000 at a 10% cap. After overhead and costs, the economics often don't work. The carrier retains the difference.

Florida: Carriers Try to Ban Public Adjusters by Contract

Legislative pressure is only part of the picture. In Florida, at least six insurers have moved to contractually prohibit policyholders from hiring public adjusters through policy endorsements — bypassing the legislative process entirely.

Endorsements in policies offered through Velocity Risk Underwriters — a managing general agent for Interstate Fire and Casualty and Lloyd's of London — contain explicit language:

"It is understood and agreed that a condition of this policy is that the named insured shall not hire, engage, retain, contract with, or otherwise utilize the services of a public adjuster... to inspect, evaluate, or adjust any loss covered by this policy."

The complaint further alleges that Velocity "threatens that it will not take any steps to investigate... the insured's loss until the insured provides evidence that it has withdrawn from any representation by a Public Adjuster." Some policyholders had already been forced to terminate their PA relationships before any investigation began.

In October 2025, the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA) and the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (FAPIA) filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, arguing the endorsements violate Florida statutes, antitrust law, and unfair trade practices standards. FAPIA General Counsel Jonathan Zachem called them "a clear case of antitrust and unfair trade practices."

Four admitted Florida carriers — American Integrity Insurance, Orange Insurance Exchange, Safe Harbor Insurance, and US Coastal Property and Casualty — have separately filed with the Florida OIR for endorsements offering premium discounts to policyholders who agree to waive their right to use a public adjuster. Meanwhile, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Florida's largest carrier, adopted a policy in June 2025 removing public adjusters' names from settlement checks — complicating the PA's ability to receive their contractually owed fee.

"They're unfair to the people who are working for the insureds, and they're illegal."

The Accountability Gap

Every profession has bad actors. But there is a meaningful difference in what happens when things go wrong depending on who the professional works for.

A public adjuster who misbehaves faces license revocation, a callable surety bond, mandatory rescission rights in their contracts, civil liability, and DOI enforcement. They are among the most heavily regulated professionals in the insurance system.

For other parties in the claims process, accountability is less direct. Carrier and independent adjusters answer to their employers or contracting carriers. Personal liability for individual adjusters is difficult to establish in most jurisdictions, and courts have generally held that independent adjusters do not owe a duty of care to the insured. Contractor conduct in the claims context is subject to general licensing law, but there is no equivalent surety bond protecting the property owner from a contractor whose scope does not reflect the actual cost of repair.

The point is not that other professionals are dishonest. Most are not. The point is that the public adjuster is the one party in the process with a legally enforceable obligation running directly to the property owner, backed by a financial guarantee.

A Call to Action

If you are a property owner who has experienced a denied, delayed, or underpaid claim: a licensed public adjuster is the only professional in this process whose legal obligation runs entirely to you.

If you are an adjuster or industry professional who believes in fair claims handling: NAPIA and AAPIA track and respond to proposed legislation. Engagement matters.

If you are a legislator or policy stakeholder: the data is clear. Policyholders represented by licensed, bonded public adjusters recover more money, more consistently. Restricting access to that representation does not protect consumers — it protects the entities paying the claims.

Property owners in Florida should know that NAPIA and FAPIA are actively litigating the anti-PA policy endorsements. If your policy contains language prohibiting use of a public adjuster, that fight is ongoing.

Sources & Citations

1. Florida OPPAGA, study of Citizens Insurance claims, 2004–2005 hurricane seasons.
2. NAPIA State Law Summary, 2024. 47 states + D.C. require public adjuster licensing.
3. NCOIL Public Adjuster Professional Standards Reform Model Act, adopted February 2024. ncoil.org
4. Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Annual cost of U.S. insurance fraud: $308 billion.
5. American Adjuster Association. "Are Public Adjuster Fee Caps Helping or Hurting Policyholders?" 2025.
6. Claims Journal. "More States Adopting Professional Standards for Public Adjusters." May 2023.
7. Illinois SB 1495, effective January 2024. 215 ILCS 5/1570(e).
8. Downey Savings & Loan Assoc. v. Ohio Casualty Ins. Co. (1987) 189 Cal.App.3d 1072.
9. Florida Statute §626.854(12). PA fee caps: 20% standard; 10% during declared emergency.
10. Kentucky HB 568 (introduced February 2026). American Adjuster Association opposition. Insurance Institute of Kentucky. Not yet enacted as of March 2026.
11. William Rabb, Insurance Journal. "Florida, National Groups File Suit Over Anti-Public Adjuster Endorsements." October 14, 2025.
12. FAPIA conference, Orlando, October 2025. Statements by Jonathan Zachem and Juan Moya. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. settlement check policy, June 2025.