AL Claims Adjuster study guide
AL Claims Adjuster · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
An Alabama claims adjuster license authorizes you to investigate, evaluate, and settle insurance claims on behalf of an insurer - everything from a hail-damaged roof in Birmingham to a commercial auto liability dispute. Most people who pursue it are either entering the claims field, moving over from a related insurance role, or adding a nonresident license so they can handle claims across state lines. The AL Claims Adjuster study guide has 8 sections and about 2,540 words.
01Insurance Principles and Concepts
Insurance transfers pure risk (loss or no loss, never gain) from an individual to a pool; speculative risk is not insurable. The pool works because of the law of large numbers - more homogeneous exposure units yield a more predictable loss ratio - and because premium must cover expected losses, expenses, and a margin.
319 words, about 2 min02Insurance Contracts and Policy Provisions
A policy requires offer, acceptance, consideration (premium), legal purpose, and competent parties. It is a contract of adhesion (drafted by the insurer and construed against the drafter only where genuinely ambiguous), aleatory (unequal exchange of values), unilateral (only the insurer makes an enforceable promise once premium is paid), and conditional (benefits depend on the insured's compliance).
305 words, about 2 min03Property Insurance
Homeowners forms run from the named-peril HO-2 and the broad HO-3 (open perils on the dwelling, named perils on contents) to the open-peril HO-5 , the renters HO-4 , the modified HO-8 for older homes, and the dwelling DP-1/DP-3 . Coverages A through F address the dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments.
300 words, about 2 min04Casualty and Liability Insurance
The commercial general liability (CGL) form promises to pay sums the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence - an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions. Coverage B adds personal and advertising injury (libel, slander, invasion of privacy, wrongful eviction, infringement in advertising), and Coverage C adds medical payments regardless of fault.
328 words, about 2 min05Automobile Insurance
The PAP has four parts: Part A – Liability (bodily injury and property damage to others), Part B – Medical Payments , Part C – Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists , and Part D – Coverage for Damage to Your Auto (collision and other than collision, i.e., comprehensive). Definitions control: covered auto , your covered auto , newly acquired auto , non-owned auto , and who is an insured (named insured, resident relatives, and permissive users).
322 words, about 2 min06Workers' Compensation Insurance
Workers' compensation is a no-fault system: the employee gives up the right to sue in tort, and the employer accepts liability without regard to fault - the exclusive remedy . For a claim to be compensable, the injury must be personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment .
323 words, about 2 min07Claims Adjusting Practices and Procedures
Every claim follows the same arc: acknowledge and make contact promptly, investigate (scene, photographs, recorded statements, police and fire reports, medical records, wage records, ISO and prior-loss history), establish coverage by reading the policy against the facts, evaluate damages, negotiate and settle , then subrogate, salvage, and close . Documentation must support every decision: who was contacted, when, what was said, and why the reserve changed.
295 words, about 1 min08Alabama Insurance Laws, Rules, and Regulations
Insurance in Alabama is governed by Title 27 of the Alabama Code and administered by the Alabama Department of Insurance , headed by a Commissioner appointed by the Governor. Producers and adjusters must be licensed, must not misrepresent coverage, and hold premiums in a fiduciary capacity.
348 words, about 2 min