Licensed Adjusters
This domain tests Georgia's adjuster licensing statute: who needs a license, how to qualify, how renewal works, and where the line falls between insurer-side adjusting and public adjusting. Expect questions on license types, nonresident reciprocity, continuing education, and prohibited conduct.
Who must be licensed
Georgia regulates claims adjusters under O.C.G.A. Title 33, Chapter 23. An adjuster is a person who, for compensation, investigates, evaluates, or reports on a claim for an insurer. Company adjusters are employees of an insurer; independent adjusters contract with insurers. Both work for the insurer, not the policyholder. A person who represents the insured for a fee is a public adjuster and needs a separate license.
Licensing path
Applicants must be at least 18, complete the Commissioner's prelicensing education (40 hours for the adjuster license), pass the Georgia adjuster examination, and submit fingerprints for a criminal background check. Nonresidents may obtain a Georgia license by reciprocity if their home-state license is active and in good standing and their state extends reciprocal treatment to Georgia licensees; the examination is generally waived. Licenses renew biennially. Continuing education is 24 hours per two-year term, including 3 hours of ethics.
Scope and limits
An adjuster license authorizes claim handling for insurers. It does not authorize selling insurance, and it does not authorize public adjusting. Adjusters must follow Georgia's Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act and the Commissioner's claim regulations: acknowledge communications, investigate promptly, and affirm or deny coverage on a reasonable timetable. An adjuster may not misrepresent policy provisions or accept a fee from an insured for handling the insured's claim.
Worked example
A Georgia independent adjuster is assigned a hurricane claim for an insurer. After the adjuster settles the claim, the insured offers to pay the adjuster $2,000 to negotiate a supplemental payment directly with the insurer. The adjuster must refuse. Accepting compensation from the insured to represent the insured would be public adjusting without a public adjuster license. The proper route is for the insured to hire a licensed public adjuster or deal with the insurer directly.
Traps
Do not confuse an adjuster license with a producer license; adjusters do not sell policies. Do not confuse the license with an insurer appointment; Georgia licenses the individual, and the license itself does not create authority to sell insurance. Read nonresident reciprocity questions carefully: the home-state license must be active. Finally, CE hours must include ethics; a generic 24 hours without ethics does not satisfy renewal.
Public Adjusters
This domain tests the separate public adjuster license, the mandatory contract terms, the fee cap, and the conduct rules that apply when an adjuster works for the insured rather than the insurer. The exam focuses on consumer-protection rules, not on insurer claim practices.
Definition and license
A public adjuster is a person who, for compensation, acts on behalf of an insured to negotiate, effect, or assist in the settlement of a claim. Georgia requires a public adjuster license in addition to any adjuster license. Applicants must be at least 18, complete the required prelicensing education (25 hours), pass the examination, and file the surety bond required by the Commissioner (commonly $10,000). The license is separate from an insurer-side adjuster license; holding one does not authorize the other.
Contract rules
Before representing an insured, the public adjuster must have a written contract signed by the insured. The contract must disclose the fee or fee method and give the insured a right to rescind within three business days after signing. Georgia caps public adjuster compensation at 10% of the insurance settlement in the standard case; catastrophe-related rules should be checked in the current statute. The adjuster must give the insured a copy of the contract.
Prohibited conduct
A public adjuster may not represent the insurer, may not participate in repairing or restoring the property that is the subject of the claim, and may not engage in solicitation during a declared emergency in the manner prohibited by Georgia law. The adjuster must disclose that he or she is not an insurer representative and cannot bind coverage.
Worked example
An insured signs a public adjuster contract on Monday for a fire loss. On Wednesday the insured calls to cancel. The contract gives three business days to rescind, so the insured may cancel and owes no fee for the cancellation. If the adjuster had already obtained a settlement offer before cancellation, the fee owed would be determined under the contract and the statutory cap, not an arbitrary amount.
Traps
The three-business-day rescission right is frequently tested. Do not let a public adjuster also act as the repair contractor on the same loss. Do not confuse the 10% fee cap with a flat fee; it is a ceiling. And remember that a public adjuster works for the insured, so insurer-side duties do not apply in the same way.
Counselors & Surplus Lines Brokers
This domain covers two specialty licenses that are often confused: the insurance counselor, who gives fee-based advice, and the surplus lines broker, who places coverage with unauthorized insurers when the admitted market will not take the risk. The exam tests licensing, scope of authority, disclosure, and tax duties.
Counselor license
A Georgia counselor is licensed to advise clients about insurance for a fee. The counselor does not sell insurance and must keep the advisory role separate from any sales role. Applicants must satisfy the Commissioner's experience requirement, pass the counselor examination, and disclose the fee arrangement in writing. The counselor's compensation is the disclosed fee, not a commission for the same advice.
Surplus lines broker
A surplus lines broker must hold a Georgia producer license and a surplus lines broker license. Before placing a risk with an unauthorized insurer, the broker must make a diligent effort to place it with authorized insurers and document the declinations. The unauthorized insurer must be eligible in Georgia. The broker must disclose in writing that the insurer is not licensed by Georgia and is not protected by the Georgia Insurers Insolvency Pool. Georgia imposes a 4% surplus lines premium tax; the broker files the annual statement and pays the tax. A $50,000 surety bond is required.
Worked example
A broker receives a commercial property risk. Three authorized insurers decline; the broker records the declinations, places the risk with an eligible unauthorized insurer, gives the insured the required disclosure, and collects the premium. The broker must then report and remit the 4% surplus lines tax. If the broker had skipped the declination search and gone straight to the surplus lines market, the placement would violate the diligent-effort rule even if the insurer was eligible.
Traps
Do not let a counselor earn a commission on the same transaction; the license is for fee-based advice. Do not assume surplus lines coverage is backed by the guaranty fund-disclosure is mandatory. Do not confuse the broker's bond with the insurer's solvency. And do not treat the diligent search as a one-time event if the risk changes materially on renewal.