You want to become a public adjuster in Illinois. Good call. There are a few more steps here than in some states, and we'll walk you through every one of them.
Here's the short version. There's no pre-licensing course to sit through. You pass one state exam, get fingerprinted, post a bond, get your contract approved and apply. The exam is the step that takes real work, so that's where we spend our time with you.
A public adjuster works for the policyholder, never the insurance company. When a home or business owner has a property claim, you document the loss, build the estimate and negotiate the settlement on their side. Illinois limits public adjusters to first-party property claims, meaning the policyholder's own insurance.
Illinois licenses public adjusters under Article XLV of the Illinois Insurance Code (215 ILCS 5), and the Illinois Department of Insurance issues the license. You can't act, advertise or solicit as a public adjuster without one, and doing it anyway is a Class A misdemeanor.
For a resident license you need to:
A felony, or a misdemeanor involving dishonesty or fraud, can be grounds for denial unless you show rehabilitation. A felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust also needs written consent under federal law, known as a 1033 waiver, before you can work in insurance.
There's no eligibility certificate to request first. Book directly with Pearson VUE, online or by phone, at least 24 hours ahead. The exam is 100 scored questions in 165 minutes, you need a scaled score of 70 to pass, and it costs $92 per attempt. Bring two IDs with your signature, one of them a government photo ID.
This is the step people underestimate. A quarter of the questions are Illinois law for public adjusters, and the rest cover property policies, insurance terms, building and estimating, and contract law. Our guide to what's on the Illinois public adjuster exam breaks it down section by section.
Illinois needs your fingerprints on file before it will issue your license. An Illinois-approved live scan vendor takes them, and your license isn't issued until the results come back from the Illinois State Police and the FBI.
Illinois requires a $50,000 surety bond in favor of the state, or a $50,000 irrevocable letter of credit, and it has to stay in force for as long as you're licensed. You don't pay $50,000. You pay a yearly premium to the bond company.
Every public adjuster contract used in Illinois has to be filed with and approved by the Illinois Department of Insurance first. It's a separate approval from your license, and you can't sign a client until you have both.
Apply online through NIPR and pay the $250 license fee. Upload your bond and your contract form with the application, because the state won't review it until the contract, the bond and your fingerprints are all in.
Your license runs for two years. To renew it, you need 24 hours of continuing education, including 3 hours of ethics, finished at least 30 days before your renewal date.
Most of your time goes into getting ready for the exam. Our class gets that done in three days. The state doesn't post a processing time for public adjuster applications, so line up your fingerprints, bond and contract early and apply as soon as you've passed. Everything else you need to know about the Illinois public adjuster license is on our home page.
Our next Illinois public adjuster class begins soon. Lock in your spot.
Prefer to study from home? Take the Illinois public adjuster online course.
