New Jersey Revises Public Adjuster Solicitation and Continuing Education Law
Gene Veno, President of the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters, forwarded to me a new law governing public adjusters in New Jersey. The primary items of interest in the revised New Jersey statute concern public adjuster solicitation and continuing education.
The relevant revised language regarding solicitation provides as follows:
No individual, firm, association or corporation licensed under this act shall:
...solicit the adjustment of a loss or damage occurring in this State from an insured, whether by personal interview, by telephone, or by any other method, between the hours of six p.m. and eight a.m. during the 24 hours after the loss has occurred;
Many states have adopted similar limitations on solicitation. As I noted in Public Adjusters Win Appeal Regarding Solicitation Ban, it is far different than the unconstitutional ban Florida tried to impose.
New Jersey also mandated new continuing education requirements:
Every adjuster's license issued pursuant to this act may be renewed for a two-year period upon the filing of an application in conformity with section 6 of this act, which shall include proof of completion of continuing education requirements as established by this section.
a. The commissioner shall require every individual licensed as a public adjuster, and each sublicensee of a licensed adjuster that is a corporation, firm or association, as a condition of biennial license renewal pursuant to this section, to complete not less than 15 hours of continuing education. Each hour of instruction shall be equivalent to one credit.
b. The commissioner shall:(1) establish standards for the continuing education of public adjusters, including the subject matter and content of courses of study;
(2) approve educational programs offering continuing education credits and the qualification of instructors; and
(3) approve other equivalent educational programs and establish procedures for the issuance of credit upon satisfactory proof of the completion of these programs.
Continuing education is important for the public's assurance of minimum standards within the public adjusting industry. My impression is that there is also a need for experience before a public adjuster's license is ever issued. I expect other states will soon follow Florida's requirement of practical experience before issuing licenses. It is in the public's interest to do so.
Chip, good points are made with this article and yet, is 15 hours every two years enough continuing education?
I think not. Florida has 24 and look at the problems we have.I think 30 would be more appropriate.
There is so much to learn and know to truly bring a claim to the table. We as PA's MUST know as much or more about the claim than does the IA so that we can properly have the claim paid. That knowledge can come from private sources but I feel classroom participation is best. At the recent FAPIA convention, many complained of the poor speaking of many of the participants, yet, much was (or could have been) learned.
Some topics ARE boring, but if you have faced those "boring" issues before, ie- Mortgages, then you are acutely aware of what the folks had to say and can search for more information. Studying all information available is the best way to stay on top of the situations for our clients.
As for N.J., I hope they study more than 8 hours a year for their client's losses!
Gary
I would like to see more of a lobbying effort to license Independent and Insurance Company Claim Adjusters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Neither of these states require licensure and from what I observe in my day to day activities, many of these so called adjusters receive little or no formal training on an on-going basis.
Rules and regulations are usually changed and updated most of the time for reasons wherein cases have been encountered where the current rules and regulations have been discovered having loopholes.
As far as i know, Getting an insurance adjuster license isn’t usually too difficult. There is a lot less training involved than other insurance careers, but you still need to take your career education seriously.