Arkansas · Insurance Adjuster Sample Interactive Mind Map
Arkansas Adjuster Regulations
A visual breakdown of the Arkansas rules an adjuster is tested on — a state with a very high bar for bad faith sitting on top of a penalty that does not care.
Arkansas is a state of sharp edges. Workers' compensation is a separate line of authority with its own course and its own exam, so a property and casualty license does not cover it. Public adjusting is prohibited outright and referred to the Supreme Court's unauthorized-practice-of-law committee. Arkansas voids the suit-limitation clause printed in the policy and voids mandatory binding appraisal, and it has no standard fire policy and no matching authority at all. Then, having given the insured no private right of action under the unfair claims statute and one of the country's highest bad-faith bars, it hands them 12% of the loss plus every dollar of attorney's fees — even on a denial made in complete good faith. This map lays out each of those edges.
So explore it. Click through the clusters, then take the scenario quiz at the end and see how many of Arkansas's departures from the national rule you can hold onto.
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Three lines of authority — and workers' compensation is one of them.
§ 23-64-209(a) issues the adjuster's license “for property insurance, or for casualty insurance, or for workers' compensation insurance, or for any combination thereof.” Each line carries its own 20-hour course and its own exam.
§ 23-64-209(a) issues the adjuster's license “for property insurance, or for casualty insurance, or for workers' compensation insurance, or for any combination thereof.” Each line carries its own 20-hour course and its own exam.
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A property and casualty license does NOT cover workers' compensation in Arkansas
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this state. National material teaches that a P&C license reaches every casualty line, workers' compensation included. Arkansas makes it a coordinate third line with its own prelicensing course and its own examination. An adjuster carrying only Property and Casualty here is not licensed to adjust Arkansas workers' compensation claims.
The trap has a second floor. Because the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission issues no adjuster credential of its own — it certifies managed care organizations, not adjusters — material that goes hunting for a “separate WC adjuster credential” checks the Commission, finds nothing, and reports that Arkansas has none. True of the Commission, and it completely misses the requirement that actually binds.
The trap has a second floor. Because the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission issues no adjuster credential of its own — it certifies managed care organizations, not adjusters — material that goes hunting for a “separate WC adjuster credential” checks the Commission, finds nothing, and reports that Arkansas has none. True of the Commission, and it completely misses the requirement that actually binds.
| Line of authority | Prelicensing | Examination |
|---|---|---|
| Property | 20 hrs | Property Adjuster |
| Casualty | 20 hrs | Casualty Adjuster |
| Workers' Compensation | 20 hrs | Worker's Compensation Adjuster |
| Crop Adjuster — a separate class | none | No exam · $50 · CE exempt |
Every adjuster curriculum contains 5 hrs State Insurance Law · 2 hrs Unfair Claims Settlement Practices · 1 hr Ethics
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Public Adjusting Is PROHIBITED — Not Merely Unlicensed
Three provisions combine, and the result goes further than an absence
- § 23-64-102(4)(A) defines an adjuster only as one who investigates and negotiates “on behalf of the insurer” — there is no category for adjusting for an insured
- § 23-64-201(c): “No person may adjust claims as an adjuster without licensure under this chapter”
- No public adjuster subchapter exists anywhere in chapter 64
- Therefore: adjusting for an insured requires a license Arkansas does not issue — prohibited activity, not unlicensed activity
- AID states it plainly: “Public adjusters are prohibited from adjusting claims in Arkansas” — and refers complaints to the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law
Every public adjuster number you memorized is inapplicableThe NAIC Public Adjuster Model Act figures that travel through national courses — the $20,000 bond, the 10% or 15% fee cap, the three-day right to rescind, contract filing, the first-party-physical-damage-only scope — have no Arkansas counterpart at all, because there is no statute to attach them to. Asked for Arkansas's public adjuster fee cap, the answer is that no such license exists.
✅ Who is EXEMPT — § 23-64-102(4)
📌 Read the wording closely
(B) Attorneys
A licensed attorney “qualified to practice law in this state”In-state only
An out-of-state attorney adjusting an Arkansas loss is not exempt. Note the statute's word is qualified, not admitted(C) Company adjusters
A salaried employee of an insurer, MGA, or insurer-owned adjustment bureau“Salaried” is load-bearing
Arkansas does not license company adjusters. But an hourly, commission-paid, or contract claims employee sits outside the wording(D) Agents
Resident agents, marine average adjusters, and agents adjusting under policies of the insurer that appointed them(F) Portable electronics
Supervised intake and data-entry staff — but no more than 25 persons per licensed supervisor🌪️
Catastrophe work — a 10-day notice, then a 90-day clock
§ 23-64-209(d)(1)(A): an adjuster sent into Arkansas on behalf of an insurer to adjust a loss resulting from a catastrophe is not required to be licensed if “within ten (10) business days of entering the state the adjuster notifies the commissioner in writing.”
Then the exemption expires. (d)(1)(B): cease and desist within 90 days of the notification, or get licensed. (d)(2): one request for an additional 90 days, which the Commissioner “has the discretion to approve.”
The duty sits on the adjuster, and AID runs a public catastrophe adjuster registry. Arkansas publishes no fee for the notification.
Then the exemption expires. (d)(1)(B): cease and desist within 90 days of the notification, or get licensed. (d)(2): one request for an additional 90 days, which the Commissioner “has the discretion to approve.”
The duty sits on the adjuster, and AID runs a public catastrophe adjuster registry. Arkansas publishes no fee for the notification.
The statute needs no declared disaster — the Department's website says it does§ 23-64-209(d) is triggered by “a loss resulting from a catastrophe” — there is no declaration prerequisite anywhere in the text. AID's Licensing page, however, describes the duty as reaching adjusters working “a declared catastrophe.” The statute controls and is the broader of the two. Safe practice and correct exam answer: entering Arkansas to work a catastrophe loss for an insurer starts the 10-business-day clock, whether or not anyone declared anything.
Short exams, a real percentage, and a renewal date almost everyone misstates.
Four adjuster exams, 25 scored questions each, 90 minutes, $40. And unlike most states, 70% here means 70% correct — you can actually count your practice answers.
Four adjuster exams, 25 scored questions each, 90 minutes, $40. And unlike most states, 70% here means 70% correct — you can actually count your practice answers.
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Prelicensing IS required — but PSI will not stop you without it
AID Rule 31 (effective February 14, 2022) reaches “All applicants seeking a license as an insurance adjuster” — residents and nonresidents alike — and requires 20 hours per line of authority. Two lines means forty hours.
But PSI's Arkansas bulletin lists prelicensing as required for exactly five exams — Life; Accident, Health, Sickness; Casualty; Property; Personal Lines — and no adjuster exam appears on that list. At the test center you need one form of identification and nothing else.
So a candidate who skips the course can lawfully sit and pass the exam, and then be blocked at the AID application stage, having spent the fee for nothing. Take the course first.
But PSI's Arkansas bulletin lists prelicensing as required for exactly five exams — Life; Accident, Health, Sickness; Casualty; Property; Personal Lines — and no adjuster exam appears on that list. At the test center you need one form of identification and nothing else.
So a candidate who skips the course can lawfully sit and pass the exam, and then be blocked at the AID application stage, having spent the fee for nothing. Take the course first.
| Examination | Scored questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| General Adjuster — carries the Arkansas law content | 25 | 1 hr 30 min |
| Property Adjuster | 25 | 1 hr 30 min |
| Casualty Adjuster | 25 | 1 hr 30 min |
| Worker's Compensation Adjuster | not published | 1 hr 30 min |
PSI · $40 per exam · fee valid 1 yearplus 5–10 unscored experimental questions · any three adjuster exams may be taken together
Plan on General Adjuster PLUS a line examThe content outlines make the structure clear. General Adjuster covers General Insurance Definitions, the Arkansas Insurance Commissioner and licensing, Unfair Trade Practices, and General Adjusting Practices. The Property and Casualty outlines cover only line-specific definitions, coverages, and adjusting practice — and contain no Arkansas law, licensing, or unfair trade practices content whatsoever. They are complementary, not overlapping. Note that Arkansas has never published the pairing as an explicit rule, and General Adjuster is not itself a line of authority.
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70 is a REAL percentage — 18 of 25
Many states report a scaled score that looks like a percentage and is not, which makes practice-test arithmetic meaningless. Arkansas is not one of them. PSI's bulletin says plainly: “You must get 70% correct to pass.” Every content outline header reads “90 minutes - 70%.” No scaled-scoring language appears anywhere.
With 25 scored questions, you can miss seven. That cuts both ways — on a 25-question form, two careless errors are more than a quarter of your margin.
With 25 scored questions, you can miss seven. That cuts both ways — on a 25-question form, two careless errors are more than a quarter of your margin.
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Your License Expires on Your BIRTH DATE
Not the birth month, not a fixed calendar date, not the license anniversary
- AID Rule 50 § 4.B, for licensees issued 2011 and later: “The initial license will be issued for a two-year period and renewed biennially on the licensee's birth date”
- The odd/even birth-year language still printed in Rule 50 is leftover transitional text from the 2011–2012 conversion — it does not apply to licensees issued since
- There is NO grace period. AID: “renewal fees are due on the expiration date of the license”
- Miss it and § 23-64-215 requires “a penalty in the amount of double the unpaid continuation of license fee”
- But you have 12 months to reinstate without retesting — past twelve months, you retest
The fees$55 resident application · $120 nonresident · $120 biennial renewal ($140 where a CE filing fee applies) · $240 late · $50 Crop Adjuster. A note for anyone reading the statute: § 23-61-401 still lists an adjuster's license at $25 per year, far below what the Department actually charges. Budget from AID's published schedule.
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The nonresident CE exemption is a THREE-PART test, not a blanket pass
CE is 24 hours every two years, including 3 hours of ethics — and ethics is the only named subrequirement. Arkansas has no state-law-update hour; if you have studied a state that requires one, do not carry it here. Courses may not be repeated for credit within a 2-year period.
Rule 50 § 4.A.2 exempts an adjuster where: “a. An adjuster that is licensed in another state; b. The licensing state requires continuing education; and c. The adjuster has satisfied the continuing education requirements of the licensing state or designated home state.”
Note the and. All three must hold — so a nonresident whose home state imposes no CE requirement at all is NOT exempt, because the second element fails.
Rule 50 § 4.A.2 exempts an adjuster where: “a. An adjuster that is licensed in another state; b. The licensing state requires continuing education; and c. The adjuster has satisfied the continuing education requirements of the licensing state or designated home state.”
Note the and. All three must hold — so a nonresident whose home state imposes no CE requirement at all is NOT exempt, because the second element fails.
Three more that catch people outNo experience requirement — § 23-64-209(b)(3) was repealed and read “[Repealed.]” in the 2016 and 2017 Code editions; even before repeal the statute said experience “of sufficient duration and extent,” never one year. · No appointment — § 23-64-219 is written for producers. · No records retention period for adjusters — § 23-64-209(b)(4) says “the usual and customary records” and stops; the famous five-year rule is § 23-64-220, and the word adjuster appears nowhere in it.
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Arkansas gives NO private right of action — to anyone — § 23-66-202(b)
“However, no provisions of this subchapter are intended to establish or extinguish a private right of action for a violation of any provision of this subchapter.”
Read it precisely: it is agnostic, not affirmative. It does not grant a right of action — it says the subchapter is not intended to establish one. In practice that leaves no hook at all: the Trade Practices Act's remedies run exclusively through the Commissioner, with no damages provision, no fee-shifting, and no “any person injured may bring an action” clause anywhere in §§ 23-66-201 to -216.
The NAIC's model law chart codes Arkansas the same way: first party “No, by statute”; third party “No, by statute”; remedy administrative. And the deceptive trade practices back door is closed — § 4-88-101(3) exempts “actions or transactions specifically permitted under laws administered by the Insurance Commissioner.”
Read it precisely: it is agnostic, not affirmative. It does not grant a right of action — it says the subchapter is not intended to establish one. In practice that leaves no hook at all: the Trade Practices Act's remedies run exclusively through the Commissioner, with no damages provision, no fee-shifting, and no “any person injured may bring an action” clause anywhere in §§ 23-66-201 to -216.
The NAIC's model law chart codes Arkansas the same way: first party “No, by statute”; third party “No, by statute”; remedy administrative. And the deceptive trade practices back door is closed — § 4-88-101(3) exempts “actions or transactions specifically permitted under laws administered by the Insurance Commissioner.”
§ 23-66-206(12) renumbered on August 1, 2023 — it used to be (13)Anything citing “(13)” is on the old numbering — including AID's own June 2021 Consumer Alert, and, remarkably, the Arkansas Code itself at § 23-89-211(d), which still designates auto total-loss non-compliance an unfair practice under (13). Since the renumbering, (13) is unfair discrimination. The legislature never conformed the cross-reference. Teach candidates to check the vintage of any Arkansas UCSPA citation.
One bad file is not a statutory violation§ 23-66-206(12) reaches only conduct “committing or performing with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice.” AID Rule 43 § 1 repeats the same limit. A single mishandled claim may be common-law bad faith, and may breach Rule 43's minimum standards — but it is not a statutory unfair claims settlement practice. Administrative penalties: $1,000 per violation / $10,000 aggregate, rising to $5,000 / $50,000 where the violator knew or should have known.
🔒 The bad faith TORT — a very high bar
Affirmative misconduct by the insurer, without a good faith defense
The misconduct must be dishonest, malicious, or oppressive — carried out with hatred, ill will, or a spirit of revenge
“Mere negligence or bad judgment is insufficient”; “the tort does not arise from a mere denial of a claim”
A good-faith coverage dispute is dispositive; ambiguity reliance is a defense as a matter of law, even if the reading is wrong
Third parties cannot sue — but they can take an assignment of the insured's claim
💰 The 12% PENALTY — easy to trigger
§ 23-79-208: 12% of the loss plus all reasonable attorney's fees — a flat one-time penalty, not 12% per annum
Good faith is NOT a defense. It attaches even where the denial was made in complete good faith
Trigger: failure to pay within the policy's own time, after demand — it creates no independent deadline
Recovery must be within 20% of the demand — within 30% for a homeowner's policy
First party only — “the holder of the policy or his or her assigns”
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Overshooting the demand is dangerous — the 20% band is measured as made
Arkansas construes § 23-79-208 strictly, because it is penal, and measures the band against the amount demanded or sought in the suit — not the policy limit.
National Standard Ins. Co. v. Westbrooks (Ark. 1998) — demanded $78,908.89, needed at least $63,527.11, jury returned $62,750. Penalty and fees denied by $777.
Southern Pine Helicopters (8th Cir. 2004) — recovery at 34% of the demand, denied; post-filing narrowing does not shrink a demand where the complaint was never amended. The cure exists: Brinker (Ark. 2002) — amend down and re-demand, and the lesser demand controls.
Carlisle Farms (E.D. Ark. 2025) — there are two requirements, and a settlement that expressly denies liability will not support the penalty.
National Standard Ins. Co. v. Westbrooks (Ark. 1998) — demanded $78,908.89, needed at least $63,527.11, jury returned $62,750. Penalty and fees denied by $777.
Southern Pine Helicopters (8th Cir. 2004) — recovery at 34% of the demand, denied; post-filing narrowing does not shrink a demand where the complaint was never amended. The cure exists: Brinker (Ark. 2002) — amend down and re-demand, and the lesser demand controls.
Carlisle Farms (E.D. Ark. 2025) — there are two requirements, and a settlement that expressly denies liability will not support the penalty.
The punitive damages cap is unconstitutional — and still printed in the code§ 16-55-208 was struck down in Bayer CropScience LP v. Schafer, 2011 Ark. 518, under Ark. Const. art. 5, § 32, which forbids any law “limiting the amount to be recovered for injuries”; the court upheld a $42 million punitive award. The 2018 ballot measure that would have restored caps was struck from the ballot. Arkansas has no enforceable punitive cap — and anyone reading the statute books without the case gets this exactly backwards. Limitations: bad faith tort 3 years, policy 5 years.
The statute is all “reasonable” and “prompt.” Rule 43 is where the numbers live.
Still operative, unamended since December 1, 2015, and now officially cited as 23 CAR pt 15 — though you will still see “AID Rule 43” and “054.00.00 Ark. Code R. § 008.” All three are the same rule.
Still operative, unamended since December 1, 2015, and now officially cited as 23 CAR pt 15 — though you will still see “AID Rule 43” and “054.00.00 Ark. Code R. § 008.” All three are the same rule.
| Event | Deadline | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge the claim | 15 working days | All claimants — first and third party |
| Respond to an AID inquiry | 15 working days | All |
| Reply to other claimant communications | 15 working days | All |
| Furnish proof of loss forms | 20 calendar days | § 23-79-126 — or the requirement is waived |
| Complete the investigation | 45 calendar days | Self-waivable on written notice with reasons |
| Affirm or deny | 15 working days | After properly executed proofs of loss — FIRST PARTY ONLY |
| Progress letters thereafter | every 45 calendar days | First party |
| Mail or deliver the check | 10 working days | After the file is closed and ready for payment |
| Limitations warning — first party | 30 working days | Unrepresented claimant, direct negotiation |
| Limitations warning — third party | 60 calendar days | Unrepresented claimant, direct negotiation |
working dayscalendar days
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Two of those numbers do not behave the way they look
The 45-day investigation deadline is self-waivable. Rule 43 § 8 requires completion in 45 calendar days “unless such investigation cannot reasonably be completed within such time,” in which case “insurers shall notify claimants that additional time is required and include with such notification the reasons therefore.” The insurer extends its own deadline by writing the letter. What it cannot do is go quiet.
The 10-day payment rule is not a pay-by date. § 9(f): checks go out within ten working days “after the claims are processed, all claim investigations are completed and said claim files are closed and ready for payment.” The clock does not start at proof of loss, at acceptance, or on any fixed date. It is a delivery-logistics deadline.
The 10-day payment rule is not a pay-by date. § 9(f): checks go out within ten working days “after the claims are processed, all claim investigations are completed and said claim files are closed and ready for payment.” The clock does not start at proof of loss, at acceptance, or on any fixed date. It is a delivery-logistics deadline.
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The Deadlines That Do NOT Exist
The absences are as testable as the numbers
- No general “pay or deny within 30 days” rule. For an ordinary first-party property claim the number is 15 working days after proof of loss to accept or deny — and there is no outer statutory pay-by date at all
- The only true 30-day pay-or-deny obligations are health-carrier clean claims filed electronically (45 days by other means) and auto first-party medical and income benefits (§ 23-89-208)
- No statutory acknowledgment deadline — the 15 working days is a rule, not a statute
- No property and casualty prompt-pay act comparable to the Texas or Florida models
- No hard outside limit on investigation
- Rule 43 excludes workers' compensation and employer's liability outright; §§ 7, 8 and 9 exclude health carriers; § 9 also excludes surety, fidelity, and mortgage guaranty
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You must warn an unrepresented claimant that their time to sue you is running out
Rule 43 § 9(d), effective December 1, 2015: where an insurer negotiates directly with an unrepresented claimant, it must give written notice that the limitations period may be expiring — 30 working days ahead for a first-party claimant, 60 calendar days ahead for a third-party claimant.
Very few states impose this, and it is a genuine compliance landmine for adjusters coming in from elsewhere.
Very few states impose this, and it is a genuine compliance landmine for adjusters coming in from elsewhere.
Three more Rule 43 conduct rules§ 9(k) — no release “that extends beyond the subject matter that gave rise to the claim payment.” · § 9(l) — “No insurer shall issue checks or drafts in partial settlement … which contains language which releases the insurer or its insured from total liability”; the full-release legend on a partial-payment draft is prohibited. · § 6 — claim-file documentation is subject to AID examination. Write the file as though the Department will read it. · And § 9(b) suspends the accept-or-deny clock on a specifically supported arson suspicion.
No standard fire policy. Void suit-limitation clauses. Void binding appraisal. No matching authority at all.
And a workers' compensation regime that puts the doctor choice with the employer and the replacement choice with the Commission.
And a workers' compensation regime that puts the doctor choice with the employer and the replacement choice with the Commission.
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Two policy provisions Arkansas simply voids
The suit-limitation clause — § 23-79-202(b): “Any stipulation or provision in the policy or contract requiring the action to be brought within any shorter time or be barred is void.” The insured gets the full five years for a written contract. Most states enforce a one- or two-year clause; the Eighth Circuit voided a one-year Arkansas clause in 2017, noting it would have been enforceable in Oklahoma, Minnesota, and Iowa. An adjuster who closes an Arkansas property file citing an expired policy suit clause is relying on void language.
Binding appraisal — § 23-79-203: no policy may contain any provision that “directly or indirectly deprives the insured or beneficiary of the right to trial by jury on any question of fact”; all such provisions “shall be void.” AID Bulletin 19-89 requires appraisal to be voluntary and non-binding. In Arkansas you cannot compel appraisal and cannot treat the award as binding — the entire national playbook for resolving amount-of-loss disputes does not work here.
Binding appraisal — § 23-79-203: no policy may contain any provision that “directly or indirectly deprives the insured or beneficiary of the right to trial by jury on any question of fact”; all such provisions “shall be void.” AID Bulletin 19-89 requires appraisal to be voluntary and non-binding. In Arkansas you cannot compel appraisal and cannot treat the award as binding — the entire national playbook for resolving amount-of-loss disputes does not work here.
🏠 Property — what the rule actually is
🚗 Automobile
Standard fire policy
None. No 165-line form, no state equivalent. Every SFP-derived rule you were taught has no statutory footing hereLimits & system
25/50/25, and a tort state — no threshold, verbal or monetaryValued policy law
Fire or natural disaster, real property, total loss only. Flood and earthquake excluded; commercial deductible subtractedFirst-party benefits
Mandatory to offer, rejectable in writing (the statute does not say signed): $5,000 medical / 70% of income to $140 a week / 52 weeks / $5,000 death. Add-on, with zero tort limitationMatching
No statute, no rule, no bulletin, no case law. Arkansas never adopted the NAIC “reasonably uniform appearance” language — matching is purely a policy-language questionUIM — § 23-89-209
Triggers on damages exceeding the tortfeasor's limits, not a limits comparison — and is NOT offset by the tortfeasor's payment except to prevent over-recovery. Apply the national offset rule and you underpayCancellation
Lives in the Trade Practices Act at § 23-66-206(15), not chapter 88. 20 days / 10 days nonpayment with the reason; 60-day freeze, six groundsComparative negligence
50% BAR. Fault “equal to or greater in degree” recovers nothing — not 51%. A 50/50 plaintiff takes zeroLabor depreciation — Arkansas flipped by statute in 2017Adams (2013) barred depreciating labor where the policy did not define ACV; Shelter Mutual v. Goodner (2015) extended that to policies that expressly permitted it, on public policy grounds. Act 279 of 2017, § 23-88-106, reversed Goodner. So today: labor MAY be depreciated — but only if the policy allows it AND carries the Commissioner-approved notice under (b)(2). And (c) makes a written explanation of how the depreciation was calculated MANDATORY — an affirmative statutory duty on the adjuster with no national analogue. Losses before August 1, 2017 are still governed by Goodner.
Guaranty fund — four numbers that differ from the model$300,000 per covered claim · NO per-claim deductible of any amount (Arkansas never adopted the NAIC $100) · unearned premium 100% up to $25,000 per policy, not $10,000 · net worth exclusion $50 million, not $25 million, and it reaches third-party claimants · workers' compensation uncapped. And structurally: there is no insurer-run guaranty association — § 23-90-106 creates an eight-member, Commissioner-appointed, advisory body, and the AID Liquidation Division pays the claims. On an insolvency you contact the Department, not an association.
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The fraud warning — two national-course errors in one section
§ 23-66-503 prescribes the exact wording: “Any person who knowingly presents a false or fraudulent claim for payment of a loss or benefit or knowingly presents false information in an application for insurance is guilty of a crime and may be subject to fines and confinement in prison.”
First error: it is not applications-only. It must appear on claim forms, proofs of loss, and applications alike — squarely in the adjuster's own workflow. The only line exemption is reinsurance.
Second, and bigger: § 23-66-503(b) provides that the ABSENCE of the warning is NOT a defense in a prosecution for a fraudulent insurance act. A common national teaching is that a missing warning weakens the fraud position. Arkansas expressly forecloses the argument.
And on reporting: mandatory for persons in the business of insurance, knowing failure is a Class A misdemeanor — but there is NO deadline in days. Neither § 23-66-505 nor Rule 67 prescribes one. Fraud itself is a flat Class D felony, not graded by dollar amount.
First error: it is not applications-only. It must appear on claim forms, proofs of loss, and applications alike — squarely in the adjuster's own workflow. The only line exemption is reinsurance.
Second, and bigger: § 23-66-503(b) provides that the ABSENCE of the warning is NOT a defense in a prosecution for a fraudulent insurance act. A common national teaching is that a missing warning weakens the fraud position. Arkansas expressly forecloses the argument.
And on reporting: mandatory for persons in the business of insurance, knowing failure is a Class A misdemeanor — but there is NO deadline in days. Neither § 23-66-505 nor Rule 67 prescribes one. Fraud itself is a flat Class D felony, not graded by dollar amount.
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Workers' Compensation — the Employer Picks, the Commission Replaces
§ 11-9-514, and it is the opposite of what national courses teach
- The employer selects the initial treating physician — not the employee, not a panel
- The employee may petition the Commission one time only for a change — and the Commission designates the replacement, unbound by either party's recommendation
- Where the employee self-selected first, a change requires a “compelling reason or circumstance”
- Chiropractor, optometrist, or podiatrist — the employee may change on written advance notice, with no petition
- Unauthorized treatment is the employee's own financial responsibility (emergencies excepted). The carrier does not owe it
- Managed care is VOLUNTARY — AWCC Rule 33, employer opt-in with AWCC-certified MCOs. Not a mandatory channel
And two maximum weekly rates, not oneTTD / PTD: $953.00 · PPD: $715.00 (2026) — PPD is statutorily 75% of the total disability rate under § 11-9-501(d)(1). National courses present one max per state. Applying $953 to a permanent partial award overpays by a third. Minimum $20; rate fixed by the date of injury. The act is STRICTLY construed (§ 11-9-1001) — Arkansas abolished the liberal-construction canon.
| Workers' compensation clock | Arkansas | The trap |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting period | 7 days | Retroactive at 14 days — unusually short |
| Employee notice to employer | “immediately” | No 30-day rule and no forfeiture — on Form AR-N, and the sanction is a benefits start date |
| First report of injury (AR-1) | 10 days | Through the carrier unless self-insured |
| Pay or controvert (AR-2) | 15 days | From EMPLOYER notice — not your receipt of the file |
| Medical bills | 30 days | Unless disputed as to compensability or amount |
| Claim limitations | 2 years | Additional compensation: 1 year from last payment — and furnishing medical restarts it |
Late payment penalties: 18% without an award · 20% under an award · up to 36% for willful failure
Return to work at equal wages BARS wage loss — but the burden is yours§ 11-9-522 denies benefits above the impairment percentage “so long as an employee … has returned to work, has obtained other employment, or has a bona fide and reasonably obtainable offer to be employed at wages equal to or greater than” the pre-injury average weekly wage. Elsewhere return-to-work is a factor to weigh; here it ends the inquiry. But the statute is explicit that “the employer or insurance carrier shall have the burden of proving” it — you must document that the offer was bona fide and reasonably obtainable. Wage loss exists only for unscheduled injuries (body as a whole = 450 weeks), and the $715 PPD maximum caps all of it.
Ten scenarios — each one a place Arkansas departs from the national rule.
Read the fact pattern before the options. Most of these have a plausible wrong answer that is simply the majority rule in other states.
Read the fact pattern before the options. Most of these have a plausible wrong answer that is simply the majority rule in other states.
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Top Exam Tips — Arkansas Adjuster Regulations
1. Three lines: Property, Casualty, Workers' Compensation. WC is coordinate — P&C does not cover it, and the Workers' Compensation Commission issues no adjuster credential of its own.
2. Public adjusting is prohibited, not merely unlicensed. No bond, no fee cap, no rescission period — because no license exists.
3. Catastrophe: notify within 10 business days, work 90 days, one discretionary 90-day extension. The statute requires no declared disaster even though AID's website says it does.
4. Prelicensing is required — 20 hours per line — but PSI does not collect the certificate for adjuster exams. Course first, then exam, then application.
5. 70% is a real percentage: 18 of 25. No scaled scoring anywhere in the bulletin or the outlines.
6. Renewal is your BIRTH DATE, biennially. No grace period — but 12 months to reinstate without retesting.
7. No private right of action under § 23-66-206(12) for either party — but § 23-79-208 gives 12% plus all attorney's fees even on a good-faith denial, if recovery is within 20% of the demand (30% for homeowner's).
8. Rule 43: 15 / 15 / 45 / 15 / 10, accept-or-deny is first party only, the 45-day investigation clock is self-waivable, and the 10-day check rule starts only once the file is ready to pay.
9. Suit-limitation clauses and binding appraisal are both VOID. No standard fire policy, and no matching authority of any kind.
10. Comparative negligence is a 50% bar — equal fault recovers nothing. And UIM triggers on damages, without offset.
11. The fraud warning is required on claim forms and proofs of loss, and its absence is not a defense. Reporting is mandatory with no deadline in days.
12. Workers' comp: the employer picks the doctor, one petition, the COMMISSION picks the replacement. Two maximums — $953 TTD/PTD, $715 PPD. Pay or controvert in 15 days from employer notice.
2. Public adjusting is prohibited, not merely unlicensed. No bond, no fee cap, no rescission period — because no license exists.
3. Catastrophe: notify within 10 business days, work 90 days, one discretionary 90-day extension. The statute requires no declared disaster even though AID's website says it does.
4. Prelicensing is required — 20 hours per line — but PSI does not collect the certificate for adjuster exams. Course first, then exam, then application.
5. 70% is a real percentage: 18 of 25. No scaled scoring anywhere in the bulletin or the outlines.
6. Renewal is your BIRTH DATE, biennially. No grace period — but 12 months to reinstate without retesting.
7. No private right of action under § 23-66-206(12) for either party — but § 23-79-208 gives 12% plus all attorney's fees even on a good-faith denial, if recovery is within 20% of the demand (30% for homeowner's).
8. Rule 43: 15 / 15 / 45 / 15 / 10, accept-or-deny is first party only, the 45-day investigation clock is self-waivable, and the 10-day check rule starts only once the file is ready to pay.
9. Suit-limitation clauses and binding appraisal are both VOID. No standard fire policy, and no matching authority of any kind.
10. Comparative negligence is a 50% bar — equal fault recovers nothing. And UIM triggers on damages, without offset.
11. The fraud warning is required on claim forms and proofs of loss, and its absence is not a defense. Reporting is mandatory with no deadline in days.
12. Workers' comp: the employer picks the doctor, one petition, the COMMISSION picks the replacement. Two maximums — $953 TTD/PTD, $715 PPD. Pay or controvert in 15 days from employer notice.
§ 23-64-209(a)
The three lines — property, casualty, or workers' compensation, or any combination thereof. WC is not inside P&C.
§ 23-64-209(d)
Catastrophe deployment — written notice within 10 business days, then 90 days, plus one discretionary 90-day extension.
AID Rule 31
Prelicensing — 20 hours per line, including 5 state law and 1 ethics. PSI does not collect the certificate for adjuster exams.
AID Rule 50
CE — 24 hours / 2 years, 3 ethics, no law-update hour; renewal on your birth date; the nonresident exemption is a three-part test.
§ 23-66-202(b)
“No provisions of this subchapter are intended to establish or extinguish a private right of action” — no private UCSPA suit for anyone.
§ 23-66-206(12)
The unfair claims settlement practices list — renumbered from (13) on 8/1/2023. Requires a general business practice.
§ 23-79-208
12% of the loss plus all attorney's fees, attaching even on a good-faith denial. Recovery must be within 20% of the demand — 30% for a homeowner's policy.
Rule 43 § 9(d)
The limitations warning letters — 30 working days (first party) and 60 calendar days (third party) to unrepresented claimants.
§ 23-79-202(b)
Policy suit-limitation clauses are VOID. The insured has the full five years for a written contract.
§ 23-79-203
No provision may deprive the insured of a jury trial on any question of fact — so binding appraisal is void and appraisal cannot be compelled.
§ 23-88-106
Expense depreciation — labor may be depreciated since 8/1/2017 with the Commissioner-approved policy notice, and a written explanation of the calculation is mandatory.
§ 16-64-122(b)(2)
Comparative negligence — fault “equal to or greater in degree” recovers nothing. A 50% bar, not 51%.
§ 23-66-503
The prescribed fraud warning — required on claim forms and proofs of loss, and its absence is expressly not a defense.
§ 11-9-514
WC medical — the employer selects the treating physician, the employee gets one petition, and the Commission designates the replacement.
§ 11-9-522
WC wage loss — barred by return to work or a bona fide, reasonably obtainable offer at equal wages, with the burden on the carrier.
APCGF
Guaranty — $300,000 cap, no deductible, unearned premium $25,000, net worth $50M; paid by the AID Liquidation Division, not an association.
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