Delaware · Insurance Adjuster Sample Interactive Mind Map
Delaware Adjuster Regulations
A visual breakdown of the Delaware rules an adjuster is tested on — including the places where the answer sits one section away from where you would look for it, and the two figures Delaware refuses to publish.
Delaware is a small state that keeps its rules in unexpected places and then quietly reverses two or three of them. It licenses the insurer’s own employees — the definition in § 1702(1) reaches anyone adjusting “on behalf of an … insurer, self-insurer,” the exceptions section is producer-only on its face, and the one employee exemption Delaware wrote applies to public adjusters and has no counterpart in the adjuster chapter.
Then there is the case that rewrote the automobile chapter. In October 2024 the Supreme Court held that § 3902(c) — which reads exactly like an anti-stacking statute — is “enabling and not prohibitory.” Stacking in Delaware is a policy-drafting question, not a statutory prohibition, and nearly every course written before late 2024 teaches the reverse. Delaware is also an add-on state rather than a no-fault one: PIP is compulsory and there is no tort threshold of any kind, because the provision mistaken for one is an evidence rule.
On unfair claims Delaware keeps the “general business practice” element several neighboring states have deleted — so a single act is not a violation — and then does something few states do by attaching a number to it, at four percent of a Department-drawn sample. Neither the statute nor the regulation creates a private right of action, and one of them adds that neither creates a defense either.
The licensing side has its own traps. Seven lines of authority but only six examinations. A separate appraiser license that sweeps in anyone who personally assesses vehicle damage. Catastrophe work is an exemption you notice the state about yourself, within ten calendar days, with no fee and no form. Residents and nonresidents renew in different years. And the passing score is scaled — with the handbook declining to say whether adjusters need 70 or 80.
Work through the six clusters, then take the ten-scenario quiz. Every scenario is a place where the plausible national answer is the wrong one in Delaware.
Delaware licenses the insurer’s own employees — and the proof is inside Delaware’s own statute.
Seven lines of authority but six examinations, a separate appraiser license that sweeps by activity, and a catastrophe rule where the adjuster notices the state.
Seven lines of authority but six examinations, a separate appraiser license that sweeps by activity, and a catastrophe rule where the adjuster notices the state.
| Credential | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Adjuster | Seven lines — § 1707(d) | $125 initial and renewal · 50-item exam per line |
| Staff adjuster | Insurer’s own employee | LICENSED — no employee exemption exists |
| Motor vehicle appraiser | “assesses property damage to motor vehicles” | A SEPARATE license · $125 |
| Public adjuster | Ch. 17A — first-party claims only | $125 · $20,000 bond · fee cap 2.5% / 12% |
| Apprentice | Adjuster / motor vehicle appraiser | $75 · 1 year · Delaware residency · supervisor assumes full responsibility |
| Temporary | § 1711 — up to 180 days, for survivors, business-entity personnel, and licensees entering the armed forces. Not a catastrophe credential. | |
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The employee exemption exists in Delaware — for PUBLIC adjusters only
§ 1702(1) defines an adjuster as a licensee acting “as an independent contractor or on behalf of an independent contractor, insurer, self-insurer, producer or managing general agent.” If you expect § 1704 “Exceptions to licensing” to carve out insurer employees, read it: all seven exceptions turn on commission and on the “sale, solicitation or negotiation” of insurance — not the adjustment of claims. And the decisive proof is the contrast case inside the same title: § 1759(b)(1) DOES exempt “an adjuster for or an agent or employee of an insurer” — but only from the PUBLIC adjuster license. There is no parallel provision anywhere in chapter 17. Adjuster exemptions live in § 1707(e), and there are exactly three.
📋 Seven lines — § 1707(d)
Property · Casualty · Fidelity and surety · Automobile
Marine and transportation · Crop · Workers’ compensation
The statute says “automobile.” The exam and NIPR say “motor vehicle.” Same line.
⚠ But only SIX examinations exist
No fidelity and surety adjuster exam is published at all
Crop is not a Delaware exam — Reg. § 506-5.0 requires the federal RMA proficiency test, and a CAPP card is accepted in lieu
The sixth outline is Public Adjuster — a separate license, not a line
“Seven lines, seven exams” is false. Do not repeat it
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Catastrophe is an EXEMPTION, and YOU file the notice — § 1707(e)(1)
An adjuster sent into Delaware for “a particularly unusual or extraordinary loss, or series of losses, resulting from a catastrophe common to all such losses” is exempt from licensure, provided “such adjuster or appraiser shall furnish to the Commissioner written notice within 10 calendar days.” Four departures from the national pattern: it is an exemption, not a registration or permit — no application, no fee, no form. The ADJUSTER files it personally, not the insurer. No governor’s declaration and no Commissioner order is required — the trigger is the character of the loss. And the statute states no expiration. The 10 days are expressly CALENDAR days, which matters in a state where two claim deadlines are working days.
The appraiser license sweeps by ACTIVITY, with no adjuster carve-out§ 1702(3) defines an appraiser as one “who assesses property damage to motor vehicles,” and § 1707(d) gives the adjuster authority “to investigate and negotiate settlement of claims” — saying nothing about appraisal. Then 18 DE Admin. Code § 602-1.0 closes the loop: “This shall include all persons who in this State practice the appraisal of motor vehicle physical damage.” The functional line: negotiating from someone else’s appraisal is within the adjuster license; personally assessing the vehicle is the appraiser’s licensed act. Delaware even issues a combined Apprentice Adjuster / Motor Vehicle Appraiser license, which only makes sense if they are distinct. The one carve-out is for repairers: § 602-1.0 excludes “an estimate of repair to be performed by the individual or entity making such estimate.”
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Four Negatives, Each Proved by Structure
Delaware asks for less than most states in four places — and each absence has a contrast case
- No adjuster appointment. § 1715 is producer-only on its face: “An insurance producer shall not act as an agent of an insurer unless the insurance producer becomes an appointed agent.” Chapter 17 writes “producer, adjuster or appraiser” wherever it means all three — §§ 1702(8), 1703, 1706(c), 1707(m). The omission is deliberate.
- No designation exam waiver. § 1709 is a closed list of six: prior licensure for the same lines elsewhere · relocation within 90 days · Delaware attorneys seeking a title producer license · travel insurance · automobile clubs · self-service storage. No AIC, CPCU, SCLA, CIC, CLU or ChFC appears. The only credential-for-exam substitution anywhere is the federal RMA/CAPP card for crop.
- No prelicensing education. § 1705 requires only the written exam; § 1706(h)’s only instruction requirement is for limited line credit producers; § 1709 mentions prelicensing only to waive it; and neither the 200 nor the 500 series imposes any — Regs. 506-4.0 and 507-4.0, both headed Qualification for Issuance, impose none.
- No Delaware office or residency. § 1707 references “principal place of business” only as where records live, and never puts it in Delaware. Internal contrast: the APPRENTICE license does require Delaware residency.
Public adjusters: the exclusions are not where you will look for them§ 1750 defines a public adjuster as one acting “solely in relation to first party claims” — and carries no exclusions at all. All eight live in § 1759(b), headed “Regulations and scope.” Insurer adjusters and employees · agents or brokers acting without compensation · attorneys who do not “regularly act” as public adjusters · health-care providers filing health claim forms · persons furnishing only facts or technical assistance — photographers, investigators, engineers · life and health claim negotiators · insurer clerical staff not participating in disputed-claim negotiations · and persons settling subrogation claims between authorized insurers.
Pearson VUE delivers the exam — and the handbook refuses to state the passing score or the time limit.
Fees are hard-coded in the statute and rose $25 in May 2025. The license is perpetual. And residents and nonresidents renew in different years.
Fees are hard-coded in the statute and rose $25 in May 2025. The license is perpetual. And residents and nonresidents renew in different years.
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The passing score is SCALED — and Delaware will not say whether adjusters need 70 or 80
Pearson VUE’s Delaware Insurance Candidate Handbook (cover June 2025,
#120800 | 8/2025), verbatim: “Raw scores are converted into scaled scores that can range from 0 to 100. The scaled score that is reported is neither the number of questions answered correctly nor the percentage of questions answered correctly. Some exams require a scaled score of 70 to pass and others require a scaled score of 80 to pass. The passing score will be listed on your score report.” Three consequences. Saying “70%” is a category error. The handbook declines to say which adjuster exam takes which. And no Delaware statute or regulation sets a cut score — § 1705, § 1751, Reg. § 507-5.0 and Reg. § 506-5.0 were each checked and are each silent. Prepare for 80 and the question stops mattering.| Examination | Scored items | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| Property Adjuster | 50 + 5 pretest | NOT PUBLISHED |
| Casualty Adjuster | 50 + 5 pretest | NOT PUBLISHED |
| Motor Vehicle Adjuster | 50 | NOT PUBLISHED |
| Marine and Transportation | 50 | NOT PUBLISHED |
| Workers’ Compensation | 50 | NOT PUBLISHED |
| Public Adjuster | 50 | NOT PUBLISHED |
| The handbook says twice that the time “is detailed on the back cover” — and the back cover is a rendered table no text extraction reaches. The times are not uniform across the six exams, so no single figure exists to quote. Ask Pearson VUE when you schedule. | ||
Score validity is 12 months BY STATUTE — cite the Code, not the handbook18 Del. C. § 1705: “All examination score reports are valid for a period of 12 months from the date of examination.” Almost everywhere else this is a vendor policy that can change without notice. In Delaware it is legislation. Retakes carry a 24-hour wait, cannot be booked at the test center, and no cap on attempts was found. Delivery is test center only — no online proctoring is offered or mentioned, and walk-ins are unavailable.
💰 Fees are IN THE STATUTE — § 701
Adjuster license, initial and renewal, resident and nonresident — $125
Motor vehicle appraiser $125 · Apprentice $75 · Public adjuster $125
Examination $90 · Criminal history $85 (Delaware State Police, code 27S46Z) · Prelicensing $0
Delaware does not delegate its fee schedule. Cite the statute section, never a department page.
⚠ Three stale-figure traps
Any source saying $100 predates HB 18 = 85 Del. Laws, c. 12, effective 5/7/2025, which raised fees $25
§ 701 has NO late fee, NO penalty, NO reinstatement fee for adjusters. The only $150 reinstatement is § 701(1)d, for an insurer’s certificate of authority
The circulating “$200 / $400” late fees appear in no Delaware instrument. The rule is § 1707(g) — double the unpaid renewal fee, then $200–$1,000 beyond six months
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Two renewal clocks, offset by a year — and a first term that runs LONG
Residents renew February 28 of EVEN-numbered years (§ 701(27)b, “due biennially February 28 in even years beginning February 28, 2004”). Nonresidents renew February 28 of ODD-numbered years (§ 701(27)d, “beginning February 28, 2003”). The same split applies to producers and motor vehicle appraisers. Then the anomaly: an adjuster first licensed December 1 – February 28, within 90 days of the deadline, skips that biennium’s renewal fee entirely under § 701(27)c and (27)e — so the first paid cycle can run about 27 months. Grace provisions normally shorten a first term. This one lengthens it. And under § 1707(f) the license is perpetual: it “shall remain in effect unless revoked or suspended” so long as fees are paid and CE met. Delaware licenses lapse; they do not expire on a term.
Regulation 504’s TITLE leaves adjusters out. Its SCOPE does not.The regulation is captioned “Continuing Education for Insurance Agents, Brokers, Surplus Lines Brokers and Consultants.” Adjusters are absent from the title — and § 504-1.0 sweeps them in anyway: “…for resident insurance adjusters, public adjusters, producers, surplus lines brokers…” Anyone reading only the title concludes adjusters are out of scope and stops. The requirement is 12 hours per biennium, 3 in ethics (§ 504-8.2.2) — exactly half the producer’s 24, but the ethics component is not halved. Biennium: March 1 to the last day of February of even years. Credit hour: 50 minutes. Carryover: 5 credits maximum, never ethics. Newly licensed individuals owe nothing for the biennium in which they are licensed.
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Four CE Rules You Will Not Guess
Two exemptions no other state writes this way, one divergence, and one document to stop citing
- Surety and marine & transportation adjusters are EXEMPT from CE entirely. A line-of-authority-based CE exemption is genuinely rare.
- Designations and longevity buy CREDIT, not a waiver. Adjusters licensed 25 consecutive years, or holding professional designations, receive “an automatic credit of six (6) credits in each biennium” — halving the requirement to six hours. Designations never buy an exam waiver in Delaware (§ 1709’s list is closed).
- Crop adjusters owe 24 hours — § 506-6.1, “a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours” — double every other adjuster line, with no ethics component and no period stated. Workers’ compensation adjusters match Reg. 504 at 12 / 3 under § 507-6.1. Do not merge the three regulations.
- The DOI’s CE FAQ contradicts the regulation and itself. It quotes rule text sweeping “Non-Resident Adjusters” in, while stating elsewhere that “The Regulation, as promulgated, exempts all non-residents.” Current § 504-8.2.2 says only “Resident adjusters.” And § 504-8.8 is a home-state rule, not an exemption: nonresidents “must meet the license requirements of their home state.” Cite §§ 504-8.2.2 and 8.8 — never the FAQ.
The background check, and four deadlines that carry discipline§ 1706(b) requires fingerprints plus BOTH a State Bureau of Identification report and an FBI report — and makes the applicant “responsible for any costs.” The $85 is a State Police fee (state-only is $72 and is not enough); the 90-day report-freshness rule is the Department’s, not the Code’s. Then: name or physical address change 30 days (§ 1707(j)) · administrative actions 30 days from final disposition and criminal prosecutions 30 days from the initial pretrial hearing (§ 1719) · records 5 years at the principal place of business, kept with the license (§ 1707(m)) · and failing to respond substantively to a Department inquiry within 21 days is its own ground for discipline under § 1712.
Delaware KEEPS the “general business practice” element — and then attaches a number to it.
A single act is not a violation. Neither instrument creates a private right of action — and one of them says it creates no defense either.
A single act is not a violation. Neither instrument creates a private right of action — and one of them says it creates no defense either.
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The FOUR PERCENT prima facie test — both legs are conjunctive
§ 902-3.2: “It shall be considered prima facie evidence of a general business practice … if the Department finds that, within a given sample of claims sampled by the Department … the total number of unfair claims settlement practices exceeds four percent or more of claims, and the general business practice violation occurred within: 3.2.1 A single category of practices prohibited under subsection 3.1 … and 3.2.2 A single 12-month period.” Read the two legs as conjunctive, because they are — one § 3.1 category and one 12-month period. A sample-wide rate alone is not enough. No fixed sample size is specified. And the text is internally redundant — “exceeds four percent or more” — so quote it as written. It is rebuttable, and § 902-3.4 makes the insurer’s intent expressly relevant, which is unusual given the strict-liability character of the underlying practices.
⚖ The two instruments are NOT copies
18 Del. C. § 2304(16) — fourteen practices
18 DE Admin. Code § 902-3.1 — thirteen practices
Materials treating the regulation as the statute reprinted are wrong in both directions
Regulation 902 never says “adjuster.” You are reached derivatively — § 1712(a)(7) makes unfair trade practices a licensing ground, and § 1756(g) subjects public adjusters to ch. 23
⚠ Two different presumptions — do not conflate
§ 902-3.2 — violations exceed 4% of a Department sample, one category, 12 months
§ 903-7.1 — 3 instances of failing to pay a settled claim, in 36 months, presumes a § 2304(16)(f) violation
Different instrument, different threshold, different window
No private right of action — and, just as importantly, NO DEFENSE§ 902-3.5: the regulation “shall not create a cause of action for any person or entity, other than the Delaware Insurance Commissioner.” § 1310-10.0 repeats it for health-care claims. But § 903-9.0 is the one to memorize, because it states both halves: “…In the same manner, nothing in this regulation shall establish a DEFENSE for any party to any cause of action based upon a violation of 18 Del. C. § 2304(16).” The second sentence matters more to an insurer than the first: you cannot plead regulatory compliance as a defense to a common-law bad faith claim. Only one direction of that bar is ever taught. There is no private action under the statute either — Delaware treats ch. 23 as an enforcement scheme for the Commissioner alone.
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Tackett — first-party bad faith sounds in CONTRACT, and the party name is miscited constantly
Tackett v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., 653 A.2d 254 (Del. 1995). The standard: the insurer’s refusal to pay must have been “clearly without any reasonable justification.” And the Court found “no sound theoretical difference” between a first-party insurance dispute and any other breach of contract — most states plead this in tort; Delaware does not, and that choice drives both the damages available and the limitations period. It is Fire & Casualty, not Mutual — practitioner compendia get this wrong routinely. Limitations: 3 years under 10 Del. C. § 8106, for both the bad-faith claim and the contract claim.
| Duty | Days | Type | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge and respond to claim communications — § 902-3.1.2 | 15 | WORKING | any claim communication |
| Implement a prompt investigation — § 902-3.1.3 | 10 | WORKING | the notice of loss |
| Affirm or deny, or advise in writing why you cannot — § 902-3.1.5 | 30 | Calendar | proof of loss received |
| Pay a settled claim — § 903-5.0 | 30 | Calendar | the earliest of four events |
| Health care clean claim — § 1310-6.1 | 30 | Calendar | receipt of a clean claim |
| Clean claim, after information arrives — one request only — § 1310-6.2 | 15 | Calendar | receipt of the information |
| PIP — furnish a claim form — 21 Del. C. § 2118B(b) | 10 | Calendar | written notice of intent to file |
| PIP — pay or explain the denial in writing — § 2118B(c) | 30 | Calendar | request and documentation |
| Post-payment audit — provider produces records — § 2319 | 45–60 | Calendar | date of the letter |
| Post-payment audit — provider appeals — § 2319 | 30–60 | Calendar | receipt of the determination |
Only TWO working-day deadlines exist in Delaware — and three consecutive duties run from three DIFFERENT triggersThe 15 days to acknowledge and the 10 days to investigate are working days. Everything else is calendar. Then watch what starts each clock: #1 from any claim COMMUNICATION · #2 from the NOTICE OF LOSS · #3 from the PROOF OF LOSS. In a disputed file those can be weeks apart. And 902’s 30-day affirm-or-deny and 903’s 30-day pay are SEQUENTIAL, not the same deadline — an adjuster who treats them as one number gives himself 30 days to do what Delaware allows 60 to do, and is still late on the second. Item 4’s clock runs from the earliest of: a settlement agreement executed · a final court order · all documentation received and investigation complete · the last day to appeal an arbitration award where none is filed — and that fourth one runs on its own, without anyone telling you.
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Four Interest Benchmarks, Four Instruments
Quoting one of these as “the Delaware rate” is a common and expensive error
- Federal Reserve discount rate + 5%, including any surcharge — 6 Del. C. § 2301(a), the legal rate.
- Prime rate + 3% — § 903-6.1.1, late payment of a settled claim. Note § 903-6.1 also requires a finding that the failure was “in bad faith and with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice” — an element the other instruments lack.
- The maximum rate allowable to lenders under Delaware law — § 1310-8.0, health-care clean claims.
- A 1.5% / 2% / 2.5% MONTHLY ladder — 21 Del. C. § 2118B(c), overdue PIP.
Penalties: the LOWER per-act figure carries the HIGHER aggregate§ 2308(a)(1): ordinary violations, not more than $1,000 per act, aggregate $100,000. Where the person “knew or reasonably should have known,” not more than $10,000 per act, aggregate $150,000 in any SIX-MONTH period — which over a year is $300,000. Read the table, not your intuition. The licensee-facing numbers: § 329 caps administrative penalties at $15,000 per violation for chapter 17 licensees (and $50,000 for insurance companies); § 1712 sets a licensing fine of $200 to $20,000 per violation with no imprisonment term. § 2312, the rulemaking authority behind Reg. 902, states no dollar figure of its own, and § 902-4.0 states none either.
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§ 3914 — you owe the CLAIMANT the limitations period, continuously
18 Del. C. § 3914, in full: “An insurer shall be required during the pendency of any claim received pursuant to a casualty insurance policy to give prompt and timely written notice to claimant informing claimant of the applicable state statute of limitations regarding action for his or her damages.” It is line-limited to casualty; it is a continuing duty, not a one-time notice; it runs to the claimant, not merely your own insured; and its content is the applicable period, so you have to get the period right. The section states NO consequence for noncompliance. Practitioner consensus is that it estops the limitations defense — but no primary authority was located across two independent research passes, and Spinelli, which surfaces in searches on this section, does not mention § 3914 at all. Treat it as an open point and comply either way. The cost of compliance is a letter.
Delaware requires PIP and then declines to limit anyone’s right to sue — and in October 2024 the Supreme Court inverted the stacking rule.
§ 2118(h) is an evidence rule, not a threshold. § 3902(c) is “enabling and not prohibitory.” Most material in circulation now teaches the reverse.
§ 2118(h) is an evidence rule, not a threshold. § 3902(c) is “enabling and not prohibitory.” Most material in circulation now teaches the reverse.
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STACKING — § 3902(c) reads like a prohibition and is not one
The subsection says that where two or more household vehicles are insured by the same or affiliated insurers, “the limits of liability shall apply separately to each vehicle as stated in the declaration sheet, but shall not exceed the highest limit of liability applicable to any 1 vehicle.” On its plain reading that is an anti-stacking statute. In Ginsberg v. Harleysville Worcester Ins. Co., No. 431, 2023 (Del. October 29, 2024), the Supreme Court held otherwise: “The Insurance Code does not prohibit combining or stacking under/uninsured insurance coverage policies issued by the same carrier to insureds in the same household.” § 3902(c) is “enabling and not prohibitory” — it permits a carrier to cap at the highest single-vehicle limit through its policy language, and imposes nothing on its own. Where an “Other Insurance” clause lets one policy sit primary and another excess without being expressly subject to the limiting clause, stacking is allowed and the ambiguity runs to the insured. Bromstad-Deturk (2009), where the excess provision was expressly “subject to,” was distinguished, not overruled. Stacking in Delaware is a POLICY-DRAFTING question. Read the policy, not just the statute.
Delaware is an ADD-ON state — there is no tort threshold of any kindPIP is compulsory under 21 Del. C. § 2118, and Delaware never bought the tort limitation that usually comes with it. No monetary threshold. No verbal threshold. No election. § 2118(h) is the provision mistaken for one, and it is an EVIDENCE rule — it bars introducing at trial the damages that were paid or payable as PIP. It does not bar the suit. A Delaware claimant collects PIP and then sues in tort for everything PIP did not pay. Slotting Delaware into the no-fault column gets this entire cluster wrong. Minimum limits are 25/50/10 — and note that § 2118(a)(3)’s no-fault property damage EXCLUDES motor vehicles: the one property coverage inside the compulsory statute does not cover the thing everyone assumes.
⏱ § 2118B — the section you operate
Furnish a claim form — 10 days from written notice of intent to file
Pay, or give a written explanation of the denial — 30 days from the request and documentation
Interest on overdue benefits — 1.5% / 2% / 2.5% monthly ladder, automatic
Attorney fees — only on PROVED bad faith: “an intentional, reckless or malicious indifference to the duties owed an insured, not negligence, carelessness or inadvertence of any degree.” Interest and fees are DECOUPLED.
🛡 UM / UIM — § 3902
Mandatory OFFER, included unless “rejected in writing, on a form furnished by the insurer”
UIM is a separate mandatory offer — ceiling “up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident or $300,000 single limit”
UM property damage deductible $250 · hit-and-run needs physical contact, police notice, and insurer notice within 30 days or as soon as practicable
State Farm v. Washington (Del. 1994) — a named-driver exclusion is unenforceable against a household member’s UIM. Mason v. USAA (Del. 1997) — the offer must be “meaningful.” Mason is NOT a stacking case
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YOUR OWN DENIAL LETTER STARTS THE UM CLOCK
Personal injury: 2 years from the date injuries were sustained — 10 Del. C. § 8119, running from the crash, and you cannot touch it. UM and UIM: 3 years under § 8106 — and Allstate v. Spinelli, 443 A.2d 1286 (Del. 1982), holds a UM claim is contractual and does not accrue “until the insurer denies coverage and notifies its insured of rejection of any claim for such benefits.” Two claims out of the same accident, two different triggers — and you control one of them. § 8118 adds a one-year savings period where a writ fails service, an action abates, or a judgment is reversed.
Comparative negligence: 50% still recovers, and the comparison may be AGGREGATE10 Del. C. § 8132 bars recovery only where the plaintiff’s negligence “was greater than the negligence of the defendant or the combined negligence of all defendants against whom recovery is sought.” Two consequences. “Not greater than” is the 51% bar: a plaintiff at exactly 50% RECOVERS (halved), and at 50.1% recovers nothing — this is the modified/51% rule, not the “less than 50%” rule. And because the comparison may be aggregate, a plaintiff 40% at fault recovers against two defendants at 30% each, though he is more negligent than either one alone. That second point is frequently missed.
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Arbitration — $50, Three Arbitrators, and the Insurer Cannot Refuse
18 Del. C. § 331 (homeowners) · 21 Del. C. § 2118(j) (auto and PIP) · Regulation 901 implements both
- The claimant demands. The insurer can neither initiate nor refuse. Homeowners demands run 90 days from a settlement offer or a denial of coverage or liability.
- $50 filing fee per party — auto and homeowners alike, non-refundable except where the claim is excluded, recoverable by the prevailing party as costs. Three arbitrators, each capped at $25 per arbitration under § 2118(j). Do not merge those two figures — both are current.
- The insurer answers in 20 business days with fee, or faces summary disposition or default, reopenable within 5 business days. Hearing noticed 10 business days ahead. Neither party need appear, and the Delaware Rules of Evidence do not apply.
- Appeal is DE NOVO to Superior Court — 30 days for automobile, 90 days for homeowners. Binding on both otherwise.
- The trap: appealing an individual award is lawful. Having a POLICY of appealing awards is a statutory unfair practice — § 2304(16)(k). And a Delaware PIP claimant can force a three-arbitrator Commissioner proceeding for $50. Reserve accordingly.
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The Delaware “75% total loss threshold” is FABRICATED
21 Del. C. § 2512 contains no percentage anywhere. The statute uses the undefined phrase “total loss insurance settlement” and never defines it by a damage-to-value ratio. A heavily-relied-upon national subrogation reference nonetheless publishes: “A vehicle is salvage if the cost of repair equals or exceeds 75% of its fair market value. (21 Del. C. § 2512).” That sentence is not in the section. What § 2512 actually does is brand titles: on a total loss settlement the insurer sends the certificate of title to the Department within 30 days from the date of settlement, or, on owner-retained salvage, must “require the owner … to procure a salvage certificate from the Department prior to paying” the settlement. Delaware has no total-loss valuation regulation at all — and Regulation 604, titled “Salvage and Subrogation,” is a STATUTORY-ACCOUNTING rule about annual-statement credits, with no threshold, no branding rule and no valuation duty. Its title has misled published materials. Your only constraint is § 2304(16)(f)’s “prompt, fair and equitable settlements.”
Regulation 602 — and Delaware prohibits steering WITHOUT mandating an advisory§ 602-5.0, in full: “No appraiser shall require that repairs be made in a specified repair shop.” That is the whole rule. There is no prescribed notice wording and no affirmative duty to tell the claimant of the right to choose a shop — the inverse of the scripted-notice model. § 602-3.0 does impose three affirmative duties: “exchange a legible copy of his appraisal with that of the repair shop selected to make the repairs and also furnish a copy to the owner” · include “an itemized listing of all damages” and clearly identify “unrelated or old damage” · and treat “the operational safety of the vehicle … as paramount” when specifying new parts, with heightened attention to the drive train, steering gear, suspension, brakes and tires. And GEICO v. Green (Del. 2022) blesses automated bill review — § 2118 “does not dictate how insurers must determine the reasonableness and necessity of claims” — and requires individualized proof. It applies Tackett rather than announcing a standard, and the word “punitive” does not appear in it.
The property suit clock runs from DENIAL, the fee shift says SHALL, the guaranty fund pays from the first dollar — and the comp attorney fee is “whichever is SMALLER.”
Insurance fraud is a flat class G felony, in the Criminal Code, with no dollar thresholds and no reporting deadline anywhere.
Insurance fraud is a flat class G felony, in the Criminal Code, with no dollar thresholds and no reporting deadline anywhere.
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Time to sue runs from DENIAL, not from inception of the loss
10 Del. C. § 8106(b): a property insurance contract subject to subchapter III of chapter 41 “(1) May not require that an action for a claim made under the contract be filed less than 1 year from the date of the DENIAL of the claim by the insurer; and (2) May permit an action … to be filed more than 1 year from the date of the denial.” Read precisely what that is: a one-year FLOOR, not a period. The trigger is the insurer’s denial — not “inception of the loss” (the standard fire policy trigger) and not the date of loss. It is a floor only; subsection (2) expressly blesses longer periods, and § 8106(a)’s general three years are untouched. And it is residential only — commercial property policies are outside it. An adjuster trained on the SFP’s “two years from inception of loss” gets Delaware wrong twice: wrong about the length, wrong about what starts it.
📋 Three property negatives — each with a contrast case
No standard fire policy. § 4103(1) defines the Basic Property Protection Plan by reference to the SFP “as filed with the Commissioner” — a filed industry form, not a statutory one. The opposite of the New York 165-line model
No valued policy law — ch. 41 and ch. 27 subch. I enumerated in full
No statutory appraisal provision. Contrast: the Commissioner does regulate appraisers — for motor vehicles, at Reg. 602 — and created no property counterpart
No earthquake or sinkhole mandate. § 4140 is wind/hail/hurricane only; subch. V is flood only; Reg. § 702-5.0’s five disclosures contain neither peril
🚫 Cancellation & nonrenewal — ch. 41, subch. III
60 days initial underwriting period, then the seven § 4123 grounds only: nonpayment · fraud · wilful or reckless acts · change in the risk · code violations · a Commissioner determination · delinquent property taxes
Cancellation 30 days · nonpayment 10 days · nonrenewal 30 days · private primary residential flood 45 days (§ 4158)
Every notice states the effective date plus a written explanation of the specific reasons
Subchapter III is RESIDENTIAL in scope — and that is why § 8106(b) is residential too
§ 4102 says SHALL, and § 4140 mandates a worked example§ 4102: “The court upon rendering judgment against any insurer upon any policy of property insurance … shall allow the plaintiff a reasonable sum as attorneys’ fees to be taxed as part of the costs.” Shall, not may — and no bad-faith predicate appears on the face of the statute. The trigger stated in the text is a judgment against the property insurer. That is a live exposure on every contested Delaware property file. Separately, § 4140 makes the wind/hail/hurricane deductible notice statutory, requires it whenever the insurer CHANGES the deductible (not only at issue and first renewal), requires disclosure of “the trigger of the deductible” and whether it is a percentage or a dollar amount — and supplies the illustration itself: “a 2% deductible on a house insured for $300,000 means the policy holder is responsible for $6,000.”
| Delaware Insurance Guaranty Association — § 4208(a)(1) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Workers’ compensation | THE FULL AMOUNT — no cap |
| All other covered claims, per claimant | $500,000 |
| Return of unearned premium, per policy | $10,000 |
| Association aggregate per insolvent insurer (excl. comp) | $10,000,000 |
| Per-claim deductible | NONE — Delaware did not adopt the NAIC $100 |
| Net worth exclusion — § 4205(6) | > $10,000,000, consolidated with all affiliates |
| Claim-filing deadline | the EARLIER of 24 months after liquidation, or the court’s bar date |
| “All claims of any kind arising from or relating to bodily injury or death to any person will constitute a SINGLE claim, regardless of the number of claims made, or the number of claimants.” | |
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Two guaranty-fund absences, and the timing sharpens the first one
NO $100 DEDUCTIBLE. The NAIC model obligates the association only as to “that amount of each covered claim which is in excess of one hundred dollars ($100).” § 4208(a)(1) contains no such words — it sets maximum limits only. And the 2018 act that raised the cap to $500,000 (81 Del. Laws, c. 337 — HB 318, signed 7/17/2018) said its purpose was “to more closely align it with the NAIC and NCIGF Model Acts” — and still did not adopt the deductible. Delaware pays from the first dollar, subject to the caps. NO ADVERTISING PROHIBITION in the P&C act, proved three ways: chapter 42 runs §§ 4201–4221 then § 4223 — the sequence SKIPS 4222, the slot most states use; a direct fetch of § 4222 returns 404; and the contrast case is decisive — the LIFE AND HEALTH act carries the ban at § 4419. Delaware enacted it for ch. 44 and not for ch. 42.
Fraud: the duty says “any INSURER,” and there is NO deadline — verified at three levels§ 2408, in full: “Any insurer which has a reasonable belief that an act of insurance fraud is being, or has been, committed shall send to the Bureau, on a form prescribed by the Bureau, any and all information …” Adjusters — independent or public — are named nowhere in chapter 24. On the deadline: (1) the statute states no number of days; (2) Title 18 of the Administrative Code was enumerated in full, all 22 series — no fraud or SIU series exists; (3) Domestic/Foreign Insurers Bulletin No. 15, reissued March 2, 2026 — the instrument that would carry one — restates § 2408 verbatim, prescribes the form and channels (email to fraud@delaware.gov or mail, not both), and specifies no timeframe. Immunity under § 2409 attaches on absence of fraud, bad faith and malice — and is NOT defeated by gross negligence. Delaware also has no SIU requirement, no antifraud plan requirement, and no fraud warning legend on claim forms — § 2722, the sole proof-of-loss-form statute, imposes none.
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Insurance fraud is a FLAT class G felony — and it is not in the Insurance Code
The criminal offense lives in the Criminal Code: 11 Del. C. § 913 — “Insurance fraud is a class G felony.” There are no dollar thresholds, no misdemeanor tier and no felony-grading ladder. Adjusters trained on the common “under $X = misdemeanor, over $X = felony” structure will get Delaware wrong — and will look for it in the wrong title. Administratively, § 2411 permits “not more than $10,000 for each act of insurance fraud,” plus a cost assessment equal to 15% of each penalty and restitution. § 2407(c) reaches INSURER misconduct, not only claimant fraud.
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Workers’ Compensation — Your Regulation Answers Nothing
Reg. 507 gives you a license, an exam and CE. Every claim-handling answer is in Title 19
- The credential: § 507-2.0 reaches “all persons acting as Workers’ Compensation insurance adjusters in this state”; § 507-4.0 requires the license; § 507-5.0 requires the proficiency test; § 507-6.0 requires 12 hours / 3 ethics. And that is all it contains — no claim-handling standards, no payment deadlines, no record retention. Title 18’s 800 series does not fill the gap: 801 deductibles · 802 workplace safety · 803 data collection · 804 ratepayer advocate.
- The rate, effective 7/1/2026: AWW $1,444.07 · maximum $962.72 · minimum $320.91. Three compounding traps: the widely-linked
laborfileschart is REV 6/20/25 and expired 6/30/2026 — using it pays $924.31, a $37.41/week shortfall; SSA POMS DI 52120.045 links to that expired file; and the CURRENT documents are served from URLs ending..._2025 (1).pdf. Read the REV line inside — REV 05/13/26 — not the filename. - NO benefit COLA, and § 2334 is a decoy. Titled “Benefit adjustment,” it is a one-time supplement frozen at the maximum rate as it stood 7/1/1975. The annual change resets caps for NEW INJURIES ONLY — an open 2019 claim keeps the 2019 maximum forever. Do not mistake the CPI adjustment on the medical FEE SCHEDULE (§ 2322B) for a benefit COLA.
- THE EMPLOYEE CHOOSES THE PHYSICIAN — § 2323, on written notice within 30 days, while § 2322(a) obliges the EMPLOYER to furnish the care. The employer pays; the employee picks. The employer’s only lever is the certified provider program (§ 2322D): a certified provider treats without preauthorization; a non-certified provider gets ONE visit, and everything after needs prior authorization.
- BAD FAITH SURVIVES EXCLUSIVITY — Pierce v. International Ins. Co. of Illinois, 671 A.2d 1361 (Del. 1996). The employee sues as a third-party beneficiary of the insurance contract; recovery is limited to contract remedies; emotional distress damages unavailable; punitive damages AVAILABLE on “wilful disregard for the interests of the injured employee.”
- Subrogation inverted in 2023 — judicially. Horizon Services, Inc. v. Henry, No. 172, 2022 (Del. June 7, 2023) OVERRULED Simendinger, 74 A.3d 609 (Del. 2013): the carrier may now assert a § 2363(e) lien against UIM benefits from an employer-purchased policy. PIP-eligible expenses remain outside the lien.
| Workers’ compensation — the numbers that get missed | Figure |
|---|---|
| Attorney fee cap — § 2320(10) | 30% of the award OR 10× AWW — WHICHEVER IS SMALLER = $14,440.70 |
| Waiting period | 3 days; retroactive to day one at 7 days including the day of injury |
| Employee notice of injury | 90 days — it SUSPENDS compensation, it does not extinguish the claim |
| Accept, deny or investigate — § 2362(a) | 15 days, in writing, to the Department AND the claimant |
| Medical bills · refer to utilization review | 30 days · 15 days of denial |
| Appeal a utilization review decision | 45 days — or the decision is FINAL |
| § 2362(e) fine | $500–$2,500 — payable to the FUND, not the claimant |
| TTD minimum is not a floor | Earning less than 22 2/9% of AWW? You get “the full amount of such wages” |
| TPD · scheduled PPD | 300 weeks, no stated minimum · paid “regardless of the earning power” after injury |
| Disfigurement · death · burial | 150 weeks, “visible and offensive when clothed normally” · 400 weeks, remarriage reduces to 90% then 75% · $3,500 |
| Officer / LLC opt-out · state and political subdivisions | up to 8 by written agreement · outside the Act unless they ELECT |
Ten scenarios — each one a place Delaware departs from the national rule.
Read the fact pattern before the options. Most carry a plausible wrong answer that is simply the majority rule somewhere else — and two of them are what Delaware itself taught before October 2024.
Read the fact pattern before the options. Most carry a plausible wrong answer that is simply the majority rule somewhere else — and two of them are what Delaware itself taught before October 2024.
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Top Exam Tips — Delaware Adjuster Regulations
1. Delaware licenses STAFF adjusters. § 1704 is producer-only; the employee exemption exists at § 1759(b)(1) — for PUBLIC adjusters only.
2. Seven lines, SIX exams. No fidelity/surety exam; crop takes the federal RMA proficiency test or a CAPP card.
3. The passing score is SCALED 0–100, and the handbook will not say whether adjusters need 70 or 80. The time limits are unpublished. Prepare for 80.
4. Catastrophe is an EXEMPTION — and the ADJUSTER files the notice, within 10 CALENDAR days. No declaration, no fee, no form, no stated expiration.
5. Residents renew in EVEN years, nonresidents in ODD. The license is perpetual — it lapses, it does not expire. Licensed Dec 1–Feb 28? You skip that biennium’s fee.
6. CE is 12 hours / 3 ethics, and surety and marine adjusters are exempt entirely. Designations buy 6 credits, never an exam waiver.
7. Delaware KEEPS the general business practice element — a single act is not a violation — with a 4% prima facie test, one category, one 12-month period.
8. No private right of action — and § 903-9.0 says NO DEFENSE either. Bad faith sounds in CONTRACT: Tackett, “clearly without any reasonable justification.”
9. Only TWO working-day deadlines exist — 15 to acknowledge, 10 to investigate. Everything else is calendar, and the two 30-day clocks are sequential.
10. ADD-ON state. § 2118(h) is an evidence rule, not a threshold. Stacking is NOT prohibited — Ginsberg, 10/29/2024. Read the policy.
11. Your denial letter starts the UM clock (3 years, Spinelli); the tort clock is 2 years from the crash. 50% fault still recovers, and the comparison may be aggregate.
12. The 75% total loss threshold does not exist. Property suit runs 1 year from DENIAL. § 4102 fee shift says SHALL. Guaranty: $500,000, comp in FULL, no $100 deductible. Comp fees: whichever is SMALLER.
2. Seven lines, SIX exams. No fidelity/surety exam; crop takes the federal RMA proficiency test or a CAPP card.
3. The passing score is SCALED 0–100, and the handbook will not say whether adjusters need 70 or 80. The time limits are unpublished. Prepare for 80.
4. Catastrophe is an EXEMPTION — and the ADJUSTER files the notice, within 10 CALENDAR days. No declaration, no fee, no form, no stated expiration.
5. Residents renew in EVEN years, nonresidents in ODD. The license is perpetual — it lapses, it does not expire. Licensed Dec 1–Feb 28? You skip that biennium’s fee.
6. CE is 12 hours / 3 ethics, and surety and marine adjusters are exempt entirely. Designations buy 6 credits, never an exam waiver.
7. Delaware KEEPS the general business practice element — a single act is not a violation — with a 4% prima facie test, one category, one 12-month period.
8. No private right of action — and § 903-9.0 says NO DEFENSE either. Bad faith sounds in CONTRACT: Tackett, “clearly without any reasonable justification.”
9. Only TWO working-day deadlines exist — 15 to acknowledge, 10 to investigate. Everything else is calendar, and the two 30-day clocks are sequential.
10. ADD-ON state. § 2118(h) is an evidence rule, not a threshold. Stacking is NOT prohibited — Ginsberg, 10/29/2024. Read the policy.
11. Your denial letter starts the UM clock (3 years, Spinelli); the tort clock is 2 years from the crash. 50% fault still recovers, and the comparison may be aggregate.
12. The 75% total loss threshold does not exist. Property suit runs 1 year from DENIAL. § 4102 fee shift says SHALL. Guaranty: $500,000, comp in FULL, no $100 deductible. Comp fees: whichever is SMALLER.
18 Del. C. § 1702(1)
Adjuster — a licensee acting “on behalf of an … insurer, self-insurer”. The definition reaches employees.
18 Del. C. § 1759(b)(1)
The employee exemption — and it applies only to the PUBLIC adjuster license. No counterpart exists in ch. 17.
18 Del. C. § 1707(e)(1)
Catastrophe — an exemption from licensure, conditioned on the adjuster’s own written notice within 10 CALENDAR days. No fee, no form, no expiration.
18 Del. C. § 1705
“All examination score reports are valid for a period of 12 months.” Statutory, not a vendor policy.
18 Del. C. § 1707(f)
The perpetual license — it “shall remain in effect” so long as fees are paid and CE met. Licenses lapse; they do not expire.
18 Del. C. § 701(27)
$125 initial and renewal, resident and nonresident. Residents renew EVEN years, nonresidents ODD. Raised $25 on 5/7/2025.
18 Del. C. § 1707(g)
Late renewal — double the unpaid renewal fee; beyond six months, $200–$1,000. The circulating “$200 / $400” figures are in no Delaware instrument.
18 Del. C. § 1756(e)
The public adjuster fee cap — 2.5% of the first $25,000, then up to 12%. It ASCENDS. $625 on $25,000; $9,625 on $100,000.
18 DE Admin. Code § 504-8.2.2
12 credit hours, 3 in ethics per biennium. The regulation’s title omits adjusters; § 504-1.0’s scope includes them.
18 DE Admin. Code § 602-1.0
Appraiser — “all persons who in this State practice the appraisal of motor vehicle physical damage.” Activity-based, no adjuster carve-out.
18 DE Admin. Code § 602-5.0
The whole anti-steering rule: “No appraiser shall require that repairs be made in a specified repair shop.” No advisory is mandated.
18 DE Admin. Code § 902-3.2
The 4% prima facie test — one § 3.1 category AND one 12-month period, both conjunctive. No fixed sample size.
18 DE Admin. Code § 903-9.0
No cause of action — “In the same manner, nothing in this regulation shall establish a DEFENSE” to a § 2304(16) claim. The bar cuts both ways.
Tackett v. State Farm Fire & Cas.
653 A.2d 254 (Del. 1995) — “clearly without any reasonable justification,” and it sounds in CONTRACT. Not State Farm Mutual.
Ginsberg v. Harleysville Worcester
No. 431, 2023 (Del. 10/29/2024) — § 3902(c) is “enabling and not prohibitory.” Stacking is a policy-drafting question.
GEICO v. Green
Nos. 107 & 166, 2021 (Del. 4/8/2022) — automated bill review is lawful; claimants need individualized proof. Says nothing about punitive damages.
Allstate v. Spinelli
443 A.2d 1286 (Del. 1982) — UM is contractual, 3 years, accruing on DENIAL. Your letter starts the clock.
21 Del. C. § 2118(h)
An EVIDENCE rule, not a tort threshold — it excludes paid-or-payable PIP damages at trial. Delaware is an ADD-ON state.
21 Del. C. § 2118B
10 days to furnish a form, 30 days to pay or explain, 1.5/2/2.5% monthly interest — and fees only on proved bad faith.
21 Del. C. § 2512
Total loss — title to the Department within 30 days, or a salvage certificate before payment. Contains NO percentage. The 75% threshold is fabricated.
10 Del. C. § 8106(b)
A one-year FLOOR from DENIAL for residential property suits — not from inception of loss. Commercial policies are outside it.
10 Del. C. § 8132
“not greater than … or the combined negligence of all defendants” — the 51% bar, and the comparison may be AGGREGATE.
18 Del. C. § 4102
Attorneys’ fees — the court “SHALL allow” them on judgment against a property insurer. No bad-faith predicate on the face of the statute.
18 Del. C. § 4140
Wind, hail and hurricane deductible notice — statutory, re-triggered by any change, and it mandates the example: 2% on $300,000 = $6,000.
18 Del. C. § 4208(a)(1)
DIGA — $500,000 per claimant, workers’ comp IN FULL, $10,000 unearned premium, NO $100 deductible.
18 Del. C. § 2408
Fraud reporting — “Any insurer”. Adjusters are not named, and NO deadline exists at any level.
11 Del. C. § 913
“Insurance fraud is a class G felony.” Flat — no dollar thresholds, no misdemeanor tier — and it is in the Criminal Code.
19 Del. C. § 2320(10)
Comp attorney fees — 30% of the award or 10× the AWW, “whichever is SMALLER” = $14,440.70. Re-derive it every July 1.
19 Del. C. § 2323
“the right to employ a physician … of the employee’s own choosing” — while § 2322(a) makes the employer furnish it. Employer pays, employee picks.
19 Del. C. § 2361(c)
The 45-day utilization review appeal — miss it and the UR decision is FINAL. The most missable deadline in Delaware comp.
Pierce v. International Ins. Co.
671 A.2d 1361 (Del. 1996) — exclusivity does NOT bar comp bad faith. Contract remedies, punitives available, no emotional distress.
Horizon Services v. Henry
Del. 6/7/2023 — OVERRULED Simendinger. The comp carrier may now lien UIM from an employer-purchased policy. PIP stays outside.
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