What This License Is
The Florida 6-20 Resident All-Lines Adjuster license lets you investigate, evaluate, and settle claims across property, casualty, auto, and workers' compensation lines, whether you work claims for one insurer or independently for many. It is issued by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) — Florida's agent-and-adjuster licensing agency under the elected Chief Financial Officer. (Insurers themselves are regulated by a different agency, the Office of Insurance Regulation.)
Florida numbers its licenses. 6-20 is the resident all-lines adjuster, 7-20 the nonresident version for adjusters already licensed in their home state, 70-20 the Designated Home State license, 3-20 the separate public adjuster license, and 0-70 the emergency adjuster license issued after a declared catastrophe.
The structure changed in 2012, and a lot of study material never caught up. Florida used to issue separate company, independent, and line-limited adjuster licenses. Effective October 1, 2012, those were consolidated into one all-lines license. Under § 626.864(3), company employee adjuster, independent adjuster, and public adjuster apprentice are now appointment types, not licenses — and you may hold only one of them at a time. So when a Florida statute talks about an 'independent adjuster,' it means a 6-20 licensee who is self-appointed or appointed by an independent adjusting firm.
Unusually, the standard route in is not the state exam: most candidates complete a DFS-approved course that confers a qualifying designation — commonly the ACA (Accredited Claims Adjuster) — which substitutes for the exam entirely.
Eligibility Requirements
You must be at least 18, a Florida resident, and a U.S. citizen or authorized legal alien — and you cannot hold a resident adjuster license in another state. Background questions must be answered truthfully; fraud- or dishonesty-related history can sink an application.
Fingerprinting is mandatory. Florida uses IdentoGO by Idemia at $49.50 (FDLE $24, FBI $12, vendor $13.50) plus county sales tax, before DFS will issue the license. Fingerprint results stay valid 1 year for a first-time applicant and 4 years for someone who already holds a Florida insurance license and is adding another.
Everything files through MyProfile, the DFS online portal: the $50 application, the $5 license ID fee, and — once licensed — the $60 appointment that actually activates the license.
One structural rule to know before you choose a path: § 626.864(2) provides that the same individual may not be concurrently licensed as a public adjuster and an all-lines adjuster. You pick a side of the table.
Two Paths: Approved Course/Designation or State Exam
Path 1 — the designation (most common). Hold one of thirteen DFS-approved designations and the state exam is waived: ACA, AIC, AICS, CA, CALA, CCA, CACP, CPCU, PCA, PIC, PPIA, RCA, and UCC. The 40-hour ACA course, offered through Florida colleges and approved providers, is the standard on-ramp and often finishes in days, entirely online. Under Rule 69B-227.320 a qualifying course must run at least 40 hours against the current all-lines adjuster examination content outline and end in a comprehensive final exam, with exam time counted separately from the 40 hours.
Path 2 — the exam. Self-studiers take the All-Lines Adjuster exam, InsFL-ALJ16, at Pearson VUE for $44 per attempt: 100 scored questions plus 10 unscored pretest questions in 2 hours. The same exam serves the 6-20, 7-20, and 70-20 licenses.
Other exam-exempt routes exist: a current Florida public adjuster license, a Florida 2-20 general lines agent license, a degree with at least 18 semester hours of qualifying insurance coursework, or a letter of clearance if you held the same license within the previous 48 months.
There is no mandatory prelicensing course for the 6-20. That is worth stating plainly, because Florida requires heavy prelicensing for its agent licenses — up to 200 hours for the 2-20 — and candidates assume adjusters face the same. The 40-hour course is an alternative to the exam, not a prerequisite for it.
Passing Score
If you take the exam, you need 70% — correct answers divided by total scored questions. Results appear immediately.
Pace yourself on attempts. Florida allows a maximum of five tries at the same examination type in any 12-month period, and a passing score is only valid for 1 year — finish your application inside that window or you are retesting.
Build your study around what is actually Florida's. The claim-handling deadlines in § 627.70131, the notice-of-claim deadlines in § 627.70132, the adjuster code of ethics in Rule 69B-220.201, the unfair claim settlement practices in § 626.9541(1)(i), and the Florida-only structures — Citizens, the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, FIGA, hurricane deductibles, and the sinkhole versus catastrophic ground cover collapse distinction — are where the exam separates people.
Nonresidents, Reciprocity, and the Designated Home State License
Florida runs two different nonresident paths, and picking the wrong one wastes a cycle.
7-20 Non-Resident All-Lines Adjuster is for adjusters who already hold a home-state adjuster license. Florida reciprocates broadly: 24 states carry both exam exemption and CE reciprocity — Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Five more carry exam exemption only: Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, South Carolina, and Vermont. California is CE reciprocity only.
70-20 Designated Home State is for adjusters whose own state does not license adjusters at all — there is no home-state license for reciprocity to anchor to. You name Florida as your home state and qualify under the full Florida standard, approved designation or state exam. Other states then treat the 70-20 like a resident license. It also serves company staff adjusters living in states that license only independent adjusters. You cannot hold a 70-20 alongside a resident or DHS adjuster license from anywhere else.
The CE trap: the reciprocity above covers 7-20 holders. 70-20 holders must complete Florida CE — all 24 hours of it. Do not carry the exemption across.
The Emergency Adjuster License (0-70)
Florida is the country's busiest catastrophe market, and it has a purpose-built license for surge capacity. Under § 626.874, after a catastrophe or emergency DFS may license a resident or nonresident who is at least 18 and not otherwise a licensed adjuster, provided that person has been designated and certified as qualified by an authorized insurer or by a licensed independent adjusting firm under contract with one.
The terms are tight. The license runs 6 months from issuance under Rule 69B-220.001, extendable up to another 6 months if conditions persist, and may be used only to adjust losses directly resulting from the emergency for which it was issued.
The individual adjuster cannot apply. Only Florida-licensed insurers and independent adjusting firms submit emergency adjuster applications, through the appointing entity's MyProfile account. The fee structure is $50 application, $5 license ID, and a $10 appointment fee.
The practical point for an out-of-state adjuster: you cannot simply drive into Florida after a hurricane and start working claims. You need a 6-20, a 7-20, a 70-20, or a sponsoring entity willing to put you up for a 0-70.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: 24 hours every 2 years, due by the end of the licensee's birth month: a 4-hour adjuster Law and Ethics Update (course authority 5-620) plus 20 elective hours. Two statutory reductions apply — licensed 6 or more years drops the electives to 16 (20 hours total), and licensed 25 or more years while holding a CLU or CPCU, or a degree in risk management or insurance with at least 18 insurance semester hours, drops the electives to 6 (10 hours total). Nonresident 7-20 holders who satisfy CE in a reciprocal home state are exempt; 70-20 Designated Home State holders are NOT and must complete Florida CE.
Florida adjuster CE is 24 hours every 2 years, due by the end of your birth month: a mandatory 4-hour adjuster Law and Ethics Update (course authority 5-620) plus 20 elective hours.
Two statutory reductions are easy to miss. Under § 626.2815, a licensee who has been licensed 6 or more years needs only 16 elective hours — 20 total. A licensee licensed 25 or more years who also holds a CLU or CPCU, or a bachelor's or higher degree in risk management or insurance with at least 18 insurance semester hours, needs only 6 elective hours — 10 total.
Public adjusters carry the same 24 hours but with a 5-320 Law and Ethics Update and electives restricted to specific approved course authorities. Public adjusters who handle only workers' compensation or health insurance are outside the CE requirement entirely.
The license itself does not expire on a calendar — but it is only active while appointed. Appointments cost $60, renew every 24 months during your birth month, and independent adjusters may self-appoint. Go 48 months without an appointment and the license expires, putting you back at the start.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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