Minnesota Adjuster Insurance Exam Guide 2026

What This License Is

A Minnesota adjuster license is issued by the Department of Commerce under Minn. Stat. ch. 72B, a chapter of about two dozen sections that is considerably more detailed than most states' adjuster law.

§ 72B.03 subd. 2 creates three classes of license: the independent adjuster's license, the public adjuster's license, and the crop hail adjuster's license. Independent and public adjusters then qualify in one or more lines of authority — *"property and casualty; or workers' compensation; or crop."*

Crop is easy to trip over because it appears twice: as a line available to independent and public adjusters, and as its own limited class. § 72B.055 adds that a licensed crop hail adjuster who has completed the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation loss adjustment training and competency testing *"may act as an adjuster in this state in regard to Multiple Peril Crop Insurance policies regulated by the FCIC."*

§ 72B.02 subd. 5 defines an independent adjuster by a two-part test: the person contracts for compensation with insurers or self-insurers, and receives tax treatment consistent with independent-contractor status. That second prong is what places employees outside the definition.

§ 72B.02 subd. 6 defines a public adjuster as a person who, *"for compensation or any other thing of value on behalf of the insured,"* acts in negotiating the settlement of first-party claims for real or personal property, or advertises or solicits that business.

The license does not expire on a fixed term. § 72B.03 subd. 2: *"An adjuster license remains in effect unless probated, suspended, revoked, or refused as long as the fee ... is paid."* Renewals fall on the last day of your birth month and run at least 12 but no more than 24 months (§ 72B.041 subd. 6).

Staff adjusters are exempt from the license — but not from the conduct rules

Most states that exempt company adjusters simply leave them unregulated. **Minnesota does not**, and **§ 72B.10** is the provision to know. *"A staff adjuster who adjusts losses or claims in this state **shall not be subject to the application, licensing, or examination requirements** or other qualifications set forth in sections 72B.01 to 72B.136. Such a staff adjuster **shall not, however, engage in any of the practices forbidden to a licensee under section 72B.08, subdivision 1, clauses (3) through (15)**."* Read the cross-reference precisely. Clauses **(3) through (15)** are the conduct grounds — violating insurance laws, misappropriating money, misrepresenting contract terms, felony conviction, incompetency or untrustworthiness, unfair trade practices, dishonest practices, out-of-state license action, forgery, exam cheating, child support and state income tax non-compliance. Clauses **(1) and (2)** — failing an exam, and obtaining a license by fraud — are licensing-specific and are deliberately left out, because a staff adjuster has no license. **And the enforcement reaches the employer.** The commissioner *"may impose a fine, not in excess of **$500**, on the staff adjuster **or on the employing insurer or insurers, or on both** such parties,"* and may *"order the employing insurer to **suspend the staff adjuster from all duties**"* for whatever period the commissioner thinks appropriate. **A staff adjuster in Minnesota is unlicensed, not unregulated.** Note too that **§ 72B.13** reaches *"every adjuster"* — staff included: *"Every adjuster shall investigate or adjust every claim, damage or loss ... in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract and of the applicable laws of this state."*

Who Does Not Need This License

§ 72B.03 subd. 1 states the rule and then lists fourteen exemptions: *"A person shall not act or hold out as an independent adjuster or public adjuster unless the person is licensed in accordance with this chapter, or is exempt from licensure."*

The exempt categories: attorneys acting in their professional capacity; persons employed only to obtain facts or provide technical assistance; investigators of fraudulent claims who do not adjust losses; personnel performing only executive, administrative, managerial or clerical duties; licensed health care providers providing managed care services; managed care organization employees; persons settling only reinsurance or subrogation claims; officers, directors, managers and employees of an authorized insurer; life, health and annuity claim investigators; employees adjusting claims for a self-insured employer; licensed insurance producers with claim authority; workers' compensation third-party administrators; and data-entry employees under limited supervision.

Three of those — the carrier-employee exemption, the self-insured exemption, and the workers' compensation TPA exemption — together mean a large share of Minnesota claims are handled by people who hold no adjuster license. § 72B.10 is what keeps them inside the conduct rules anyway.

And nobody may be paid to adjust without a license. § 72B.03 subd. 3: *"No insurer, agent, or other representative of an insurer nor any adjuster shall pay any fee or other compensation to any person for acting as an adjuster, except to a person duly licensed."* The payment ban turns the carrier into a gatekeeper — an unlicensed independent adjuster is not merely acting unlawfully, they cannot lawfully be paid.

Eligibility, Fingerprints, and the Application

§ 72B.041 governs the resident path. You must be at least 18, meet the residency requirement for your home state, and apply on the NAIC Uniform Individual Application (business entities use the NAIC Uniform Business Entity Application). Applications go through Sircon.

Fingerprints and a criminal history record check are required. § 72B.041 subd. 2 requires the applicant to *"consent to a criminal history record check"* and *"submit a fingerprint card in a form acceptable to the commissioner."* The records are held by the commissioner as confidential.

Two fingerprinting routes. Electronic capture at a PSI test center costs $63.75, which Commerce says *"includes charges for background checks conducted by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI as well as PSI vendor processing fees"* — and there are no walk-ins. Or take a manual card to a local police station and mail it with the consent form and a $32.00 check to the Department of Commerce.

Public adjusters post a bond. § 72B.041 subd. 3: *"The bond shall be in the amount of $10,000 with the state of Minnesota as obligee,"* covering *"fraud, dishonesty, forgery or theft in connection with the applicant's duties."* Commerce wants the original bond emailed on its approved form.

Nonresidents — § 72B.05. You must be *"currently licensed in good standing as an adjuster in the person's resident or home state,"* and your home state must award nonresident licenses to Minnesotans *"on the same basis."* Reciprocity is a continuing condition: *"As a condition to continuation of a nonresident adjuster license, the licensee must maintain a resident adjuster license in the licensee's home state."* If the home state license ends, the Minnesota license *"must terminate and be surrendered immediately"* unless you obtain a new resident license in another reciprocating state — and notice must reach other states within 30 days. Canadian residents may not be licensed under this section unless licensed as a resident adjuster of another state.

The $32 is not the manual fingerprinting cost, and your authorization expires

Two details on this page cost candidates money. **First, the $32.00 is the Commerce processing fee only.** Commerce's instruction is to mail the card *"along with a fully completed ... License Background Check Consent Form and a check for **$32.00** made out to 'Minnesota Department of Commerce'."* That covers the Department's processing. **Your local police station will typically charge its own fee to roll the card**, which is not included. The manual route is cheaper than the $63.75 electronic route, but it is not $32 all in — and it is slower. **Second, the authorization has a shelf life.** Commerce: *"Before your fingerprints are taken, you will need to sign a background check authorization form that **expires one year after it is signed**."* If you sign the authorization, then let the licensing process drift past twelve months, you start the background check over. **Sequence it deliberately:** exam, then fingerprints, then application, close together. That is the cheapest order and it keeps every clock inside its window.

The PSI Exam

§ 72B.041 subd. 4: *"An individual applying for an independent or public adjuster license under this chapter must pass a written examination unless exempt pursuant to subdivision 5."* The exam covers *"the lines of authority for which application is made, the duties and responsibilities of an independent or public adjuster, and the insurance laws and regulations of this state."*

One exam serves both classes. There is no separate Minnesota public adjuster exam — a public adjuster sits the same line-specific adjuster exam as an independent adjuster.

PSI administers three adjuster exams, each 35 scored questions, 1 hour, $25: Property & Casualty Adjuster, Workers' Compensation Adjuster, and Crop Adjuster. The current bulletin is dated January 6, 2026.

Exam exemptions — § 72B.041 subd. 5: adjusters currently licensed in another state for a matching line of authority; crop hail adjusters; and those who have completed National Crop Insurance Services training.

No pre-licensing education is required for any Minnesota adjuster class.

Bring one valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID bearing a signature. Remote online proctoring is available as an alternative to a test center, but *"Breaks are NOT allowed during remote online proctored examinations."*

"35 questions" is the scored count — you will see up to 50

This is the correction that changes how you pace the hour. PSI's bulletin states: *"In addition to the number of examination items specified in the 'Examination Content Outlines', a small number (**5 to 15**) of 'experimental' questions may be administered to candidates during the examinations."* And then the sentence that matters: *"These questions will not be scored. **However, these questions will count against examination time.**"* **So the exam is 35 scored questions, but you may face 40 to 50 items in the same 60 minutes.** Planning around 35 gives you about 1.7 minutes per question. The real figure can be as little as **1.2 minutes**. You cannot tell which items are experimental, so treat every question as scored and keep moving. **On the passing score, Minnesota is refreshingly clean.** The bulletin's entire scoring statement reads: *"**You will need 70% correct to pass the exam.** Your score will be displayed on screen at the end of the examination and a score report will be emailed to you."* The words *"scaled score," "raw score"* and *"equating"* appear **nowhere** in it, and there is no second, conflicting passage — so unlike some states' handbooks, this one does not contradict itself. Take it as PSI states it: **70% correct**. On 35 scored items that arithmetic works out to **25 correct**, though the bulletin does not print a raw cut score. **And there is no waiting period to retake.** PSI: *"A candidate who tests unsuccessfully on a Wednesday can call the next day, Thursday, and retest as soon as Friday, depending upon space availability."* No mandated wait, no cap on attempts — but the full **$25** is due each time.

Catastrophe and Emergency Registration

§ 72B.06 lets an adjuster who is *"otherwise qualified to adjust claims, but not already licensed in Minnesota"* work a catastrophe as a registered emergency independent adjuster — no exam, no fingerprints, no license.

The insurer registers, not the adjuster. *"An insurer must notify the commissioner via registration of each independent adjuster"* deployed for the catastrophe.

The deadline is five days from deployment. *"Within five days of deployment to adjust claims arising from the catastrophe, the insurer or the independent adjuster's employer"* must notify the commissioner.

The registration runs 180 days, and can double. *"An emergency independent adjuster's license or registration remains in force for 180 days"* and *"may be extended for 180 days."* That is a full year of authority at the outside — far more generous than the 90-day windows common elsewhere.

The fee is $20 — this is the *"registration of each nonlicensed adjuster who is required to register under section 72B.06"* fee in § 72B.041 subd. 9. It is one fee, not two: the "nonlicensed adjuster registration" and the catastrophe registration are the same thing.

Registration does not buy freedom from the rules. The commissioner *"may summarily suspend or revoke the right of any person adjusting in this state"* who engages *"in any of the practices forbidden to a licensed adjuster under sections 72B.01 to 72B.136."* Note the word summarily.

Confirm your carrier actually filed — and note what the statute does not say

Because **the insurer or your employer files the registration**, an unlicensed catastrophe adjuster cannot cure the carrier's failure to file. Before you work your first Minnesota catastrophe claim, confirm the registration went in. **Five days from deployment** is a short window, and the consequence of missing it lands on you as much as on the carrier — you would be adjusting in Minnesota without authority. **Watch the trigger word.** Minnesota's five days runs from **deployment**. Some states use a similar-looking five-day rule that runs from the day the adjuster **begins adjusting claims** — a different event, and often a later one. Do not carry the trigger across state lines just because the number matches. **And note what § 72B.06 does not contain: a named official who declares the catastrophe.** Some states restrict the emergency route to an event declared by a specific officer — in one neighboring state, only the Insurance Commissioner may declare it, so a presidential or gubernatorial disaster declaration does not open the door. Minnesota's section is keyed to the insurer's deployment and registration rather than to a declaration by a named authority. Do not assume a declaring-authority rule that the statute does not state.

Fees, Renewal, and Continuing Education

§ 72B.041 subd. 9, verbatim: *"A fee of $50 is imposed for each initial license or temporary permit and $50 for each renewal thereof or amendment thereto. A fee of $20 is imposed for the registration of each nonlicensed adjuster who is required to register under section 72B.06."*

The license renews on your birth month. § 72B.041 subd. 6: individual adjuster renewal licenses expire *"on the last day of the birth month,"* valid *"at least 12 months, but no more than 24 months."* Business entity initial licenses expire October 31.

Let it lapse and reissuance costs double. § 72B.03 subd. 2 permits reissuance within 12 months on payment of double the renewal fee as a penalty.

Continuing education — § 72B.045 subd. 1: *"An individual who holds an independent or public adjuster license and who is not exempt under this section must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 24 hours of continuing education courses, of which three hours must be in ethics, reported to the commissioner on a biennial basis in conjunction with the individual's license renewal cycle."*

Two exemptions, and only two — subd. 2: *"(1) a licensee not licensed for one full year prior to the end of the applicable continuing education biennium; or (2) a licensee holding a nonresident adjuster license who has met the continuing education requirements of the licensee's designated home state."*

Budget for two charges the statute does not contain. A technology surcharge under § 45.24 of *"up to $40 for each two-year licensing period"* — the operative amount is published inconsistently across official sources, so confirm it at checkout rather than relying on a figure. And the Sircon or NIPR transaction fee.

Do not assume adjusters skip CE here — and Minnesota does require the ethics hours

A great many states impose **no continuing education at all** on adjusters. **Minnesota imposes the same 24-hour biennial load its producers carry**, and unlike some adjuster states that require the hours but not the subject, **Minnesota requires 3 of them in ethics** — the statute says so in the same sentence as the 24. Calendar it against your **birth month**, not against January 1, because that is when your license expires. **The nonresident exemption is the practical escape valve.** A multi-state adjuster who satisfies their **designated home state's** CE requirement is exempt in Minnesota under subd. 2(2). If Minnesota *is* your designated home state, that exemption cannot help you — there is no other state's requirement to have met. **Two things § 72B.045 does not say.** It says nothing about **carryover** of excess credits into the next biennium, and nothing about whether a course may be **repeated** for credit. Do not plan around either. If it matters to your compliance, confirm with Commerce rather than relying on a rule the statute does not contain.

Standards of Conduct, Records, and Reporting

Six standards of conduct — § 72B.106. An independent adjuster must *"be honest and fair in all communications with the insured, the insurer, and the public"*; must *"give policyholders and claimants prompt, knowledgeable service and courteous, fair, and objective treatment at all times"*; *"must not give legal advice and must not deal directly with any policyholder or claimant who is represented by legal counsel without the consent for the legal counsel involved"*; must *"comply with all local, state, and federal privacy and information security laws"*; must *"identify as an independent adjuster and, if applicable, identify the independent adjuster's employer"*; and *"must not have any financial interest in any adjustment or acquire ... any interest or title in salvage, without first receiving written authority from the principal."*

Records — § 72B.105: *"An independent adjuster must maintain a copy of each contract between the independent adjuster and the insurer or self-insurer and comply with the record retention policy as agreed to in that contract."* Minnesota states no number of years for independent adjusters — the period is whatever your contract says.

Reporting — § 72B.107: report any administrative action taken against you in another jurisdiction or by another Minnesota agency *"within 30 days of the final disposition of the matter,"* and any criminal action on the same 30-day clock, with the order or consent order and, for criminal matters, the initial complaint and final court order.

Production of records — § 72B.11: the commissioner *"may, by order, require any licensee or permit holder to produce any records relating to activities under that person's license or permit, and may examine persons under oath."*

Discipline — § 72B.08 subd. 1 gives fifteen grounds and authorizes a civil penalty *"according to section 45.027, subdivision 6."* Beyond the expected grounds sit three that surprise people: cheating on a licensing examination, failure to comply with a child support order, and failure to pay state income tax.

§ 45.027 subd. 6 sets the ceiling: *"The commissioner may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per violation."* And § 72B.08 subd. 4 preserves enforcement *"even if the person's license or registration has been surrendered or has expired by operation of law"* — you cannot resign your way out of an investigation.

The claims-practices statute names YOU, and one violation is enough

This is the single most important thing about adjusting in Minnesota, and it is easy to miss because it lives in a different chapter. **§ 72A.201** — the claims-practices statute — does not regulate only insurers. Each of its operative subdivisions opens the same way: *"The following acts by **an insurer, an adjuster, a self-insured, or a self-insurance administrator** constitute unfair settlement practices."* Subdivisions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 all say it. "Adjuster" is then defined by cross-reference to **§ 72B.02** — so it reaches independent, public and staff adjusters alike. **Then § 72A.201 subd. 1 removes the cushion national courses assume:** *"The commissioner **need not show a general business practice** in taking an administrative action for these violations."* That sentence also covers **§ 72A.20 subd. 12** violations, even though subd. 12's own text embeds a *"with such frequency to indicate a general business practice"* element. **A single missed deadline is administratively actionable.** The NAIC Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Model Act — which conditions liability on flagrant conduct or conduct occurring with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice — is **not** the Minnesota rule. Frequency goes to the **severity of the penalty** under subd. 2, not to whether a violation occurred. Pair that with **§ 72B.08**'s license grounds and **§ 45.027 subd. 6**'s **$10,000 per violation**, and the exposure is personal, not just corporate.

The Claim-Handling Clocks You Must Know

Minnesota is one of the minority of states with real numeric claim-handling deadlines in statute. They live in § 72A.201, and an adjuster is expected to know them cold.

10 business days — acknowledge receipt of a notification of claim *"and failing to promptly provide all necessary claim forms and instructions to process the claim, unless the claim is settled within ten business days"* (subd. 4(1)). The acknowledgment must include the telephone number of a company representative who can help.

10 business days — reply to *"all other communications about a claim from an insured or a claimant that reasonably indicate a response is requested or needed"* (subd. 4(2)).

30 business days — complete the investigation and inform the insured or claimant of acceptance or denial after receipt of notification of claim (subd. 4(3)(i)).

60 business days — *"failing, within 60 business days after receipt of a properly executed proof of loss, to advise the insured of the acceptance or denial of the claim"* (subd. 4(11)). This is a second, separate accept-or-deny clock with its own trigger.

5 business days — issue payment of *"any amount finally agreed upon in settlement,"* running from receipt of the agreement or the date the claimant performs any conditions set by the agreement, *"whichever is later"* (subd. 5(5)).

60 days before a statute of limitations expires — advise in writing an unrepresented insured or claimant with a known-unresolved claim (subd. 4(8)), unless there has been no communication for the preceding two years.

15 working days — respond to an inquiry from the Commissioner about a claim (subd. 9(1)). 30 days — disclose policy coverage and limits after a written request by a claimant (subd. 11).

Three ways this gets taught wrong

**1. There are TWO accept-or-deny clocks, not one.** Study guides almost always report only the **30 business days from notification of claim** (subd. 4(3)(i)) and omit the **60 business days from receipt of a properly executed proof of loss** (subd. 4(11)). They are separate obligations with separate triggers, and subd. 4(11) adds a drafting rule: *"No insurer shall deny a claim on the grounds of a specific policy provision, condition, or exclusion unless reference to the provision, condition, or exclusion is **included in the denial**. The denial must be given to the insured **in writing** with a copy filed in the claim file."* **2. The 30-business-day clock has two escape hatches.** Subd. 4(3)(i) opens *"unless provided otherwise by clause (ii) or (iii), other law, **or in the policy**"* and excuses the deadline where *"the investigation cannot be reasonably completed within that time"* — **but only if** the insurer notifies the insured **within** the 30 business days *"of the reasons why the investigation is not complete and the expected date the investigation will be complete."* **Missing that status letter is itself the violation.** And subd. 10 adds: *"Nothing in this section abrogates any policy provisions."* **3. The unit of time is not consistent within the statute.** Some clocks run in **business days** (subd. 4(1), (2), (3), (11); 5(5)), one runs in **working days** (subd. 9(1) — 15 working days for a Commissioner inquiry), and others run in plain **calendar days** (subd. 4(8) — 60; subd. 11 — 30). Subdivision 6(3) uses **business days** for one case and plain **days** for the other *in the same sentence*: inspect a vehicle that *"cannot be safely driven"* within **five business days**, and *"In other cases the inspection must be made in **15 days**."* Do not homogenize them. **One more scope limit worth knowing: § 72A.201 subd. 10 provides that the section *"does not apply to workers' compensation insurance."*** Comp is a line on your adjuster license, but comp claim handling is governed by chapter 176 and its own deadlines instead.

Public Adjusters — 72 Hours and Eleven Prohibitions

Minnesota's public adjuster conduct regime is in § 72B.135, and the bond that everyone associates with it is actually in § 72B.041 subd. 3 — a citation worth getting right.

72 hours to cancel — subd. 1: an insured *"has the right to cancel the contract within 72 hours after the contract has been signed."* Written notice suffices in any form indicating the intention not to be bound, and if mailed it is *"effective upon deposit in a mailbox."*

The mandated notice — subd. 2. Before contracting, the public adjuster must furnish a statement *"in boldface type of a minimum size of ten points"* telling the insured of the 72-hour right, plus a fully completed detachable duplicate form captioned "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION" carrying the adjuster's name and address and the deadline date.

Return of payments — subd. 3: *"Within ten days"* after cancellation the adjuster must tender back any payments and evidence of indebtedness — except that the adjuster may be compensated for emergency services performed within the 72 hours, defined narrowly as *"the removal of water, boarding up a building, and reconnecting lights and heat."*

Eleven prohibited practices — subd. 4. No paying for referrals; no inducements to refer business; no rebating part of the fee; no contact between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.; no fee-splitting with anyone not licensed as a public adjuster; no direct or indirect interest in a construction firm, salvage firm, or appraisal firm; no willful misrepresentation and no advising on questions of law; no willful false statements about an insurer or its people; no soliciting a client already under contract with another public adjuster; no representing both an insurer and insured simultaneously; and no advancing money to a client pending settlement where the amount would be included in the final settlement.

Disclosures — subd. 5. Written disclosure of any interest in loss proceeds other than the contract fee; on solicitation the adjuster must display a license, *"immediately inform the client that the adjuster does not represent an insurance company or insurance company adjusting firm,"* give a card, and disclose the fee in writing.

Records and contracts — subd. 6. An office holding all claim documents and client files, open to Commerce inspection, kept *"for at least five years after the end of the contracted employment period"* — and the employment contract *"is valid only if signed by an insured and the property owner of the property involved."*

Trust accounts — § 72B.136: claim funds held on behalf of an insured must go into a non-interest-bearing escrow or trust account at a federally insured institution *"in the public adjuster's home state or where the loss occurred."*

Two things Minnesota does NOT have — and one conflict on the face of the statute

**There is no fee cap.** Chapter 72B contains **no** percentage ceiling on public adjuster compensation. Many states cap at 10% or 15%, and some cap lower during a declared catastrophe. Minnesota's only fee rules are **disclosure** (subd. 5(b): *"The public adjuster shall disclose in writing to the client the fee charged"*) and the **anti-rebate and anti-fee-splitting** bans (subd. 4(3), (5)). If you have seen a Minnesota percentage cap published anywhere, it is imported from another state. **There is no catastrophe solicitation moratorium.** Chapter 72B imposes no post-disaster waiting period before a public adjuster may solicit. The **only** temporal solicitation restriction anywhere in the chapter is subd. 4(4) — no contact *"between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m."* **And note a genuine conflict inside § 72B.135 itself.** Subdivision 3 requires the adjuster to tender payments back *"**Within ten days**"* after cancellation. But the mandated NOTICE OF CANCELLATION text in subdivision 2 tells the insured payments *"will be returned within **ten business days**."* Ten days and ten business days are not the same period, and both appear in the same section. Subd. 3 states the adjuster's legal duty; the subd. 2 language is what the insured is told. The safe practice is to work to the **shorter** of the two. **Finally, the two $10,000 figures are unrelated.** The public adjuster **bond** is $10,000 (§ 72B.041 subd. 3). The maximum **civil penalty** is $10,000 per violation (§ 45.027 subd. 6). Same number, different things — a very common mix-up.

Auto Adjusting Carries Its Own Statutory Duties

Two sections of chapter 72B apply specifically to motor vehicle work, and both are adjuster-facing rather than insurer-facing.

§ 72B.091 — appraisals. The appraiser *"shall carry appraiser identification and shall display it upon request"* to the vehicle owner, the repair shop representative, or a Commerce representative. The appraiser must give the owner a legible copy of the appraisal (and the designated shop one on request). The appraisal must itemize parts to be repaired versus replaced *"by new, used, rebuilt, reconditioned or replated parts,"* must indicate *"all significant old and unrelated damages,"* and must *"disclose to the vehicle owner any parts to be used, other than window glass, which are not original equipment parts or which are not covered by the manufacturer's warranty on such parts."*

Subd. 3 is a flat prohibition: *"No appraiser, adjuster, or that person's employer shall require that repairs be made in any specified repair facility."*

Subd. 4 — reinspections: *"Each appraiser shall promptly reinspect damaged vehicles when supplementary allowances are requested by the repair shop or when the amount or extent of damages is in dispute."*

Subd. 5 — salvage: *"No appraiser or adjuster for personal gain shall receive or trade in auto salvage if the salvage is obtained as a result of that person's appraisals."*

§ 72B.092 subd. 1 — seven prohibitions in collision cases. No adjuster or insurer may (1) *"limit the freedom of an insured or claimant to choose the shop"*; (2) require presentation at a *"drive-in"* claim center; (3) engage in *"boycotts, intimidation or coercive tactics"*; (4) secure a signature authorizing shop selection, except in an emergency; (5) *"adjust a damage appraisal of a repair shop when the extent of damage is in dispute without conducting a physical inspection of the vehicle"*; (6) *"specify the use of a particular vendor for the procurement of parts"* — though the insurer need not pay more than reasonable market price for parts of like kind and quality; or (7) *"unilaterally and arbitrarily disregard a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system, which an insurer and collision repair facility have agreed to utilize."*

Subds. 2 through 5 impose mirrored duties on repair shops, guarantee the insurer's representative reasonable access to a shop during business hours, and cap towing and storage at *"the usual and customary charges for the towing and storage of undamaged vehicles in the area."*

You cannot desk-adjust a disputed shop estimate in Minnesota

**§ 72B.092 subd. 1(5)** is unusual, easy to miss, and directly contrary to ordinary practice in many states: an adjuster may not *"**adjust a damage appraisal of a repair shop when the extent of damage is in dispute without conducting a physical inspection of the vehicle**."* If the shop's estimate and yours diverge on **how much damage there is**, reviewing photographs and writing the estimate down from your desk is a statutory violation. Go look at the car. **Clause (7) is the modern companion**, added in 2008: you may not *"unilaterally and arbitrarily disregard a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system, which an insurer and collision repair facility have agreed to utilize in determining the cost of repair."* Line-item deletion from an agreed estimating platform is prohibited. **And anti-steering in Minnesota is unusually broad — it appears in four separate places.** § 72B.091 subd. 3 (no specified repair facility), § 72B.092 subd. 1(1) (no limiting freedom to choose the shop), § 72B.092 subd. 1(2), (3), (4) and (6), and § 72A.201 subd. 6(7), which makes it an unfair settlement practice and adds a **scripted advisory** the insurer must give when it recommends a shop, along with the rule that once the insured has chosen, *"the insurer must cease all efforts to influence the insured's or claimant's choice of repair shop."* Similar scripted advisories exist for **glass** vendors and **rental** vendors.

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Quick Reference

Licensing AuthorityMinnesota Department of Commerce

Governing lawMinn. Stat. ch. 72B (adjusters) · § 72A.201 (claims practices)

License classesIndependent adjuster · Public adjuster · Crop hail adjuster

Lines of AuthorityProperty and casualty · Workers' compensation · Crop

Staff adjustersNo license required — but bound by § 72B.08 subd. 1 clauses (3)–(15); $500 fine can hit the insurer

Exam ProviderPSI — bulletin dated 1/6/2026

Questions35 scored + 5–15 unscored experimental, per line

Time Limit1 hour

Passing Score70% correct — stated as a percentage, no scaled-score language in the bulletin

Exam Fee$25 per attempt; no waiting period to retake

Pre-LicensingNot required

FingerprintingRequired — $63.75 electronic at PSI, or $32 Commerce fee for a manual card; authorization expires in 1 year

Application$50 initial and renewal; $20 catastrophe registration — via Sircon

Public adjuster bond$10,000 — § 72B.041 subd. 3, not § 72B.135

License TermPerpetual while fees are paid; renews on the last day of your birth month

CE24 hrs / 2 yrs including 3 hours of ethics (§ 72B.045)

RecordsIndependent: no statutory period, per contract. Public: 5 years plus an office

Reporting30 days for administrative or criminal actions (§ 72B.107)

Catastrophe adjusterInsurer registers within 5 days of deployment; 180 days, extendable 180; $20

Claim clocks10 / 30 / 60 business days; 5 business days to pay an agreed settlement

Frequency elementNone — one violation is actionable (§ 72A.201 subd. 1)

Discipline15 grounds; civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation (§ 45.027 subd. 6)

DHS jurisdictionsCO · DC · IA · IL · KS · MA · MD · MO · NE · ND · NJ · OH · PA · SD · TN · VA · WI

Auto systemNo-fault — $40,000 basic economic loss benefits per person

Official Links

MN Department of Commerce — Adjuster Licensing→Minn. Stat. ch. 72B — Insurance Adjusters→Minn. Stat. § 72B.041 — Resident licensure, exam, fingerprints, fees→Minn. Stat. § 72B.045 — Continuing education→Minn. Stat. § 72B.135 — Public adjusters→Minn. Stat. § 72A.201 — Regulation of claims practices→Minn. Stat. § 604.18 — Insurance standard of conduct→PSI — Minnesota Candidate Information Bulletin→PSI — Exam Scheduling→Sircon — License Application→MN Dept. of Labor and Industry — Workers' Compensation→

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Minnesota Adjuster Insurance Exam 2026