Montana · Insurance Adjuster Sample Interactive Mind Map
Montana Adjuster Regulations
A visual breakdown of the Montana rules an adjuster is tested on — a state that takes away the rulebook and replaces it with liability.
Montana is a state of exceptions. It requires no license at all for an adjuster sent in to work a catastrophe. It has no general claim deadlines, no standard fire policy, and no UIM statute. And under § 33-18-242 an injured third-party claimant can sue the insurer directly — though only six of the fifteen unfair claim practices are actually suable, and the 2023 legislature quietly reversed the case most courses still cite. This map lays out every one of those exceptions.
So explore it. Click through the clusters, then take the scenario quiz at the end and see how many of Montana's exceptions you can hold onto.
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Three license classes, no lines of authority, no appointment, no prelicensing — and no license at all for an adjuster sent in to work a catastrophe.
The regulator is the elected State Auditor, wearing a second hat as Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. Adjusters live in Title 33, ch. 17, Part 3 — §§ 33-17-301, -302, -303.
The regulator is the elected State Auditor, wearing a second hat as Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. Adjusters live in Title 33, ch. 17, Part 3 — §§ 33-17-301, -302, -303.
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§ 33-17-102(1)(b) — Five Exemptions
But the list is not complete without a sixth, which lives somewhere else
- (i) a licensed attorney “qualified to practice law in this state” — an out-of-state attorney is not exempt
- (ii) a salaried employee of an insurer or of a managing general agent
- (iii) a licensed insurance producer adjusting losses under policies issued by the insurer
- (iv) a licensed third-party administrator doing the same
- (v) a claims examiner as defined in § 39-71-116
Read two of these closelyThe attorney exemption requires Montana admission — prep sites routinely drop the in-state qualifier. And the employee exemption says “salaried”: an hourly or commission-paid claims employee, or an employee of a TPA rather than the TPA entity itself, is not squarely inside it.
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The sixth exemption — and why Montana has NO emergency adjuster license
§ 33-17-301(5): “An adjuster license or qualifications are not required for an adjuster who is sent into this state by and on behalf of an insurer or adjusting business entity for the purpose of investigating or making adjustments of a particular loss under an insurance policy or for the adjustment of a series of losses resulting from a catastrophe common to all losses.”
No duration limit. No declared disaster required. No application, no filing, no fee. It even covers a single particular loss, not just catastrophes. Material assuming Montana must have an emergency license — by analogy to Florida's 0-70 or Oklahoma's § 6218 permit — is wrong. Montana solved the same problem with a blanket exemption.
One limit: it runs to adjusters acting for insurers, so it does not shelter public adjusting.
No duration limit. No declared disaster required. No application, no filing, no fee. It even covers a single particular loss, not just catastrophes. Material assuming Montana must have an emergency license — by analogy to Florida's 0-70 or Oklahoma's § 6218 permit — is wrong. Montana solved the same problem with a blanket exemption.
One limit: it runs to adjusters acting for insurers, so it does not shelter public adjusting.
✅ What Montana does NOT require
📌 What it does
Lines of authority
None. Three classes — Adjuster, Public Adjuster, Crop Adjuster — and the general license has no property/casualty/WC splitResidency
Conditional — a Montana resident, or a resident of a state that “permits residents of Montana regularly to act as adjusters” therePrelicensing
None — and ARM subchapter 6.6.29 is repealed in its entiretyBackground check
Fingerprints for residents — but deferred until about one year AFTER initial licensureAppointment
None. §§ 33-17-231 and -236 are written for producers and sit in Part 2Office & records
An office in Montana accessible to the public, records kept 5 yearsDesignation waiver
None. AIC, CPCU, AINS, SCLA carry no weight hereThe one waiver
Nonresident reciprocity — currently licensed elsewhere, or within 90 days of a good-standing cancellationDo not carry Oklahoma's rule across the borderSalaried company adjusters ARE exempt in Montana — the opposite of Oklahoma, which licenses them. Note too that Montana's code contains no statutory definition of “independent adjuster,” “staff adjuster,” “apprentice adjuster,” or “emergency adjuster.” Those categories do not exist here.
One multi-line exam, a scaled 75, and a renewal date that trips up almost everyone.
Because the general license has no lines of authority, the exam spans property, casualty, auto, and workers' compensation. You cannot dodge a weak subject by picking a narrower license.
Because the general license has no lines of authority, the exam spans property, casualty, auto, and workers' compensation. You cannot dodge a weak subject by picking a narrower license.
| Examination | Scored questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Line Adjuster — the general license | 88 | 1 hr 45 min |
| Crop Adjuster | 50 | 1 hr |
| Public Adjuster | 50 | 60 min |
Pearson VUE · $65 at reservation · score valid 1 year · 24-hour wait before a retake
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75 is a SCALED score — not a percentage
The handbook is explicit: “With a passing score of 75, any score below 75 indicates how close the candidate came to passing, rather than the actual number or percentage of questions the candidates answered correctly.”
Sites reporting Montana as “70%” or “75% correct” are wrong on both the number and the type. OnVUE remote testing allows two attempts, after which you must test at a center.
Sites reporting Montana as “70%” or “75% correct” are wrong on both the number and the type. OnVUE remote testing allows two attempts, after which you must test at a center.
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The FIRST Day of Your Birth Month — in Alternating Years
Montana's most misstated rule, and it has two moving parts
- Not the last day of the month. Not your birthday. The first day of your birth month
- Alternating years keyed to birth-YEAR parity — born in an odd year, you renew in odd years; born even, renew even
- Renewal window opens 90 days before expiration
- Late renewal possible electronically for up to one year past expiration — beyond that you apply as a new applicant
Statutory fees — § 33-2-708$50 original application including issuance · $100 biennial renewal · $200 lapsed-license reinstatement. No resident/nonresident differential for adjusters, unlike producers.
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Read the statute, not the Part caption — adjusters DO have CE
Part 12 is captioned the “Insurance Producer and Consultant Continuing Education Act,” which omits adjusters. But § 33-17-1203(1) expressly names “an insurance producer, adjuster, public adjuster, or consultant.”
24 credit hours every 24 months = at least 3 hours of ethics + at least 1 credit hour on changes in Montana insurance statutes and administrative rules + the balance in general credit.
Nonresidents are NOT blanket-exempt. No reciprocity exemption appears in § 33-17-1203 — CSI's guidance is that a nonresident whose home state has no CE requirement must complete Montana CE or designate a CE completion state. And CSI warns that CE not finished 30 days before expiration may cause the license to lapse.
24 credit hours every 24 months = at least 3 hours of ethics + at least 1 credit hour on changes in Montana insurance statutes and administrative rules + the balance in general credit.
Nonresidents are NOT blanket-exempt. No reciprocity exemption appears in § 33-17-1203 — CSI's guidance is that a nonresident whose home state has no CE requirement must complete Montana CE or designate a CE completion state. And CSI warns that CE not finished 30 days before expiration may cause the license to lapse.
Public adjusters — two negatives that catch people outMontana sets NO percentage cap on public adjuster compensation — § 33-17-302 requires disclosure, not limitation, so the 10% and 15% caps from Florida, New York, or Texas do not apply. And there is NO statutory right to cancel — no three-day, five-day, or any-day cooling-off period. Montana did not adopt that part of the NAIC model. What it does have: a $5,000 bond (ARM 6.6.1611, a rule, not a statute), authority limited to first-party physical damage only (ARM 6.6.1613), contracts filed with CSI, and the 72-hour rule — no percentage commission if the insurer pays or commits to pay policy limits within 72 hours of the loss being reported.
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Montana lets an injured STRANGER sue you directly — § 33-18-242
“An insured or a third-party claimant has an independent cause of action against an insurer for actual damages caused by the insurer's violation of 33-18-201(1), (4), (5), (6), (9), or (13).”
And § 242(2): “a plaintiff is not required to prove that the violations were of such frequency as to indicate a general business practice.”
Exemplary damages are available under § 242(5). This is why Montana is worth studying properly.
And § 242(2): “a plaintiff is not required to prove that the violations were of such frequency as to indicate a general business practice.”
Exemplary damages are available under § 242(5). This is why Montana is worth studying properly.
✅ Privately actionable — six of fifteen
🚫 Commissioner enforcement only
(1)
Misrepresenting pertinent facts or policy provisions(2)
Failing to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly upon communications(4)
Refusing to pay without a reasonable investigation based on all available information(3)
Failing to adopt reasonable standards for prompt investigation(5)
Failing to affirm or deny within a reasonable time after proof of loss(7)
Compelling litigation by offering substantially less than is ultimately recovered(6) — the workhorse
Failing to settle in good faith where liability has become reasonably clear(14)
Failing to promptly provide a reasonable explanation for a denial(9) & (13)
Settling on an altered application · withholding one coverage to influence another(15) — NEW 2025
Failing to provide a claim list on request (§ 33-15-1126, within 10 days)The ones a national course would assume are suable are NOT(2) prompt acknowledgment, (3) investigation standards, and (14) explaining a denial are not privately actionable in Montana — those are Commissioner enforcement only. Subsection (6) is the workhorse of Montana claims litigation. And note that § 33-18-201 now has fifteen subsections, not fourteen — HB 114 (Ch. 229, L. 2025) added (15).
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Common-Law Bad Faith Is Abolished — For Everyone
And the 2023 change reversed a 1999 Supreme Court decision most sources still cite
- Insureds — barred since 1987. § 242(3): contract, fraud, or the statute, “but not under any other theory or cause of action”
- Third parties — retained it until 2023. Brewington v. Employers Fire Ins. Co., 1999 MT 312, held that because the statute then barred only insureds, third parties kept the common-law action
- The 2023 legislature reversed Brewington by inserting a new § 242(4): “A third-party claimant may not bring an action for bad faith in connection with the handling of an insurance claim.”
Two traps in oneNearly every secondary source written before 2024 still cites Brewington for the proposition that third parties retain common-law bad faith in Montana. That is now wrong. And the 2023 amendments renumbered the section — old (4)–(8) became (5)–(9) — so a citation to § 33-18-242(6) now means the reasonable basis defense, not the exclusivity provision it used to mean.
⏱ Limitations & timing
Insured: 2 years from the date of the violation
Third party: 1 year from settlement of, or judgment on, the underlying claim
A third party may not file until the underlying claim resolves; an insured may join claims, subject to bifurcation
🛡️ The 2023 defensive reforms
§ 242(6) — a reasonable basis in law or in fact for contesting is a complete bar
§ 33-18-243 — claimant duties to cooperate; breach is an affirmative defense
§ 33-18-251 — time-limited demands must stay open not less than 60 days; a clarification request is not a rejection and extends by 30 days or actual
Montana gives you almost no procedural guidance — then compels you to pay a stranger's medical bills before anyone settles anything.
Only reasonableness standards govern P&C claims. Montana never adopted the NAIC claims-practices model regulation, and ARM subchapter 6.6.20 is repealed in its entirety.
Only reasonableness standards govern P&C claims. Montana never adopted the NAIC claims-practices model regulation, and ARM subchapter 6.6.20 is repealed in its entirety.
| Deadline | Trigger | Scope — read this column carefully |
|---|---|---|
| 30 → 60 days | Receipt of proof of loss — § 33-18-232 | MEDICAL BENEFITS ONLY. 30 days to pay or deny, extending to 60 on a reasonable request for more information |
| 30 working | Correctly completed proof of loss — § 33-18-245 | Motor vehicle property damage of $2,500 or less. Note working days |
| not < 60 days | Service of a compliant time-limited demand — § 33-18-251 | How long the demand must stay open |
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The § 33-18-232 scope trap — the most likely error in any Montana manual
§ 33-18-232 sits in a group captioned “State administrative process to provide timely payment of MEDICAL BENEFITS,” and § 33-18-231 defines “insurer” for §§ 231–235 as one who “promises to pay medical benefits.”
A course teaching “Montana insurers must pay or deny within 30 days” as a general property and casualty rule is WRONG.
Two more details: late payment carries 10% annual interest, payable only if the interest exceeds $5 — and § 232(3) makes compliance or noncompliance inadmissible in a private action under § 33-18-201 or § 33-18-242.
A course teaching “Montana insurers must pay or deny within 30 days” as a general property and casualty rule is WRONG.
Two more details: late payment carries 10% annual interest, payable only if the interest exceeds $5 — and § 232(3) makes compliance or noncompliance inadmissible in a private action under § 33-18-201 or § 33-18-242.
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The Ridley Advance-Pay Doctrine
No national analogue — and the most practically important thing in this map
Ridley v. Guaranty National Ins. Co., 286 Mont. 325, 951 P.2d 987 (1997). Construing § 33-18-201(6), the Montana Supreme Court held a liability insurer must pay an injured third-party claimant's medical expenses BEFORE settlement, once liability is reasonably clear — and regardless of comparative fault.
- Shilhanek (2003) — the insurer may not condition advance payment on a release, even up to policy limits
- DuBray (2001) — advance pay extends to lost wages; not to general or punitive damages
- Watters (2000) — unfair trade practice to condition payment of mandatory minimum limits on a full and final release where liability and damages are clear
- § 26-1-701 protects you: a voluntary payment “may not be construed as an admission of fault or liability” — but note HB 324 (Ch. 257, L. 2025) revised this section expressly “including bad faith insurance actions”
A national course teaches that advance payment is discretionaryIn Montana it is compelled. If liability is reasonably clear and the claimant has medical bills, the Ridley obligation is running whether or not anyone has demanded anything.
No standard fire policy. No UIM statute. No fraud warning. No guaranty deductible. No wildfire moratorium.
Montana is defined as much by what it lacks as by what it has — and every one of those absences is a place a national course will give you the wrong answer.
Montana is defined as much by what it lacks as by what it has — and every one of those absences is a place a national course will give you the wrong answer.
🚗 Auto
🏠 Property
Minimums — § 61-6-103
25/50/20 — note the $20,000 property damage, lower than most states in this course. Pure tort state, no PIPStandard fire policy
NONE. § 33-24-105 is only a conformity clause requirement. The 165-line NY form is not Montana lawUM — § 33-23-201
Must be included except that the named insured may reject it. Once rejected, reinstatement must be in writingValued policy law
YES — but CONDITIONAL. §§ 33-24-101–103 apply where the insurer placed specific valuations on particular items and rated on themUIM
NO MONTANA UIM STATUTE AT ALL. § 33-23-203 is the anti-stacking provision, not UIM. UIM here is purely contractualTime to sue
8 years on a written contract (§ 27-2-202(1)). No statutory minimum suit-clause period — the policy governsComparative negligence
“Not greater than” — 50% recovers, 51% barred; compared to the combined negligence of all defendantsCancellation
Auto 45 days / 10 nonpayment · homeowners 45 days / 20 nonpayment. No catastrophe moratoriumMontana ranks 2nd nationally for wildfire risk — and has no moratoriumUnlike California, Colorado, or Oregon, Montana has no post-catastrophe or post-wildfire bar on cancellation or nonrenewal. A course that assumes a Western wildfire state must have one will be wrong here. Two 2025 statutes do exist: § 33-24-110 permits (but does not require) premium reductions for mitigation, and § 33-16-117 requires disclosure of a wildfire risk score within 30 days of request.
💰 Guaranty — § 33-10-105
Most covered claims: $300,000
Return of unearned premium: $10,000 per policy
Workers' compensation: full amount, no cap
⚠️ NO $100 deductible. The NAIC model has one and most states adopted it — Montana did not. The cap is right; the deductible is wrong
🚨 Fraud — § 33-1-1205
Independent adjusters are expressly named — report to the Commissioner within 60 days
Producers may report to their insurer instead; the insurer forwards within 30 days
Immunity “in the absence of malice” — § 33-1-1210, which also names independent adjusters
⚠️ NO required fraud warning on claim forms. The NAIC chart lists Montana as “No provision”
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A Montana adjuster license does NOT let you handle Montana workers' comp claims
The § 33-17-102(1)(b)(v) exemption points to § 39-71-116(8), which defines a claims examiner — and expressly excludes “an adjuster as defined in 33-17-102.” Two separate credentials.
§ 39-71-320 establishes a claims examiner certification program run by the Department of Labor and Industry — initial certification including examination, 2-year renewal, and continuing education. The catchline read “Voluntary certification program” through the 2013 code; “voluntary” was struck in 2019, making it mandatory.
And § 39-71-107: “All workers' compensation and occupational disease claims… must be examined by a claims examiner in Montana.” Out-of-state adjusters cannot examine Montana WC claims.
§ 39-71-320 establishes a claims examiner certification program run by the Department of Labor and Industry — initial certification including examination, 2-year renewal, and continuing education. The catchline read “Voluntary certification program” through the 2013 code; “voluntary” was struck in 2019, making it mandatory.
And § 39-71-107: “All workers' compensation and occupational disease claims… must be examined by a claims examiner in Montana.” Out-of-state adjusters cannot examine Montana WC claims.
Workers' comp numbers66⅔% of wages at the time of injury, capped at the state average weekly wage — a cap that resets every July 1, so always state the effective date. Waiting period 32 hours or 4 days, whichever is less, with retroactive payment to day one if disability runs 21 days or longer. Notice to employer 30 days; file the claim within 12 months, waivable up to 24 more — an outer limit of 36 months.
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Top Exam Tips — Montana Adjuster Regulations
1. Adjusters are Title 33, ch. 17, Part 3. Three classes, no lines of authority, no appointment, no prelicensing.
2. § 33-17-301(5): no license at all for an adjuster sent in by an insurer for a particular loss or a catastrophe. No time limit, no declaration, no fee. That is why Montana has no emergency adjuster license.
3. Six exemptions, not five — the sixth lives in § 33-17-301(5). Attorneys must be Montana-admitted; the employee exemption says “salaried.”
4. Salaried company adjusters ARE exempt — the opposite of Oklahoma.
5. Exam 88 questions / 1 hr 45 min / $65; 75 is SCALED, not a percentage; score valid 1 year; no designation waives it.
6. Renewal is the FIRST day of your birth month, in alternating years by birth-YEAR parity. Not the last day. Not your birthday.
7. CE 24 hrs / 24 months = 3 ethics + 1 Montana law update. Read the statute, not the Part caption. Nonresidents are not blanket-exempt.
8. § 33-18-242 gives an insured OR third-party claimant an independent action — no general business practice needed, exemplary damages available, reasonable basis is a complete defense.
9. Only six of fifteen practices are actionable: (1), (4), (5), (6), (9), (13). Prompt acknowledgment (2), investigation standards (3), and explaining a denial (14) are not.
10. Common-law bad faith is abolished for BOTH — insureds 1987, third parties 2023, reversing Brewington.
11. No general claim deadlines. § 33-18-232's 30/60 days is medical benefits only.
12. Ridley: pay third-party medicals BEFORE settlement once liability is reasonably clear, regardless of comparative fault, and you may not require a release.
2. § 33-17-301(5): no license at all for an adjuster sent in by an insurer for a particular loss or a catastrophe. No time limit, no declaration, no fee. That is why Montana has no emergency adjuster license.
3. Six exemptions, not five — the sixth lives in § 33-17-301(5). Attorneys must be Montana-admitted; the employee exemption says “salaried.”
4. Salaried company adjusters ARE exempt — the opposite of Oklahoma.
5. Exam 88 questions / 1 hr 45 min / $65; 75 is SCALED, not a percentage; score valid 1 year; no designation waives it.
6. Renewal is the FIRST day of your birth month, in alternating years by birth-YEAR parity. Not the last day. Not your birthday.
7. CE 24 hrs / 24 months = 3 ethics + 1 Montana law update. Read the statute, not the Part caption. Nonresidents are not blanket-exempt.
8. § 33-18-242 gives an insured OR third-party claimant an independent action — no general business practice needed, exemplary damages available, reasonable basis is a complete defense.
9. Only six of fifteen practices are actionable: (1), (4), (5), (6), (9), (13). Prompt acknowledgment (2), investigation standards (3), and explaining a denial (14) are not.
10. Common-law bad faith is abolished for BOTH — insureds 1987, third parties 2023, reversing Brewington.
11. No general claim deadlines. § 33-18-232's 30/60 days is medical benefits only.
12. Ridley: pay third-party medicals BEFORE settlement once liability is reasonably clear, regardless of comparative fault, and you may not require a release.
Exam vocabulary
Key Terms to Know
Adjuster
§ 33-17-102(1)(a) — one who, on behalf of the insurer, investigates and negotiates the settlement of claims arising under insurance contracts.
§ 33-17-301(5)
The catastrophe exemption — no license required for an adjuster sent in by an insurer for a particular loss or a catastrophe series. No time limit, no declaration.
§ 33-18-201
The unfair claim settlement practices list — fifteen since 2025, with a general-business-practice threshold for administrative enforcement.
§ 33-18-242
The independent cause of action — insured or third-party claimant, no frequency showing, exemplary damages available.
The actionable six
Only § 33-18-201 (1), (4), (5), (6), (9), (13) support a private suit. (6) is the workhorse.
Reasonable basis defense
§ 33-18-242(6) — a complete bar where the insurer had a reasonable basis in law or in fact for contesting the claim or its amount.
Brewington reversal
New § 33-18-242(4), added 2023, abolished third-party common-law bad faith. Pre-2024 sources are wrong on this.
Ridley doctrine
A liability insurer must pay a third-party claimant's medical expenses before settlement once liability is reasonably clear — regardless of comparative fault.
§ 33-18-232
The 30/60-day pay-or-deny rule — medical benefits only, not general P&C. Compliance is inadmissible in a § 242 suit.
§ 33-18-251
Time-limited demands — must stay open not less than 60 days; a clarification request is not a rejection.
Valued policy law
§§ 33-24-101–103 — conditional, triggered where the insurer placed specific valuations on particular items and rated on them.
Claims examiner
§ 39-71-116(8) — a separate DLI credential that expressly excludes Title 33 adjusters. Montana WC claims must be examined in Montana.
Like learning this way? There's a whole library of them.
If the old manual you inherited from the office breakroom isn't cutting it and this format fits how your brain actually works, you'll want the rest. There are 56 Interactive Mind Maps like this one in the TESTivity Platinum Insurance Adjuster package — covering the full curriculum, right alongside the practice questions, exam simulators, and study guides.
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