New York Adjuster Insurance Exam 2026

What This License Is

A New York independent adjuster license lets you investigate and adjust claims on behalf of an insurer for money, commission, or anything else of value. It is issued by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), and it is the license the third-party adjusting firms, independent contractors, and TPAs operating in New York hold.

It is not the only adjuster license New York issues. A public adjuster license is the mirror image — that licensee acts on behalf of the insured in negotiating or effecting the settlement of a property claim. Insurance Law § 2108(a)(3) keeps the two strictly apart: no adjuster may act on behalf of an insurer without an independent adjuster license, and none may act on behalf of an insured without a public adjuster license.

New York also carves several people out of the definition entirely. Under Insurance Law § 2101(g)(1), an officer, director, or regular salaried employee of an authorized insurer is not an independent adjuster — so a staff adjuster on a carrier's payroll generally needs no license, *unless* that person is acting as an auto body repair estimator, which pulls the exemption back. Licensed New York attorneys, average adjusters and adjusters of maritime losses, and insurer-owned adjustment bureaus are likewise excluded. There is even a small-dollar carve-out: a licensed agent who adjusts losses only under policies written through their own agency stays outside the definition as long as they receive no more than $50 per loss adjusted.

That exemption for salaried company adjusters is a real difference from states such as Texas or Florida, where company adjusters license alongside independents.

There is no prelicensing education requirement for independent adjuster candidates. What you must do is pass the appropriate PSI examination within the two years before you apply. (Public adjusters are the opposite: 40 hours of Department-approved prelicensing instruction, or one year of qualifying insurance experience.)

Eligibility Requirements

You must be at least 18 years old at the time the license is issued and be trustworthy and competent to act as an adjuster.

Fingerprints are required of every adjuster applicant, including every sublicensee. New York residents pre-enroll and are printed electronically through IdentoGO under DFS service code 1544S3; you pay IdentoGO directly at the appointment. Applicants with no New York address who cannot reach a New York-authorized IdentoGO center pre-enroll and then mail a fingerprint card and fee to the Department — DFS warns this route is costlier and slower and should be used only when necessary. Getting printed under the wrong service code is your problem to fix, so check it before you go.

Two requirements that older guides still mention are gone for independent adjusters: a bond is no longer required, and certificates of character are no longer required. Both survive for public adjusters — a $1,000 bond under § 2108(l) and five certificates from people who have known the applicant at least five years, executed on or after the date of the application.

Firms, partnerships, corporations, and LLCs can hold an independent adjuster license, but the statute limits who may be named as a sublicensee: a corporation may name only its officers and directors, and a firm or association only its individual members. Each sublicensee must be 18 or over, qualify individually — exam included — be separately fingerprinted, and pay a separate fee.

Pick Your Line First, Then Your Exam

New York's sub-class structure is the thing that trips up out-of-state adjusters. 11 NYCRR 26.3 prescribes eleven license types, and each one is defined by the kinds of insurance whose claims you may touch: fire (fire, miscellaneous property damage, water damage, collision), inland marine, aviation, automobile, motor vehicle no-fault and workers' compensation health service charges, automobile damage or theft appraisals, casualty, fidelity and surety, accident and health, general, and multi-peril crop.

The general license is the broad one — 26.3(j) gives it authority over everything in subdivisions (a) through (g), which is fire through casualty. What it does *not* pick up is fidelity and surety, accident and health, and multi-peril crop; those stay separate. And note the boundary drawn inside the casualty license by 26.3(g): it is broad on liability, burglary and theft, glass, workers' compensation, boiler and machinery, elevator, credit, animal, collision, legal services, and water damage, but it expressly excludes motor vehicle and aircraft losses, so a casualty-only licensee cannot work auto claims.

11 NYCRR 26.4 prescribes a matching examination for each type — ten of them, because there is no multi-peril crop examination. That license is earned instead by accreditation from the Federal Crop Adjuster Proficiency Program administered by National Crop Insurance Services. The regulation also tells you what every adjuster exam covers: the principles and practices of the relevant kinds of insurance, the authority granted under each license type, the adjustment of losses, and the pertinent sections of the Insurance Law as they relate to an independent adjuster.

PSI administers all DFS insurance examinations, and the adjuster series runs 17-62 through 17-72: public adjuster 17-62, accident and health 17-63, fire 17-64, casualty 17-65, automobile 17-66, aviation 17-67, fidelity and surety 17-68, inland marine 17-69, general 17-70, auto damage and theft appraisal 17-71, and motor vehicle no-fault and workers' comp health services 17-72. (A 2009-era PSI bulletin numbered the same exams 10-62 through 10-72; treat 10-70 as a legacy alias for 17-70.)

Sizes differ by line, and this is where candidates guess wrong. The General Adjuster exam, 17-70, is 100 questions in 2 hours. Every other independent adjuster exam PSI publishes a length for is 60 questions in 1 hour. On top of the scored items you may see five to ten unscored experimental questions. The fee is $40 per attempt, non-refundable, and it expires if you do not test within a year of PSI receiving it. When you register, independent adjuster candidates have no prelicensing certificate to supply, because no course is required.

You have two years from passing to file the application before the exam result stops supporting it. Two groups skip the exam entirely: someone who held the same New York adjuster license and applies within two years of its termination (§ 2108(f)(3)), and certain armed forces members. Read that second one carefully — § 2108(f) requires that the applicant was continuously engaged as an independent adjuster in this state for five years immediately before entering military service, and applies within one year of discharge. It is much narrower than the way most summaries describe it, and DFS does not mention it on either licensing page.

Passing Score and Test Day

You need 70% to pass, and New York's insurance examinations have a hard-earned reputation for being among the toughest in the country — heavy on New York statute and regulation rather than generic claims theory.

Build your study around the material that is actually New York's: Insurance Law Article 21 licensing rules and the license structure in 11 NYCRR Part 26, the claims-handling deadlines in Regulation 64 (11 NYCRR 216), no-fault under Regulation 68 (11 NYCRR 65), and the New York standard fire policy in Insurance Law § 3404. Aim for a steady 80% on practice exams before you schedule.

Bring one valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID whose first and last name match your registration exactly — a driver's license, state ID card, US passport, military ID, alien registration card, or Canadian government ID. The old two-ID rule is gone, though prep sites still repeat it. Arrive at least 15 minutes early. No reference materials and no electronics of any kind, including smart watches and earbuds.

Two options worth knowing. Remote online proctoring is available for New York DFS insurance exams as well as test centers. And if English is not your primary language, you may request an ESL authorization from PSI in advance for time and a half — which turns the 2-hour general adjuster exam into 3 hours.

There is no mandatory waiting period after a failure. You simply cannot rebook on the same day you tested; call the next day and you may be able to sit again within a couple of days, space permitting. Each attempt is another $40.

Nonresidents, Catastrophe Permits, and the License Itself

Reciprocity is the short section here, because New York has none for adjusters. Where most states will issue a nonresident adjuster license on the strength of a home-state license, New York expects a nonresident to qualify the New York way — DFS requires passing New York exam data from within the previous two years, the same fingerprints, and the same application. Holding a Texas or Florida all-lines license does not shortcut it. The reciprocal nonresident pathway DFS publishes, with home-state certifications through NIPR, is written for agents and brokers and does not reach adjusters.

For catastrophes, New York uses a temporary independent adjuster permit rather than a full emergency license, and it lives in Insurance Law § 2108(n). To settle claims involving widespread property losses arising out of a conflagration or catastrophe, the Superintendent may issue a permit for a term not exceeding 120 days, renewable for as long as necessary to adjust those claims, to a resident or nonresident — with no examination and no fee. The catch is who applies: the sponsoring New York authorized insurer files the written application and certifies that the person is qualified by experience and training. The adjuster cannot apply directly. Each permit is tied to one declared catastrophe, a State of Emergency declaration is required for a natural disaster, and an adjuster working for more than one carrier needs an application from each.

Apply for the license itself through the DFS licensing portal (NY LINX) after fingerprinting. The fee is $100 when the license period will run longer than a year and $50 when it is a year or less — § 2108(i)(1) sets it as $50 for each year or fraction of a year, and one fee covers as many independent adjuster license types as you qualify for. A replacement license is $15.

DFS does not mail paper licenses. Watch the Producer/Licensee Search application, and save and print your license from the portal as soon as it issues.

Keeping Your License Active

New York is one of the few states that licenses adjusters and then asks no continuing education of them. The 15-credit biennial CE requirement in Insurance Law § 2108(r)(2)(A) is written for public adjusters, who also pay a $10 biennial CE filing fee; § 2132's CE rules reach producers and consultants. Independent adjusters sit outside both. Renewal is a filing and a fee, not a transcript. If a vendor is selling you New York CE for an independent adjuster license, they are selling something DFS does not require.

The renewal clock is fixed rather than personal. Every adjuster license expires December 31 of an even-numbered year under § 2108(j)(1), which is why an initial license may be issued for a term of more than two years — up to 30 months — so that it lands on that date. It is also why the fee is $100 for a period longer than a year and $50 for a period of a year or less. Do not import the producer rule here: agent and broker licenses run on a birthday cycle, adjuster licenses do not.

Renew online before the expiration date; a license that expires is no longer in force. File the renewal on time and § 2108(j)(2) keeps your license in force until the renewal is issued or until five days after DFS refuses it. If you come back within two years of expiration you are relicensed without new fingerprints; at two years or more past expiration you fingerprint again like a first-time applicant.

Two ongoing obligations that are easy to miss and are grounds for discipline. 11 NYCRR 26.6 requires you to notify the Department of any change of business or residence address within 30 days. 11 NYCRR 26.7 requires you to report any administrative action taken against you in another jurisdiction or by another New York government agency within 30 days of final disposition, with the order and supporting documents attached.

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