Rhode Island Adjuster Insurance Exam Guide 2026

What This License Is

A Rhode Island adjuster license lets you investigate, negotiate, and settle claims. It is issued by the Department of Business Regulation (DBR), Insurance Division, under R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 27-10 and 230-RICR-20-50-4.

§ 27-10-1.1 defines an adjuster simply as *"an individual licensed as either a public, company, or independent adjuster."* A company adjuster contracts with insurers or self-insurers as an employee; an independent adjuster does the same work as an independent contractor. Both are defined as persons who *"investigate, negotiate, or settle property, casualty, or workers' compensation claims."*

Company and independent adjusters carry lines of authority. § 27-10-5 lists them as *"Property and casualty; Workers' compensation; or Crop."* Public adjusters and emergency adjusters carry none.

Public adjusters represent the insured rather than the insurer — and note the boundary written into the definition itself: a Rhode Island public adjuster handles first-party claims involving real or personal property, excluding automobile, life, and accident & health.

There is no mandatory pre-licensing education. DBR puts it plainly: *"While Rhode Island does not require pre-licensing education, we strongly suggest that you prepare for your licensing exam."*

Auto physical damage needs a second license — under a different chapter

Appraising motor vehicle physical damage in Rhode Island requires a **Motor Vehicle Damage Appraiser license** under **ch. 27-10.1** — a **separate $150 credential with its own Pearson VUE exam** (code 38, 40 questions in 45 minutes). **§ 27-10.1-1(a)** is written as an absolute prohibition on any person appraising motor vehicle physical damage *"on behalf of any insurance company or firm or corporation engaged in the adjustment or appraisal of motor vehicle claims"* without it — and **neither ch. 27-10.1 nor its regulation contains any exemption for licensed adjusters.** Many Rhode Island auto adjusters hold both credentials to handle a claim end to end. The appraiser license carries its own rules too: § 27-10.1-3 requires appraisers to *"operate separate and apart from any body repair shop"* and to keep a permanent address open to the public during business hours.

Who Does Not Need a License

§ 27-10-2 lists thirteen exempt categories — an unusually long list. The ones that matter most:

Attorneys — *"An attorney at law admitted to practice in this state, acting in their professional capacity as an attorney."* An out-of-state attorney is not exempt.

Producers — a licensed insurance producer adjusting claims under policies the producer negotiated, solicited, or effected.

Support staff — a person employed only to obtain facts surrounding a loss or furnish technical assistance to a licensed adjuster: photographers, estimators, investigators, engineers, handwriting experts. And separately, a person employed to investigate suspected fraudulent claims who does not adjust losses or determine claim payments.

Administrative staff — a person performing only *"executive, administrative, managerial, or clerical duties"* who does not investigate, negotiate, or settle claims.

Self-insured employees — *"An individual employee, under a self-insured arrangement, who adjusts claims on behalf of their employer."*

Life and health — a person negotiating or settling claims under a life or health policy or annuity, and separately a person adjusting *"life, accident and health, annuity, or disability insurance claims."* Reinsurance and subrogation-only work is also exempt, as are managed care organizations, licensed healthcare providers furnishing managed care services where not determining compensability, third-party administrators adjusting disability claims, and persons adjusting portable electronic insurance claims.

The word "salaried" appears nowhere in Rhode Island's exemption statute

Many states hang their company-adjuster exemption on the phrase *"salaried employee."* **Rhode Island does not.** § 27-10-2's self-insured exemption turns on being an *"individual employee, under a self-insured arrangement"* — **employment status, not compensation structure**. If you have studied a state where an hourly or commission-paid claims employee falls outside the exemption because of that one word, do not carry the reasoning across the border. And note the broader point: Rhode Island **does license company adjusters**, so a carrier's own staff adjuster generally needs a license here rather than an exemption.

Eligibility and the Background Check

Age — § 27-10-3: *"Is at least eighteen (18) years of age."* Character: the applicant must be *"trustworthy, reliable, and of good reputation, evidence of which shall be determined by the department."*

Answer all background questions truthfully — federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1033) bars anyone with a felony conviction involving dishonesty or breach of trust from insurance work without a waiver, and § 27-54.1-2 carries the same bar in state law, requiring the commissioner's written consent.

Instead of fingerprinting, Rhode Island requires a BCI report from the Rhode Island Attorney General, emailed to `dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov` with your transaction number. DBR is explicit: *"We will not accept a B.C.I. that is over 30 days old."*

Nonresidents — § 27-10-7.1. You must be *"currently licensed as a resident adjuster and … in good standing in the person's home state,"* and your home state must award nonresident licenses to Rhode Islanders *"on the same basis."* The RI license *"shall terminate and be surrendered immediately if the home state adjuster license terminates for any reason,"* and a change of resident state must be reported within 30 days. Massachusetts residents designating RI as home state file a CORI request, which Rhode Island submits on their behalf.

The background check costs $5, not $45 — but confirm which one DBR wants

The Rhode Island Attorney General sells two different products: a **name-based state BCI at $5.00** (RI records only, no fingerprints) and a **fingerprint-based national check at $45.00**. DBR asks for *"a B.C.I. (State Background Check) from the RI Attorney General"* — wording that maps to the **$5 name-based** product, and Rhode Island imposes no fingerprint requirement anywhere in ch. 27-10 or 230-RICR-20-50-4. **The $45 figure widely published on prep sites is the national fingerprint check Rhode Island does not require of adjusters.** DBR does not name the product explicitly, so email `dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov` before paying for the expensive one.

The Pearson VUE Exams

Pearson VUE administers Rhode Island's insurance examinations. The current candidate handbook is document #124000, February 2026 (rev. 05/2026), and the question counts live in a companion document, the Examination Content Outlines, #124001 (05/2026).

There are four adjuster-related exams, not two:

Property/Casualty Adjuster (code 14) — 35 scored questions plus 5 pretest, 1 hour. Public Adjuster (code 17) — 50 scored, 1 hour. Workers Compensation Adjuster (code 18) — 50 scored, 1 hour. And Motor Vehicle Damage Appraiser (code 38) — 40 scored, 45 minutes, for the separate appraiser license.

Every one costs $80 per attempt, payable at reservation by credit card, debit card, or voucher. *"Fees will not be accepted at the test center. Examination fees are non-refundable and non-transferable."*

Test center only. Rhode Island does not offer online or remote-proctored delivery for insurance exams — the handbook describes test-center delivery throughout, candidates *"report to the test center at least thirty (30) minutes before the examination,"* and *"Walk-in examinations are not available."* NIPR reinforces the point for designated-home-state applicants, who must test *"at a PearsonVue testing center."* Bring two forms of current signature ID, the primary one government-issued, photo-bearing, and signed.

Retakes: *"Reservations for reexamination cannot be made at the test center, and candidates must wait 24 hours before making one."* There is no exam permit or approval-to-test step — Rhode Island is a test-first, then-apply state.

After you pass, allow 3 to 5 business days before filing through NIPR. DBR explains why: *"the application will search for your passing exam automatically, but it takes a few days to reach the electronic database."*

70 is a SCALED score — not 70% correct

This is the single most important thing to understand about the Rhode Island exam, and it is the opposite of what a percentage-scored state teaches. The handbook is unambiguous: *"**Raw scores are converted into scaled scores that can range from 0 to 100.** … **The scaled score that is reported to you is neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly.** With a passing score of 70, any score below 70 indicates **how close the candidate came to passing**, rather than the actual number or percentage of questions the candidates answered correctly."* Multiple forms of each exam exist and a statistical procedure called **equating** corrects for differences in form difficulty. **So do not compute '70% of 35 questions' and aim for 25 correct — that arithmetic is meaningless here.** One more quirk: **passing candidates receive only 'pass' with no number at all.** Only failing candidates get a score, and it exists to tell them how close they came.

Emergency and Catastrophe Deployment

Rhode Island issues a genuine emergency adjuster license — the statute and regulation both use the word *license*, not permit or registration.

§ 27-10-8 makes it available to *"A person who is otherwise qualified to adjust claims, but not already licensed in this state,"* and the terms are generous: the license *"shall remain in force for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days, unless extended by the department,"* and *"There is no fee payable to the state for the licensing of the emergency adjuster."* The statute imposes no examination requirement.

Reg 4.6 adds the mechanics: the application must be filed within 5 days of deployment, and the license runs *"for a period specified by the Department not to exceed ninety (90) days."* Emergency adjusters are subject to all Rhode Island laws as fully licensed adjusters — the short path in does not shorten the obligations once you are here.

Note that motor vehicle damage appraisers have their own, longer emergency license — 120 days under § 27-10.1-1.1.

Two limits the emergency route carries

**First, a declaration is a prerequisite.** The emergency license is tied to a **"catastrophic disaster"** — defined in reg 4.3 as an event overwhelming response resources and **declared by the U.S. President, the Governor of Rhode Island, or the Insurance Commissioner**. This is not a route for routine surge work or a busy storm season without a declaration. **Second, public adjusters are categorically excluded.** § 27-10-8 says so in terms: *"Public adjusters are not eligible for licensing under this section."* The emergency path is for company and independent adjusters only.

Fees, Renewal, and Reinstatement

§ 27-10-3(a)(6) sets the license fee: the applicant *"Has paid a fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250)."* Resident and nonresident pay the same. Motor Vehicle Damage Appraiser is a separate $150. Emergency adjuster is $0.

The license is biennial. 230-RICR-20-50-4.4: *"Each adjuster license is issued on a biennial basis. An adjuster who obtains a license during the license term shall be issued a license for the time period remaining and will have to renew at the expiration of the License, regardless of the period of time he, she or it has been licensed. The Department does not prorate license fees."*

On the expiration date itself: NIPR states that the renewal date follows the licensee's birth month. Worth knowing — but note that § 27-10-5, regulation § 4.4, and DBR are all silent on how the expiration date is set, so this is operational guidance rather than codified law. Check the expiration date on your own license record rather than assuming.

Late renewal costs $50 on top of the renewal fee (§ 27-10-5) — which is why NIPR displays $300 for a late transaction: the $250 renewal plus the $50 penalty. It is not a standalone $300 charge.

Reinstatement — 12 months. Reg § 4.4: *"An adjuster who allows his, her or its license to expire may, within twelve (12) months from the due date of the renewal, reinstate this license without the necessity of passing a written examination."* Past twelve months, the re-exam exemption is gone.

Renewals go through NIPR, and DBR routes them through the Rhode Island Division of Taxation for tax clearance before approval — build in time for that.

The veteran fee waiver is real — and narrower than it is usually described

**§ 27-10-4** waives the fee, but read the conditions: *"The commissioner shall issue a license as an insurance claim adjuster, **other than for life and accident and health insurance**, without the payment of a fee, to any honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine **who has at any time served the United States in time of war**, and who shall present proof that he or she is the person who served and provides the certificate of his or her honorable discharge."* So there are three conditions, not one: **honorable discharge, wartime service, and — per DBR — Rhode Island residency** (*"only applies to insurance claim adjusters who are residents of Rhode Island"*). And the waiver **excludes life and accident & health** authority. The DD-214 is how you prove it, not what qualifies you. Send it to `dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov`.

Continuing Education — New for 2026 Expirations

Important CE details: New. 230-RICR-20-50-4.9, added by the amendment effective May 28, 2024, requires 24 hours every two years including 3 hours of ethics — DBR states the split as 21 general plus 3 ethics. The trigger is your EXPIRATION DATE, not a calendar cutover: DBR Bulletin 2024-7 applies it to licensees 'with a license expiration date of 2026 and thereafter.' It covers RI resident company/independent adjusters, RI resident public adjusters, and nonresident RI designated-home-state licensees. Two exemptions only: someone not licensed for one full year before the end of the biennium, and a nonresident who has met their home state's CE where that state reciprocates — which is why DHS holders are NOT excused, since Rhode Island IS their home state. No carryover provision exists. Motor Vehicle Damage Appraisers have no CE requirement. Note that NIPR's Rhode Island adjuster page still lists no CE requirement; the regulation and DBR control.

For decades the Rhode Island adjuster license carried no continuing education requirement at all. That changed with the May 28, 2024 amendment to 230-RICR-20-50-4, which added § 4.9.

§ 4.9(A), verbatim: *"A person, who holds a company/independent adjuster or public adjuster license and who is not exempt under § 4.9(B) of this Part, shall satisfactorily complete a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours of continuing education courses, of which three (3) hours must be in ethics, every two years. This continuing education shall be reported on a biennial basis in conjunction with the license renewal cycle."* DBR states the split as 21 general credits plus 3 ethics credits.

Who it covers: RI resident company and independent adjuster licensees, RI resident public adjuster licensees, and nonresident licensees holding Rhode Island designated-home-state status.

The two exemptions — § 4.9(B) — are narrow: a person *"Not licensed for one full year prior to the end of the applicable continuing education biennium,"* and a person *"Holding nonresident adjuster licenses who have met the continuing education requirements of their resident or home state and whose resident or home state gives credit to residents of this state on the same basis."*

Note why the second exemption does not rescue a DHS holder: Rhode Island IS their designated home state, so there is no other state's requirement to have met.

There is no carryover provision for excess credits — § 4.9 contains none and DBR publishes none. Motor Vehicle Damage Appraisers have no CE requirement. Search approved courses in the NAIC SBS course lookup under the *adjuster* course group.

The trigger is your expiration date, not January 1

You will see this requirement described as taking effect *"January 1, 2026."* **No official Rhode Island source uses that date.** The regulation took effect **May 28, 2024**; course submissions opened **October 1, 2024**; and **DBR Bulletin 2024-7** applies the requirement to licensees *"with a **license expiration date of 2026 and thereafter**."* So the trigger is **when your license expires**, not a calendar cutover — someone expiring in March 2026 is fully covered. Two more things worth knowing. Plenty of Rhode Island adjusters have been licensed for years under a no-CE regime and simply do not know this exists — **if your renewal falls in 2026 or later, start banking hours early in the cycle.** And **NIPR's Rhode Island adjuster page still lists no continuing education requirement at all**, contradicting the regulation, the bulletin, and DBR's own FAQ. Trust DBR and the RICR.

Ongoing Duties and Discipline

Records — five years. 230-RICR-20-50-4.10(A)(4): *"Records shall be maintained for at least five (5) years after the termination of the transaction and shall be open to examination by the Department at all times."* There is no general in-state office requirement for adjusters — that obligation applies to motor vehicle damage appraisers.

Report changes within 30 days — address, legal name, or information supplied on your application. And notify the Department immediately of any action taken against your adjuster license in another state.

Never accept compensation for adjusting while unlicensed — § 27-10-11 penalizes acting without a current valid license, and reg 4.10(A)(3) makes it a conduct violation.

Discipline — § 27-10-12 gives the commissioner fourteen grounds for denial, nonrenewal, or revocation, including materially untrue information in a license application; violating any insurance law, regulation, subpoena, or order; obtaining a license through misrepresentation or fraud; *"improperly withholding, misappropriating, or converting any monies or properties"*; conviction of a felony; having committed any insurance unfair trade practice or fraud; *"using fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest practices; or demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness, or financial irresponsibility"*; license action in another jurisdiction; forgery; cheating on a licensing exam; knowingly accepting business from an unlicensed person; and child support or state income tax non-compliance.

The 21-day rule almost nobody outside Rhode Island knows

**230-RICR-20-50-4.10(A)(5):** *"Every adjuster, upon receipt of any written inquiry (**including electronic communications**) from the Department, shall **within 21 calendar days** of receipt of such inquiry, furnish the Department with a response to the inquiry **in duplicate**."* Three details do the damage. It reaches **electronic communications**, so an email from DBR starts the clock. It runs on **calendar days**, not business days. And the response must be **in duplicate**. This is an **independently revocable** obligation — you do not need to have mishandled a claim to lose your license over it, only to have let a Department inquiry sit for three weeks.

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Quick Reference

Licensing AuthorityDBR Insurance Division

Governing lawR.I. Gen. Laws ch. 27-10; 230-RICR-20-50-4 (amended 05/28/2024)

License typesCompany · Independent · Public adjuster (plus temporary emergency)

Lines of AuthorityProperty and casualty · Workers' compensation · Crop

Separate licenseMotor Vehicle Damage Appraiser — ch. 27-10.1, $150, own exam

Exam ProviderPearson VUE — handbook #124000, Feb 2026

QuestionsP&C Adjuster 35 scored + 5 pretest; Public Adjuster 50; Workers' Comp 50; MVDA 40

Passing Score70 — a SCALED score on a 0–100 scale, not a percentage

Time Limit1 hr (45 min for MVDA)

Exam Fee$80 per attempt; test center only, no online delivery

Retake24-hour wait; cannot book at the test center

Pre-LicensingNot required

Background CheckRI Attorney General BCI, under 30 days old; $5 name-based state check

License Fee$250 / 2 yrs, resident or nonresident, via NIPR

Late / Reinstatement$50 penalty (NIPR shows $300 total); reinstate within 12 months without retesting

Veteran waiver§ 27-10-4 — honorable discharge + wartime service + RI residency; excludes life and A&H

CE24 hrs / 2 yrs (21 general + 3 ethics), for license expirations in 2026 and after

Records5 years; respond to Department inquiries within 21 calendar days, in duplicate

AppointmentNot required

Emergency adjuster90 days, no fee, no exam; declared catastrophe; public adjusters ineligible

DHS not acceptedAZ · CA · HI · IA · NY · OR · SC · VT

Official Links

DBR — Insurance Professionals (adjuster licensing)→DBR — Licensing FAQ→DBR Insurance Bulletin 2024-7 — Adjuster Continuing Education→R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 27-10 — Claim Adjusters→230-RICR-20-50-4 — Insurance Claim Adjusters→230-RICR-20-50-5 — Licensing and Renewal Fees→Pearson VUE — Rhode Island Insurance Exams→Pearson VUE — RI Candidate Handbook (#124000)→RI Attorney General — Background Checks→NIPR — License Application→NAIC SBS — Approved CE Course Lookup→

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Rhode Island Adjuster Insurance Exam 2026