PA Apprentice License to Be Eliminated January 1, 2018 in the state of Florida
Due to legislative changes in 2017, PA apprentice licensing for adjuster apprentice will become obsolete due to the repeal of s. 626.8541 F.S. In its publication Insurance Insights, DFS stated that the public adjuster apprentice license (T31-20) will be eliminated on January 1, 2018. What does this mean for us here at Noble Public Adjusting Group?
It means that anyone who wants to work as one of our public adjusters will need to be licensed as an all lines adjuster (6-20) and be appointed as a public adjuster apprentice for six months before they can apply for a public adjuster license (previously this period was one year). All apprentice public adjuster licenses will automatically be changed to all lines adjuster licenses before the beginning of the new year (Jan. 1, 2018). After January 1, anyone who has been working as a public adjuster apprentice for six months can apply for a public adjuster license, even if they have been using the eliminated apprentice public adjuster license, provided they meet all the other requirements of s, 626.865, F.S.
To apply for a public adjuster apprentice license, you will need to apply for an all lines adjuster license and file a $50,000 bond with the Department of Financial Services, then obtain a public adjuster apprentice appointment (31-20). This appointment must have an active license associated with it. If it does not have an active bond for a minimum of 30 days, the appointment will be cancelled.
Previous appointments will be converted to the new public adjuster apprentice appointment type (31-20) by January 1, 2018. These appointments will remain valid starting from the date of the appointment plus two years from the last day of the appointee’s birth month. If you were born in September and receive your appointment as a public adjuster apprentice in November 2017, you first renewal date for your appointment will be September 30, 2020. It will need to be renewed every two years from that point.
Also, the change prevents us from having more than 4 public adjuster apprentices, and we can have no more than 1 public adjuster apprentice per supervisor.
This new law won’t change things much inside of Noble’s walls. It will just mean that there will no longer be separate licenses for apprentices and regular insurance adjusters. Also, apprentices will be able to have contracts signed, which means we will be able to process claims much faster! Learn more about Noble Public Adjusting Group at our website or check out a few episodes of insurance Wars!