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A RocketLevel playbook for restoration owners on one of the most important liability lines in claims work, backed by decades of experience in the trade. About a 7-minute read.
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Reviewed October 2026. Public adjuster licensing and state insurance rules change, and they vary by state. Use this page to know what to ask, then confirm with your state department of insurance or a construction attorney before you rely on it.
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This is the most important boundary in residential claims work, and it is the one good contractors cross by accident, with the best intentions, trying to help a homeowner who is overwhelmed. The homeowner does not understand their policy, the check came in low, and you know the work better than anyone in the room. So you offer to call the carrier and get it sorted. That instinct, helpful as it is, can put you on the wrong side of the law.
Representing a policyholder in their insurance claim is a licensed and regulated job called public adjusting. These rules turn on whether there is an insurance claim, not on the kind of property, so they apply on a commercial building the same as on a house. On a direct-pay job with no claim in play they do not apply, and they apply again the moment the decision maker asks whether insurance would pick it up. Which acts count as public adjusting where you work, and whether a contractor may do any of them unlicensed, is set by your state's insurance code and answered by your state department of insurance. A contractor who does that work without a license, especially for a fee tied to the claim, can be acting as an unlicensed public adjuster, and that can void your contract and expose you to fines. Whether unlicensed adjusting is also a criminal offense where you work is set by your state's insurance code, and we have not checked that state by state. Florida is one we have checked: acting as a public adjuster without a license there is a third-degree felony on any insurance claim, commercial included (Fla. Stat. 626.8738). California criminalizes a neighboring act, paying or taking a fee for referring claims business, at Ins. Code 750, cited below. Fortunately the line is knowable, and once you see it, staying on the right side is straightforward.
Everything that touches your own work is yours to do, fully and aggressively. You may:
None of it requires you to speak for the homeowner or touch their policy.
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Calling the carrier to negotiate the settlement for the homeowner, or tying any part of your fee to the claim amount, is the act that moves you into a licensed role, and the contract you already signed can go with it. Texas (Tex. Ins. Code 4102.163(a)) and California (Cal. Ins. Code 15006(b)), covered below, show how far that reaches. What counts as adjusting where you work, and which advertising is restricted, is set by your own state's insurance code and its department. Your state's rules decide where that line sits. A local construction attorney can tell you in one sitting, before a rep says "we'll handle your claim."
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