As a public adjuster, you put your reputation on the line as a knowledgeable and skilled advocate for policyholders. But even with all that knowledge and skill, it is hard to keep up with the laws and regulations governing your profession. That is especially true in Florida, where the Legislature overhauled the state's property-insurance laws in December 2022 through Chapter 2022-271 and followed with more changes during the 2023 regular session, including changes aimed specifically at public-adjuster practice in Chapter 2023-130.

This guide helps you make sense of that framework. It covers the definition of public adjusting, license types, marketing, client contracts, compensation, carrier interaction, conflicts, ethics, and discipline. The practical point is not to memorize a handful of numbers. It is to read each duty with its actor, policy type, effective date, and consequence.

Currentness note: This guide was checked on August 3, 2026. The latest codified Florida Statutes displayed by the Legislature are the 2025 edition, but Chapter 2026-174, Laws of Florida, became law on June 26, 2026 and added a new 14-day claim-status response duty. The governing materials therefore include a 2025 codified statute, a June 2026 chapter law, a conduct rule effective in 2024, an ethics rule effective in 2025, and a disclosure form marked effective in 2023. The mixed dates are exactly why every professional should recheck the primary text before relying on a deadline or form.

This article does not recite every applicable law. Use the current insurance-adjuster provisions in Chapter 626, Part VI and Rule Chapter 69B-220, then check other statutes, orders, and decisions relevant to the work at hand. For general claim-handling law rather than PA-specific compliance, use our Florida Guide to Property Insurance Claims.

In this guide

Florida's Definition of Public Adjusting

Before you spend the time and energy figuring out how you are regulated as a public adjuster, confirm whether the work is public adjusting. Under section 626.854(1), Florida Statutes, the activity matters more than the label. For money, commission, or another thing of value, the definition reaches a person who:

  • directly or indirectly prepares, completes, or files an insurance claim for an insured or a third-party claimant;
  • acts for or aids an insured or third-party claimant in negotiating or effecting settlement of a covered loss or damage claim;
  • advertises for employment as an adjuster of those claims; or
  • directly or indirectly solicits, investigates, or adjusts those claims for a public adjuster, an insured, or a third-party claimant.

In other words, subject to the exceptions below, Florida probably considers the work public adjusting when someone receives value to prepare, submit, negotiate, settle, investigate, or solicit policyholder or third-party claims. The statute now says the definition applies regardless of how the person describes or presents the services. Calling the work “consulting” does not decide the question.

Compensation is part of this definition, but “free” is not a compliance strategy. Unpaid work may fall outside this particular definition, yet indirect value, advertising or holding out, other licensing provisions, and the full course of conduct still matter. Analyze the activity; do not treat a zero-dollar invoice as an automatic safe harbor.

Carveouts and Exceptions to Florida's Definition of Public Adjusting

Florida's exceptions are conditional. A person does not stay outside the definition merely by using an exempt professional title while also performing public-adjusting work.

  • A person who only photographs or inventories damaged personal or business property is not included, provided that person does not otherwise solicit, adjust, investigate, negotiate, or attempt to settle the claim.
  • A person performing duties under another professional license is not included under the same condition: the person must not cross into the listed public-adjusting conduct.
  • The definition does not apply to specified health-claim assistance:
    • a licensed health care provider, or the provider's employee, preparing or filing a health insurance claim for a patient;
    • a licensed health insurance agent helping an insured with coverage questions, procedure coding, balance billing, the claim-filing process, or filing a health-policy claim; or
    • a person filing another person's health claim without compensation.

The definition also excludes a duly licensed Florida attorney covered by the separate attorney exemption. That exception deserves its own treatment because it is not the same as the inventory, photography, or health-claim carveouts.

Special Provisions for Attorneys and Agents

Section 626.860 exempts an attorney who is duly licensed to practice law in Florida and in good standing with The Florida Bar from the adjuster-license requirement when adjusting or participating in the adjustment of an insurance claim. That provision does not erase the attorney's other professional duties or turn the exemption into a general exception for nonlawyers working around an attorney.

Agents operate under a different rule. Under section 626.862, a licensed and appointed agent may adjust losses for the authorized insurer the agent represents when the insurer authorizes the work. This is insurer-side authority, not public-adjuster status. Misconduct can also place the agent's license and appointment at risk.

Implications

The practical implication is that Florida looks through the name of the service to the work being performed. Subject to the attorney exemption and other statutory exceptions, section 626.854(20) reserves the following compensated activities to a licensed and appointed public adjuster or a licensed attorney:

  • preparing, completing, or filing a claim for an insured or third-party claimant;
  • acting for or aiding an insured or third-party claimant in negotiating or effecting a settlement for covered loss or damage;
  • offering to initiate or negotiate such a claim;
  • advertising services that require a public-adjuster license; and
  • soliciting, investigating, or adjusting a claim for a public adjuster, insured, or third-party claimant.

Do not insert insurance agents into that list. Their limited authority comes from the separate insurer-side provision discussed above. When the question is whether an activity is regulated, start with the activity, the compensation or other value, and the person on whose behalf the work is performed.

Public Adjusting License Types in Florida

Florida's adjuster definitions describe six roles relevant to this guide, but they do not make the roles interchangeable. A definition tells you what the category means. Separate qualification, appointment, firm, and reciprocity provisions determine who can hold or use it.

The quickest orientation is which side the role serves. Independent and company employee adjusters work for insurers; public adjusters and apprentices occupy the policyholder-side professional lane. All-lines is an underlying license category used across multiple roles, and the nonresident categories add their own residency, home-state, and Florida requirements.

All-Lines Adjuster

An all-lines adjuster under section 626.8548 is a person who, for value, undertakes for a public adjuster or insurer to determine the amount payable for a claim, loss, or damage, or to effect settlement. The definition also reaches a person who solicits claims for a public adjuster.

It excludes a paid spokesperson used in a written or electronic advertisement and a person who only photographs or inventories damaged personal or business property, provided that person does not also adjust, investigate, negotiate, or attempt settlement. It does not apply to life insurance or annuity contracts.

Independent Adjuster

An independent adjuster under section 626.855 is licensed as an all-lines adjuster, self-appointed or appointed and employed by an independent adjusting firm or another independent adjuster, and works for an insurer to determine or settle a covered claim, loss, or damage. “Independent” describes the employment arrangement; it does not mean the adjuster is an independent advocate for the policyholder.

Company Employee Adjuster

A company employee adjuster under section 626.856 is also licensed as an all-lines adjuster. This adjuster is appointed and employed on an insurer's staff, or by a wholly owned subsidiary, and adjusts for that insurer or other insurers under common control or ownership.

The distinction from an independent adjuster is primarily who employs the adjuster. Both roles are insurer-side, unlike the public adjuster representing the insured.

Public Adjuster Apprentice

A public adjuster apprentice under section 626.8561 is licensed as an all-lines adjuster, appointed and employed or contracted by a public adjusting firm, and assists the firm in determining a claim, loss, or damage or effecting settlement. The apprentice must also meet section 626.8651's requirements.

That definition is only the start. Among the conduct limits discussed below, an apprentice may not execute the public-adjusting contract; the soliciting public adjuster signs it.

Nonresident Public Adjuster

A nonresident public adjuster under section 626.8582 is not a Florida resident and is currently licensed as a public adjuster in the home state for the kinds of insurance the person intends to adjust in Florida. If the home state does not license public adjusters, the person must pass the Florida examination specified by statute. The person must also be self-employed as a public adjuster or associated with or employed by a public adjusting firm or another public adjuster.

Nonresident All-Lines Adjuster

A nonresident all-lines adjuster under section 626.8584 is not a Florida resident and is licensed in the home state to adjust all lines except life and annuities. A resident of a state that does not license those adjusters must meet the alternative statutory qualifications. The person must also hold the Florida all-lines license and have the required self-appointment, appointment, employment, or contract relationship.

If you work across state lines, the home-state credential is not the whole answer. Check the Florida qualification and appointment provisions that complete the definition. For a separate state treatment rather than a Florida comparison, see our guide to public adjusting in Georgia.

Marketing and Solicitation Restrictions

Florida sets detailed rules for when a public adjuster can solicit and what an advertisement can say. One scope rule is easy to miss: section 626.854(19) says subsections (5) through (18) apply only to residential property policies and condominium unit-owner policies described in section 718.111(11). In this marketing section, that limitation attaches to the duties drawn from subsections (5), (8), (9), and (10). The roof-gift and referral provision in subsection (23) stands on its own text. Each scope should travel with its rule instead of disappearing into a footnote.

Timing of Solicitation

For the residential and specified condominium policies covered by section 626.854(19), a public adjuster may solicit an insured or claimant only:

  • Monday through Saturday; and
  • between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Those are the current limits in section 626.854(5). Do not revive the former 48-hour post-loss waiting period from an older version of the law; the Florida Supreme Court held that former restriction unconstitutional in Atwater v. Kortum. Current compliance follows the current statute; the former waiting period is historical.

Content of Advertisements

For the same covered policy types, section 626.854(8) treats it as an unfair and deceptive insurance trade practice to circulate an untrue, deceptive, or misleading statement about the business of insurance. The statute specifically identifies advertisements or solicitations that:

  • invite a policyholder to submit a claim when the policyholder has no covered damage to insured property;
  • offer money or another valuable inducement to invite a claim;
  • state that submitting a claim carries “no risk”; or
  • use a logo, shield, or statement that could be mistaken for a government communication or government endorsement.

Newspapers, magazines, flyers, and bulk mailers fall within the statute's definition of a written advertisement. Except for standard-size business cards, those written advertisements must carry this disclaimer in bold capital letters, in type no smaller than the body text:

“THIS IS A SOLICITATION FOR BUSINESS. IF YOU HAVE HAD A CLAIM FOR AN INSURED PROPERTY LOSS OR DAMAGE AND YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH THE PAYMENT BY YOUR INSURER, YOU MAY DISREGARD THIS ADVERTISEMENT.”

Preserve that legal text exactly. Do not title-case, shorten, or “humanize” it.

Prohibited Offers and Inducements

For the policy types covered by section 626.854(19):

  • section 626.854(9) prohibits a public adjuster, apprentice, or person or entity acting for either from giving or offering a client or prospective client a monetary loan or advance; and
  • section 626.854(10) prohibits the same actors from directly or indirectly giving or offering merchandise worth more than $25 for advertising or as an inducement to contract.

Section 626.854(23) separately addresses roof-related gifts, inducements, and referrals. It supplements the merchandise rule rather than turning the $25 limit into the only inducement question.

Public Adjusters and Their Policyholder Clients

Florida imposes a dense set of rules on the relationship between a PA and a policyholder client. Work through them in three parts: the contract, compensation, and the duties that continue after signing.

The section 626.854 duties drawn from subsections (6), (7), (11), and (12) in this section fall within subsection (19)'s residential-property and specified condominium-unit-owner policy limitation. The no-contract/no-payment provision in subsection (22) and the separate contract statute, section 626.8796, stand on their own text; neither should be assumed to inherit that scope automatically.

The Contract Between a Public Adjuster and a Policyholder

The contract is a compliance package: the written agreement, mandatory notices, claim and party details, copy delivery, a separate disclosure, compensation timing, record retention, and consequences for noncompliance all travel together.

Basic Contractual Requirements

For an adjuster-services contract entered into after July 1, 2023, section 626.854(6) provides that:

  • Written agreement: A public adjuster may not collect a fee on payments made to a named insured without a written contract with the named insured or the named insured's legal representative.
  • Third-party services: If the named insured will bear the cost of a third-party service, the insured must agree in writing to procure it in an agreement made after the public-adjusting contract. If the PA hires the provider without first obtaining that consent, the PA pays the provider and may not charge the cost back to the named insured.
  • Representation: If the PA represents someone other than the named insured, that third party pays the PA's fee; it may not be charged back to the named insured.

The word after matters. Replacing it with “as of July 1” would move the statutory boundary by a day.

Cancellation Rights

For the policies covered by section 626.854(19), an insured or claimant may cancel without penalty or obligation within 10 days after execution. If the contract is based on an event covered by a Governor's state-of-emergency declaration, the cancellation period runs until the later of 30 days after the date of loss or 10 days after execution.

The contract must reproduce section 626.854(7)'s cancellation notice in at least 18-point bold type immediately before the insured's or claimant's signature space. Written cancellation goes to the named public adjuster by certified mail, return receipt requested, or another mailing method that supplies proof. Use the statute, not a remembered version, when preparing a contract.

The required notice also addresses cancellation when the PA does not provide the insured and insurer a written estimate within 60 days, unless factors beyond the PA's control caused the failure. The two underlying estimate duties are separated under “Beyond Contracts and Compensation” below.

Prohibitions and Disclosures

  • A PA, public-adjuster apprentice, or public adjusting firm that solicits a claim but does not enter the required contract with the insured or third-party claimant under subsection (11)(a) may not charge that insured or claimant, or receive payment from any other source, for any type of service related to the claim.
  • Every public-adjuster services contract must be in writing in at least 12-point type, be titled “Public Adjuster Contract,” and display section 626.8796's fraud statement in at least 18-point bold type before the insured's signature space.
  • For a property-and-casualty claim, the ordinary contract field set includes:
    • the PA's identifying and contact information and license number;
    • the firm's name and license number;
    • the insured's identifying and contact information;
    • a description of the loss;
    • the compensation percentage and claim type;
    • the required initials;
    • the signatures; and
    • the signature date.
  • The current statute separately supplies an affidavit mechanism when not all named-insured signatures are available and a limited alternative for qualifying multistate commercial adjusting firms.
  • Before signing, the PA must provide the insured the separate DFS claim-process disclosure for signature. It explains the adjuster roles, the PA's relationship and compensation, the insured's direct-communication rights, contract and disclosure copies, and the emergency cancellation rule.

The PA must give the insured an unaltered executed contract at execution and send an unaltered copy to the insurer or its representative within seven days. Compensation cannot be received for services before the insured receives the executed copy or before the contract is submitted to the insurer, and proof of those steps must be kept for at least five years.

Additional Contractual Terms

Rule 69B-220.051, effective April 29, 2024, adds conduct requirements around the contract:

  • include the insured's phone number, if available;
  • include the loss address when it differs from the insured's current street address;
  • briefly describe the loss;
  • name the insurer and policy number, if available;
  • state every compensation method and every fee or other amount the insured must pay;
  • identify reimbursable costs in the contract or a signed and dated addendum;
  • have the public adjuster—not an apprentice—execute the agreement; and
  • give the insured or claimant a copy of the fully executed contract and any addendum when that person executes it.

The rule also incorporates DFS-H1-1982, the Claim Process Disclosure Form. The form must be provided before the contract is signed. It may be modified to add the public adjuster's name, the public adjusting firm's name, contact information, borders, or font changes that do not alter the type size. The form's substantive text is not a rewrite surface.

Non-compliance Consequences

Section 626.8796(7) says a contract that does not comply with that section is invalid and unenforceable. That is a reason to build the contract from the current statute, rule, and form rather than a legacy template. It is not a prediction about how a court will resolve a particular contract dispute.

Public Adjuster Compensation and Pay in Florida

Fee percentages come at the end of the calculation. For the residential and specified condominium policies covered by section 626.854(19), first identify the kind of claim, which payments came before or after contracting, what part of the policy is paying, and whether a separate ALE agreement exists.

Reopened or Supplemental Claims

If a PA is hired to reopen a claim or file a supplemental claim seeking additional payment on a claim previously paid in part or full or settled:

  • compensation may not be based on the previous settlement or previous claim payments for the same cause of loss; and
  • compensation is based only on post-contract payments or settlements, excluding attorney fees and costs, obtained through the PA's work, and may not exceed 20% of the reopened or supplemental payment or the lower limit otherwise imposed by paragraph (b).

Compensation Limits

  • State-of-emergency claims: The cap is 10% of claim payments or settlements, excluding attorney fees and costs, for claims based on emergency-declaration events and made during the year after the declaration. After that year, the non-emergency limit applies.
  • Non-emergency claims: The cap is 20% of claim payments or settlements, excluding attorney fees and costs, for claims not based on an emergency-declaration event.
  • Prompt policy-limit payments: The cap is 1% for a coverage part when the insurer pays or commits in writing to pay at least that part's policy limit within the later of 14 days after loss or 10 days after execution of the PA contract.
  • Pre-contract payments: The cap is 0% for a coverage part when the insurer's payment or written agreement to pay occurs before execution of the PA contract.

The 1% rule cannot be reduced to “prompt policy limits.” Its payment amount, coverage part, and two timing triggers do the actual work.

Exclusions from Compensation

  • Policy deductibles are not part of the insurer's claim payment and cannot be included in the PA's compensation base.
  • Compensation based on additional living expenses requires a separate affirmative agreement with the insured containing the statutory disclosure.

Prohibitions and Restrictions

  • A PA may not increase the compensation rate solely because the claim goes into litigation.
  • A maneuver, shift, or device that exceeds the limits violates the chapter and is punishable under section 626.8698.

That anti-circumvention language has practical force. As the First District later summarized in its official Monarch Claims Consultants, Inc. v. Fleming opinion, Gables Insurance Recovery, Inc. v. Citizens Property Insurance Corp., 261 So. 3d 613 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018), treated agreed attorney-fee value as a thing of value exceeding the then-applicable cap. In Monarch, the First District reached a similar conclusion on the facts of an agreement that promised an appraisal appointment and added fee. Those cases illustrate the risk of relabeling additional compensation; they do not decide every appraisal relationship or contract clause.

Beyond Contracts and Compensation

The client's control of settlement and the estimate duties continue after the agreement is signed.

Settlement Approval

Rule 69B-220.051 provides that a public adjuster may not accept a loss settlement unless the insured or claimant approves its terms and conditions. The PA advocates and negotiates; the client retains the settlement decision.

Providing a Written Estimate to the Insured or Claimant

For the policies within section 626.854(19), section 626.854(12) requires the PA to provide the claimant or insured a written estimate within 60 days after the contract date. It must be an itemized, per-unit repair estimate addressing equipment, materials, labor, and supplies in accordance with accepted industry standards. The PA retains it for at least five years and makes it available to the claimant or insured, insurer, and DFS upon request.

If the PA does not provide that estimate within 60 days, the insured may cancel without added penalty or fees, subject to the statutory notice requirement, unless factors beyond the PA's control caused the failure. That cancellation window ends when the PA provides the estimate to the insured.

Submitting a Written Estimate to the Insurer

Do not collapse the first duty into the second. Separately, section 626.8796(4) allows the insured to rescind if the PA has not submitted a written estimate to the insurer within 60 days after contract execution, again with an exception for factors beyond the PA's control. That rescission period ends when the estimate is provided. One rule focuses on an itemized estimate to the claimant or insured, retention, and access; the other expressly focuses on submission to the insurer and rescission.

The Relationship Between Public Adjusters and Insurance Companies

For residential property and the specified condominium unit-owner policies covered by section 626.854(19), Florida law coordinates advance notice, access, interviews, meetings, and inspection timing. It creates a two-sided operating protocol: carrier representatives have notice and meeting duties, and public adjusters have prompt-notice, access, and anti-obstruction duties.

  1. Notice for Meetings and Inspections. Company employee adjusters, independent adjusters, attorneys, investigators, and other people acting for an insurer who need access to an insured or claimant generally must give at least 48 hours' notice to the insured or claimant, PA, or legal representative before scheduling a meeting with the claimant or an onsite inspection. The insured or claimant may deny access if the notice was not provided and may also waive the notice.

  2. Ensuring Prompt Communication and Access. Public adjusters must:

    • promptly notify the insurer of the claim;
    • provide the insurer a copy of the public-adjusting contract;
    • make the insured property available for inspection; and
    • give the insurer an opportunity to interview the insured directly about the loss and claim.

    These duties help the carrier investigate while preserving the policyholder's right to PA representation.

  3. In-Person Meetings. An insurer may not exclude the public adjuster from an in-person meeting with the insured. The insurer and PA must also communicate with each other in an effort to reach agreement on the scope of the covered loss, subject to the policy's terms and conditions. The statute requires communication; it does not promise agreement or alter the policy.

  4. Reasonable Access. A PA may not restrict or prevent an insurer, company employee adjuster, independent adjuster, attorney, investigator, or other insurer representative from having reasonable access at reasonable times to the insured or claimant or to the property that is the subject of the claim. Both sides still must follow the policy, workable scheduling, and the statute's other protections.

  5. No Obstruction or Delay. A PA may not act or fail to act in a way that obstructs or prevents an insurer or its adjuster from timely inspecting any part of the insured property connected to the claim. The PA may be present, but the PA's unavailability cannot be used to delay the inspection. When that availability would otherwise cause delay, the statute provides for access without the PA or insured present.

  • Communication With Other Parties. The client's right to private communication is separate from property access. Rule 69B-220.201 prohibits a PA from preventing or attempting to dissuade the client from speaking privately with the insurer, a company employee or independent adjuster, an attorney, or another person about settlement. The client's private- communication right operates alongside the PA's advocacy role.

Other Prohibited Acts: Conflicts of Interest, Contractors, and More

Florida's conflict and ethics rules protect the independence of the PA's policyholder-side role. Some of the section 626.854 duties below carry subsection (19)'s residential and specified condominium-policy limitation; section 626.8795 and the ethics rule stand on their own text and should not be assigned that scope by assumption.

Referrals and Compensation

For policies covered by section 626.854(19), a public adjuster, apprentice, or person acting on their behalf may not:

  • accept a business referral from someone with whom the PA conducts business when an agreement exists to compensate that person, directly or indirectly, for the referral; or
  • compensate anyone other than another public adjuster primarily for referring business.

Section 626.854(23) separately regulates roof-related referrals and things of value. Check both provisions rather than treating the general referral rule as exhaustive.

Salvaged Property and Power of Attorney

For the same covered policy types, public adjusters:

  • may not acquire an interest in salvaged property without the insured's written consent documented through a signed affidavit; and
  • along with apprentices and people acting for either, may not accept a contract or power of attorney that gives them authority to choose the repair or service provider when that choice requires the insured or third-party claimant to spend more than the amount payable to the PA for services.

“Written consent” alone is incomplete in the salvage context. The statute specifies the signed affidavit.

Conflict of Interest in Reconstruction and Repair

Section 626.8795 separately provides that public adjusters may not:

  • participate directly or indirectly in reconstruction, repair, or restoration of damaged property that is the subject of a claim the PA adjusts; or
  • engage in another activity reasonably construed as a conflict, including directly or indirectly soliciting or accepting remuneration of any kind; or
  • hold a financial interest in a salvage, repair, or other business that obtains work connected to a claim the PA has contracted to adjust.

The second rule is broader than obvious hands-on repair work. Connected compensation and financial interests can create the conflict even when the PA never swings a hammer.

Ethical Constraints

Rule 69B-220.201, effective April 21, 2025, imposes general duties on all adjusters and additional constraints on public adjusters. Among the PA-specific constraints, a public adjuster must:

  • preserve the insured's or claimant's ability to communicate privately with the insurer, adjusters, attorneys, and other people about settlement;
  • avoid contracts or powers of attorney giving the PA authority to choose repair personnel in the circumstances the rule prohibits;
  • use written public-adjusting contracts that comply with the current statute and rule;
  • keep compensation within section 626.854(11)'s current statutory limits;
  • avoid acting or representing as both public adjuster and general lines agent on the same claim;
  • avoid representing a person on a claim the PA previously adjusted for an insurer or independent adjusting firm; and
  • respond to written or electronic claim-status requests under the current statutory deadline and document the response in the file.

For residential coverage described in section 627.4025(1), subsection (3)(m) adds a separate estimate-production protocol. An adjuster preparing an estimate must:

  1. use an electronic estimating program to produce an itemized report showing repair or replacement cost per unit, using unit costs based on relevant market data;
  2. leave the program's market prices and other inputs or outputs unchanged unless a modification is needed to produce an accurate, detailed estimate and applies current prices in the relevant geographic market;
  3. preserve supporting documentation explaining why each modification is required and that it applies those current prices, identify the modifying adjuster, and keep the supporting records; and
  4. deliver the estimate, itemized report, and supporting package within the time prescribed by law.

The delivery-package requirement does not apply when the insurer agrees to settle based on a quote produced by the insured's contractor.

Two differences in the current sources matter here.

First, the official rule text still points to the fee limits in section 626.854(10), while the current codified fee provisions are in subsection (11). The article uses subsection (11) for the substantive fee rule; it does not silently alter the wording of the official rule.

Second, Rule 69B-220.201 remains identified by Florida's official rule site as the latest final version, effective April 21, 2025, and its PA-specific status provision displays 30 days. But later section 626.854(24), added by Chapter 2026-174, took effect June 26, 2026. It requires a public adjuster, public-adjuster apprentice, or public adjusting firm to respond with specific information to a written or electronic status request from a claimant, insured, or designated representative within 14 days after the request and document the response or information in the file.

For this guide, the later statute supplies the operative 14-day publication rule. The still-displayed 30-day rule language remains a real hierarchy and currentness seam. Keep both texts visible, and recheck the official rule history and any later codification before publication. This guide does not predict an enforcement result or advise a licensee about a particular request.

Disciplinary Actions

Under section 626.8698, DFS may deny, suspend, or revoke a public adjuster's or apprentice's license and impose a fine of up to $5,000 per act for:

  • violating the chapter, a DFS rule, or a DFS order;
  • receiving payment or another thing of value through an unfair or deceptive practice;
  • accepting a fee, kickback, or other thing of value under an agreement or understanding, oral or otherwise, splitting a fee with a non-PA, or accepting payment for services not performed;
  • violating section 316.066 or section 817.234;
  • soliciting or otherwise taking advantage of a person who is vulnerable, emotional, or otherwise upset because of trauma, an accident, or a similar occurrence; or
  • violating a DFS ethical rule.

Those are statutory grounds and available sanctions, not a prediction that a particular violation will automatically produce a particular penalty.

Florida's regulatory framework for public adjusters is comprehensive because the professional role carries real authority in a policyholder's claim. Staying current is not just a licensing obligation. It is part of the professional promise: know who you represent, document the work, keep the client in control of settlement, avoid divided interests, and verify the source before you rely on a deadline or form.