Getting an adjuster license for multiple states wasn’t on my radar. I just got my Texas license and things were moving along. I started sending out my resumes and signing up at several of the large CAT firms such as Pilot and Worley. Pilot was the first one to put me on their roster. As I posted earlier, they invited me to a 3 day certification to get my State Farm Certification. Look at my earlier posts to hear all about that one.
They recommended in class that we begin by getting an adjuster license for multiple states. They told us that to work in the State Farm Call Center that they require you to be licensed in 9 specific states.
So I’ve been working through the logical ones. Having a Texas license, I can get everything I need through reciprocity. If you aren’t familiar with that term, it simply means the other states will honor your Texas license and you can be licensed without having to take their state exams. Many states honor the Texas license, which is why it’s such a great state to be licensed in.
Florida
My first goal was to get licensed in all the coastal states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. First on my list was Florida. Florida seems pretty straight-forward. I went to the Department of Insurance and filled out an online application and paid a fee. After completing that, I was directed to their fingerprint website and paid an additional fee to process my fingerprints. They mailed two fingerprint cards that I took to my local police station and asked them to do my prints on the cards provided. They charged a $10 fee for this. I’ve heard of others who don’t charge though. Then the cards were mailed back to Florida for processing. So that takes care of Florida.
Other Gulf States and More
That leaves Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Here is the cool part. I discovered that if you go to www.nipr.com, which is the National Insurance Producer Registry, you can get your license for 26 different states with one application.
These states use a common application through this website which makes your job really easy. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were all on the State Farm list and I added Georgia while I was at it.
It has you select the designation you want for each individual state, then you pay a lump sum fee during the process. I received all but one license within 2 days, and that one required that I fill out a proof of citizenship and fax it into them. Once I sent it in, I was given their approval the next day. The hard copies of the licenses come in the mail soon after.
Keep up with my progress on the blog here at 2021 Training. Happy Adjusting.
John Bowers has a background in construction and decided to add claims adjusting to create a new income source. Follow John’s journey as he shares his experiences on training and deployment.