Chapter
404
2007 -- S 0387
Enacted 07/07/07
A N A C T
RELATING TO INSURANCE
--- CLAIM ADJUSTERS
Introduced By: Senator Leo R. Blais
Date Introduced: February
13, 2007
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 27-10-1, 27-10-3, 27-10-5 and 27-10-6 of the General Laws in
Chapter
27-10 entitled "Claim Adjusters" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
27-10-1.
Applicability. -- The provisions of this chapter shall apply to
insurance claim
adjusters.
For the purposes of this chapter "insurance claim adjusters" means
any person,
partnership,
association, or corporation, including any employee or agent, who or which:
(1) Engages for compensation in negotiating adjustments of insurance claims on
behalf
of an
insurance company, other than life
and accident and health insurance claims, under any
policies
of insurance or who advertises or holds himself or herself out as engaging in
that activity
or who
solicits that activity;
(2) Is known or holds himself, herself, or itself out as a "public
adjuster";. A public
adjuster
is any person who, for compensation or any other thing of value on behalf of
the insured:
(a)
Acts or aids, solely in relation to first party claims arising under insurance
contracts,
other
than automobile, life, accident and health, that insure the real or personal
property of the
insured,
on behalf of an insured in negotiating for, or effecting the settlement of, a
claim for loss
or
damage covered by an insurance contract;
(b)
Advertises for employment as a public adjuster of insurance claims or solicits
business
or represents himself or herself to the public as a public adjuster of first
party insurance
claims
for losses or damages arising out of policies of insurance that insure real or
personal
property;
(c)
Directly or indirectly solicits business, investigates or adjusts losses, or
advises an
insured
about first party claims for losses or damages arising out of policies of
insurance that
insure
real or personal property for another person engaged in the business of
adjusting losses or
damages
covered by an insurance policy, for the insured; or
(3) Practices as a business the adjusting of loss or damages by fire or
other hazard under
any
policy of insurance on behalf of the insured under those policies; or
(4) (3) Advertises or solicits business as an adjuster, or holds
himself or herself out to the
public
as engaging in adjusting as a business.
27-10-3.
Issuance of license. -- The insurance commissioner may, upon the
payment of a
fee of
fifty dollars ($50.00), established by the commissioner, issue to
any suitable person who is
a
resident of this state, or a resident of any state, a license to act as an insurance claims adjuster,
other
than for life and accident and health insurance, to negotiate for claim
adjustments with any
qualified
domestic insurance company or its agents and with the authorized agents in the
state of
any
foreign insurance company duly admitted to do business in this state once that person
satisfies
the reasonable requirements for the issuance of the license, as established by
the
commissioner.
27-10-5.
Application for license -- Accompanying papers. -- An application by a
person
applying for the first time for a license to act as an insurance claim
adjuster, other than a
life
and accident and health insurance claim adjuster, shall be on a form furnished by the
insurance
commissioner and must be approved in writing by three (3) reputable citizens
engaged
in
the insurance business and shall be accompanied by a statement under oath by
the applicant
which
shall give his or her name, age, residence, place of business, present
occupation, and
occupation
for the past five (5) years, and shall state whether or not that person has
been refused a
license
by the state of Rhode Island or any other state of the United States to act as
an insurance
claim
adjuster, or had a license as an insurance claim adjuster suspended or revoked provide all
of
the information required by the insurance commissioner for licensing.
27-10-6.
Minimum percentage of licensed adjusters -- Examination of applicants. --
Any
person who desires to act as an insurance claim adjuster or who is employed by
an insurance
company
doing business in the state of Rhode Island and desires to act within the state
as an
insurance
adjuster shall make a written application to the insurance commissioner for a
license to
engage
in this type of business. All insurance claims adjusters and those presently
employed by
insurance
companies in the state of Rhode Island as of January 1, 1976, who hold current
and
valid
licenses including all persons currently engaged in the business of
public adjusting as of
June 12,
1985 shall automatically qualify for a license to handle the various lines of
business for
which
they are qualified. Insurance claim adjusters who have less than one year's
experience
adjusting
claims shall be classified as trainees and it will be necessary for them to
obtain a license
to
adjust claims in the state of Rhode Island in accordance with the provisions of
this section. No
insurance
company shall have more than twenty-five percent (25%) of its insurance claim
adjusters
in a trainee classification where that adjusting force consists of at least ten
(10) people;
this
shall not apply to company training programs to qualify personnel in other
jurisdictions. A
minimum
of seventy-five percent (75%) of the insurance claim adjusters in any claims
office
shall be
licensed insurance claim adjusters in the state of Rhode Island. All
applications shall be
accompanied
by an application fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) and the license shall be both
initially
issued
and renewed upon the payment by the applicant or the insurance claim adjuster's
employer
of a
fee assessed at an annual rate of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each insurance
claim adjuster's
license.
The fee for the total time of licensure or renewal shall be paid at the time of
initial
application
or of renewal, respectively. Each insurance claim adjuster who is an applicant
for a
license
shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the insurance commissioner that he or
she is a person
of
good moral character and that he or she is trustworthy and competent as an
applicant. The
commissioner
shall subject the applicant to a written examination as to his or her
competency to
act as
an insurance claim adjuster. These examinations shall be conducted at the
discretion of the
commissioner,
but in no event less than quarterly.
SECTION
2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01450
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