I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2998 

To reform uniformity and reciprocity among States that license insurance 

claims adjusters and to facilitate prompt and efficient adjusting of insurance claims, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2015 

Mr. FINCHER (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, 

Mr. FOSTER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. ROYCE, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To reform uniformity and reciprocity among States that license insurance claims adjusters and to facilitate prompt 

and efficient adjusting of insurance claims, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Claims Licensing Ad5 vancement for Interstate Matters Act’’ or the ‘‘CLAIM 

6 Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. STATE FLEXIBILITY IN MULTISTATE ADJUSTER LI2 CENSING REFORMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 shall take effect upon 

4 the expiration of the 4-year period beginning on the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act unless, before the expiration 

6 of such period, those States that license independent 

7 claims adjusters have enacted— 

8 (1) uniform laws and regulations governing the 

9 licensure of individuals and entities authorized to 

10 adjust insurance claims within the State; and 

11 (2) reciprocity laws and regulations governing 

12 the licensure of nonresident individuals and entities 

13 authorized to adjust insurance claims within those 

14 States. 

15 (b) UNIFORMITY REQUIRED.—States shall be deemed 

16 to have established the uniformity necessary to comply 

17 with subsection (a)(1) if the States— 

18 (1) establish uniform criteria regarding the in19 tegrity, personal qualifications, education, training, 

20 and experience of licensed independent claims ad21 justers for— 

22 (A) property and casualty insurance; 

23 (B) workers compensation insurance; and 

24 (C) such other lines as a State may choose 

25 to regulate. 

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1 (2) establish uniform continuing education re2 quirements for licensed independent claims adjusters 

3 for each line of insurance under paragraph (1) that 

4 a State chooses to regulate; 

5 (3) establish uniform ethics course require6 ments for licensed independent claims adjusters in 

7 conjunction with the continuing education require8 ments under paragraph (2); 

9 (4) do not impose any requirement upon any 

10 independent claims adjuster to be licensed or other11 wise qualified to do business as a nonresident that 

12 has the effect of limiting or conditioning that inde13 pendent claims adjuster’s activities because of its 

14 residence or place of operations; and 

15 (5) utilize a uniform license application. 

16 (c) RECIPROCITY REQUIRED.—States shall be 

17 deemed to have established the reciprocity required to 

18 comply with subsection (a)(2) if the following conditions 

19 are met: 

20 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE LICENSING PROCE21 DURES.—Each State that licenses independent 

22 claims adjusters permits an independent claims ad23 juster that has a license for adjusting insurance 

24 claims in their home State to receive a license to ad25 just insurance claims in those other States as a nonmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 resident to the same extent that such independent 

2 claims adjuster is permitted to adjust insurance 

3 claims in their home State without satisfying any 

4 additional requirements other than submitting— 

5 (A) a request for licensure utilizing the 

6 uniform license application; 

7 (B) a copy of, or evidence of, a valid li8 cense held by the adjuster in their home State 

9 (unless such information is available in the Na10 tional Insurance Producer Registry Producer 

11 Database); and 

12 (C) the payment of any requisite fee to the 

13 appropriate authority. 

14 (2) CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIRE15 MENTS.—Each State that licenses an independent 

16 claims adjuster accepts an insurance claims adjust17 er’s satisfaction of their home State’s continuing 

18 education requirements for licensed insurance claims 

19 adjusters to satisfy the State’s own continuing edu20 cation requirements. 

21 (3) NO LIMITING NONRESIDENT REQUIRE22 MENTS.—A State does not impose any requirement 

23 upon any independent claims adjuster to be licensed 

24 or otherwise qualified to do business as a non25 resident that has the effect of limiting or condimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tioning that independent claims adjuster’s activities 

2 because of its residence or place of operations. 

3 (4) RECIPROCAL RECIPROCITY.—Each of the 

4 States that satisfies paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 

5 grants reciprocity to residents of all of the other 

6 States that satisfy such paragraphs. 

7 (d) DETERMINATION.— 

8 (1) DETERMINATION.—A State shall be consid9 ered to be in compliance with subsection (a) for pur10 poses of this Act if the Department of the Treasury, 

11 Office of General Counsel determines that, before 

12 the expiration of the 4-year period beginning on the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the State is in 

14 compliance with the requirements under such sub15 section. 

16 (2) CONTINUED REVIEW.—With respect to any 

17 State that the Department of the Treasury, Office 

18 of General Counsel has determined to be in compli19 ance with the requirements of subsection (a), the 

20 Department of the Treasury, Office of General 

21 Counsel shall continue to review and determine such 

22 State’s compliance with the requirements of sub23 section (a) on an annual basis. If the Department of 

24 the Treasury, Office of General Counsel determines 

25 at any time that a State no longer is in compliance 

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1 with the requirements of subsection (a), section 4 

2 shall apply with respect to such State. 

3 (3) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The appropriate 

4 United States District Court shall have exclusive ju5 risdiction over any challenge arising under this sec6 tion. The court shall apply the standards set forth 

7 in section 706 of title 5, United States Code, in re8 viewing any such challenge. 

9 SEC. 3. STATE AUTHORITIES. 

10 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 

11 (1) require a State that does not have licensing 

12 requirements for independent claims adjusters to 

13 adopt any such requirements; 

14 (2) subject to section 2, limit the right of a 

15 State to establish licensing fees or enforce its laws 

16 regarding the adjusting of insurance claims, pro17 vided that such State fee is uniform regardless of 

18 the State of residence of the licensee in that State; 

19 or 

20 (3) affect the jurisdiction and authority of a 

21 State insurance regulator to prescribe and enforce 

22 its insurance laws, rules, and regulations regulating 

23 independent claims adjuster activity in its jurisdic24 tion. 

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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR INTERSTATE CLAIMS ADJUSTING. 

2 In the case of any State that requires and issues li3 censes for independent claims adjusters but is not in com4 pliance with section 2, after the expiration of the 4-year 

5 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 an independent claims adjuster may apply to the National 

7 Association of Agents and Brokers for Membership for the 

8 purpose of licensure in each such State not in compliance 

9 with section 2, provided that such independent claims ad10 juster pays the requisite fees, including licensing fees. For 

11 purposes of this provision, upon such date an independent 

12 claims adjuster shall be determined to be a person that 

13 negotiates policies of insurance and offers advice, counsel, 

14 opinions or services related to insurance, as such terms 

15 are used in section 334(5) of Public Law 106–102, as 

16 amended by section 202(a) of Public Law 114–1 (15 

17 U.S.C. 6764(5); 129 Stat. 27). 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

20 shall apply: 

21 (1) HOME STATE.— 

22 (A) ACTUAL.—The term ‘‘home State’’ 

23 means, with respect to an independent claims 

24 adjuster, the State in which the adjuster main25 tains his, her, or its principal place of residence 

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1 or business and is licensed upon having passed 

2 an exam as an independent claims adjuster. 

3 (B) DESIGNATED.—If the State in which 

4 an independent claims adjuster maintains his or 

5 her principal place of residence or business does 

6 not issue an independent claims adjuster license 

7 or require an examination as a condition for 

8 such licensure for the line or lines of authority 

9 sought, such term means any other State in 

10 which the independent claims adjuster is so li11 censed upon having passed an exam and that is 

12 designated by such adjuster as his or her home 

13 State. 

14 (2) INDEPENDENT CLAIMS ADJUSTER.—The 

15 term ‘‘independent claims adjuster’’ means an indi16 vidual, other than a public adjuster, who undertakes 

17 on behalf of insurers or self-insurers to investigate, 

18 evaluate, and negotiate the resolution of the amount 

19 of a property, casualty, liability, disability, or work20 ers’ compensation claim, loss, or damage on behalf 

21 of an insurance policy or insurer or as a third-party 

22 on behalf of a self-insurer. Such term includes com23 pany or staff adjusters, who are individuals, other 

24 than a public adjuster, employed by property cas25 ualty insurers and undertake to investigate, evalumstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ate, and negotiate the resolution of a property, cas2 ualty, liability, disability, or workers’ compensation 

3 claim, loss, or damage on behalf of an insurance pol4 icy or insurer. 

5 (3) PUBLIC ADJUSTER.—The term ‘‘public ad6 juster’’ means any person who, for compensation or 

7 any other thing of value, on behalf of the insured 

8 acts, aids, advertises, or solicits business to ascer9 tain, determine, negotiate, or settle the amount of a 

10 claim, loss, or damage, solely in relation to first 

11 party claims arising under contracts that insure the 

12 real or personal property of the insured. 

13 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 

14 States of the United States, the District of Colum15 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com16 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, 

17 the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other 

18 territory or possession of the United States. 

19 (5) STATE LAW.—The term ‘‘State law’’ in20 cludes all laws, decisions, rules, regulations, or other 

21 State action of any State having the effect of law; 

22 and a law of the United States applicable only to the 

23 District of Columbia shall be treated as a State law 

24 rather than as a law of the United States. 

Æ 

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