Y CombinatorReference
Catastrophe adjuster paths, state by state.
When a disaster is declared, most states open a temporary route to put adjusters in the field. The routes do not agree on who files, how long the authority runs, or whether the paperwork comes before the work.
Current as of 34 states with a pathall 51 US jurisdictions covered
A catastrophe path is a temporary authority to adjust claims without holding the state's ordinary adjuster license, opened once a disaster or emergency is declared. It is not a lighter version of the same thing. Each state wrote its own, and the three columns that matter operationally disagree state to state: who carries the filing obligation, how long the authority lasts, and whether the adjuster can start before the filing lands.
Read the last column first. Most states let the adjuster start and file behind them, on clocks running from three working days in Hawaii to fifteen calendar days in California, and a minority require the filing to land before anyone touches a claim. Getting that backwards in either direction is the expensive mistake: one way you are late, the other way you have people in the field with no authority.
Every row below was read from the statute, administrative rule or department page linked beside it. Where a source does not state something, this table says so rather than filling the gap. The three sections on this page are mutually exclusive and together cover all fifty states and the District of Columbia, so a jurisdiction missing from the table is a bug, not a gap in the law.
17
The insurer files
The carrier or adjusting firm carries the filing obligation, so an adjuster who shows up unregistered is the hiring side's problem.
13
The adjuster files
The individual carries the filing obligation, usually against a clock that starts when they begin work rather than when they are hired.
4
Nobody files
The state exempts catastrophe work outright, so there is nothing to file and nothing to track beyond the home state license.
The table
| State | Who files | How long it runs | When it must be filed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | The insurer registers each emergency independent adjuster with the commissioner | Not more than 90 days unless the commissioner extends | Within 5 days of deployment, so the work may start first | Ala. Code 27-9A-5ALDOI emergency adjuster information |
| Alaska | The nonresident adjuster, licensed and in good standing at home, advises the director in writing | Set by the director per declaration. Licenses issue without an expiration date and the division states 90 days as the norm | Within 10 days after the investigation or adjustment starts, so the work may start first | AS 21.27.860Alaska Division of Insurance bulletin B 19-03 |
| Arizona | Nobody. A home-state-licensed adjuster sent by the insurer is exempt, and notice to the department is not required | No stated limit | No filing | A.R.S. 20-321.01 |
| Arkansas | The adjuster notifies the commissioner in writing | 90 days from the notification, after which the adjuster must stop or hold a license | Within 10 business days of entering the state | Ark. Code 23-64-209, as enacted by Act 283 |
| California | The supervising licensed adjuster or the admitted insurer registers the unlicensed adjuster | 180 days from the registration letter, with further 180-day extensions on written request | No later than 15 calendar days after the adjuster began California claims work | Ins. Code 14022.5 |
| Connecticut | The insurance company's authorized representative registers the adjuster; neither the individual nor a third-party vendor may self-register | 120 days, with no renewal; a new catastrophe needs a new registration | Before any adjusting work. CID answers the question directly: adjusters may not handle claims before they are registered | CID catastrophe licensing programCID catastrophe adjuster |
| Delaware | The adjuster furnishes written notice to the commissioner | No stated limit | Within 10 calendar days of the catastrophic adjustment work | 18 Del. C. 1707(e) |
| Florida | Insurer or adjusting firm | Six months, plus six | Before any adjusting work | Rule 69B-220.001 |
| Georgia | Insurer | Up to 60 days | Permits issue on the filing | Rule 120-2-3-.25 |
| Hawaii | The insurer, independent adjusting company or producer using the adjuster files after the commissioner declares | Up to 120 days from registration, or a shorter period the commissioner sets | Within 3 working days of commencing work | HRS 431:9-201 |
| Idaho | Nobody. An adjuster sent by an authorized insurer or adjusting firm is exempt for catastrophe losses | No stated limit | No filing | Idaho Code 41-1107 |
| Indiana | The insurer applies for a temporary emergency independent adjuster license | 90 days unless extended, covering further catastrophes inside that window | Not more than 5 days after the individual begins adjusting; IDOI confirms the license need not be in hand first | IC 27-1-28-11 |
| Kentucky | The insurer notifies the commissioner on the prescribed form | 90 days unless the commissioner extends | Within 5 days of deployment | KRS 304.9-430(13)806 KAR 9:030 |
| Louisiana | Insurer | Up to 180 days, plus 90 | Before the adjuster works | Louisiana emergency adjuster statute |
| Maine | Nobody. An adjuster sent on behalf of an authorized insurer is exempt for a catastrophe series of losses | No stated limit | No filing | 24-A M.R.S. 1475 |
| Michigan | The individual applies for the ordinary Michigan license through electronic licensing; there is no temporary catastrophe credential, and DIFS expedites the application instead | The ordinary adjuster license term | Before any adjusting work. DIFS requires emergency adjusters to be licensed prior to adjusting claims | DIFS adjuster emergency licensing |
| Minnesota | The insurer or the independent adjuster's employer notifies the commissioner | 180 days, extendable by a further 180 | Within 5 days of deployment | Minn. Stat. 72B.06 |
| Mississippi | The adjuster applies and a licensed Mississippi adjuster or an insurer with a state office certifies them, and carries responsibility for their claims practices | 90 days, extendable by a further 90 | The employer certifies the application within 5 days of the applicant beginning work | Miss. Code 83-17-409, text carried in 2025 HB 1174 |
| Montana | Nobody. An adjuster sent by an insurer or adjusting entity is exempt for catastrophe losses | No stated limit | No filing | MCA 33-17-301 |
| Nevada | The independent adjuster applies after a governor-declared catastrophe; salaried insurer employees are exempt | 90 days, not renewable, though the insurer may request 90-day extensions | Prior to deployment or within 5 days of it | Nevada DOI catastrophe adjuster |
| New Hampshire | The individual applies. The commissioner may issue licenses at discretion to persons determined to be qualified, on an emergency or disaster | Neither the statute nor department guidance states a term | Not specified in either source | RSA 402-B:11 |
| New Mexico | The insurer or a New Mexico-licensed public adjuster requests authority from the superintendent with a list of adjusters | 90 days following the emergency, unless an extension is requested | Work may commence while the request is pending; it is deemed approved unless disapproved within 3 business days | 13.4.8.18 NMAC |
| New York | The sponsoring insurer applies for a temporary independent adjuster permit on the adjuster's behalf | Up to 120 days, renewable by the insurer for further terms as necessary | The insurer applies before the adjuster works under the permit, and may apply as soon as the catastrophe occurs | DFS temporary independent adjuster permit |
| North Carolina | Employer | A period the Commissioner sets | The statute says as work begins; NCDOI says wait for its response | G.S. 58-33-70NCDOI catastrophe certification |
| Oklahoma | Adjuster, employer certifies | Up to 90 days from the declaration order | Five days after work begins | OID emergency adjuster license |
| Oregon | The adjuster, authorized in another state, obtains a temporary permit from the director | 90 days, or such additional time as the director determines | Within 5 days after deployment to a declared catastrophe | ORS 744.515ORS 744.555 |
| Rhode Island | The adjuster applies through NIPR once the department designates the event; public adjusters are ineligible | A period the department sets, not exceeding 90 days unless extended | Within 5 days of deployment | 230-RICR-20-50-4 |
| South Carolina | The carrier appoints emergency adjusters after the Director's declaration, having first used its South Carolina licensees | Up to 120 days at first appointment, extensions possible | Appointment may be made immediately on the declaration, before department authorization | SCDOI emergency adjusterSCDOI requirements |
| Texas | Adjuster, sponsor certifies | Up to 90 days, plus 90 | Five days after work begins | Ins. Code ch. 4101 |
| Utah | The unlicensed person applies, and the hiring insurer carries responsibility for their claims practices | 90 days, which the commissioner may extend by up to 90 more | Applied for within a week of beginning claims adjustment | Utah Code 31A-26-212 |
| Vermont | The insurer notifies DFR by email with a list of names, addresses and license details | Not capped, but a Vermont-licensed adjuster must review any claim denial within 90 days | Notice before or upon using catastrophe adjusters; no day count is given | DFR industry alert |
| Washington | The nonresident independent adjuster registers with the commissioner during a governor-proclaimed emergency | Not longer than 180 days unless the commissioner extends | Registration before operating | RCW 48.17.420 |
| West Virginia | The insurer notifies the commissioner and files an application per adjuster | 90 days unless the commissioner extends | Within 5 days of the declared insurance emergency | W. Va. Code 33-12B-4 |
| Wyoming | The insurer notifies the commissioner on the registration form once a catastrophe is declared | Up to 90 days, or the end of the catastrophe declaration, whichever comes first | Prior to the unlicensed adjuster acting in the state | Wyoming DOI catastrophe adjusters |
Each row is anchored, so a single state can be linked directly: append the two-letter code, for example /catastrophe-adjuster-licensing#tx.
The states with nothing to file
These 16 jurisdictions do not license staff or independent claims adjusters at all, so there is no catastrophe path because there is no ordinary license to be excused from. Nearly all of them do license public adjusters, which is a different credential for a different role, and the ones whose public adjuster license is narrower than it sounds are noted.
- Coloradopublic adjusters licensed
- District of Columbiapublic adjusters licensed
- Illinoispublic adjusters licensed
- KansasPublic adjuster licensing covers first-party commercial lines only
- Marylandpublic adjusters licensed
- MassachusettsA separate motor vehicle damage appraiser license covers auto appraisal only
- MissouriPublic adjuster licensing covers fire and allied lines only
- Nebraskapublic adjusters licensed
- New Jerseypublic adjusters licensed
- North Dakotapublic adjusters licensed
- Ohiopublic adjusters licensed
- PennsylvaniaA separate motor vehicle physical damage appraiser license covers auto appraisal only
- South DakotaLicenses no adjusters of any kind, public adjusters included
- Tennesseepublic adjusters licensed
- Virginiapublic adjusters licensed
- WisconsinPublic adjuster registration is mandatory for nonresidents and optional for residents
The one state that licenses and offers no way around it
Iowanew since July 22, 2025
Iowa began licensing independent adjusters on July 22, 2025, when 2025 Acts ch. 28 rewrote Iowa Code ch. 522C. Section 522C.4 is flat: a person may not act as an independent adjuster in the state unless licensed under the chapter. Staff adjusters are exempt, and licensing runs through fingerprinting, a background check and a $50,000 bond. The chapter opens no emergency or catastrophe route, and the administrative rules add none, so there is no faster way in after a declared disaster than the ordinary license.
How this was checked
Each jurisdiction was checked against its own statute, administrative code or insurance department page, not against a summary of them. That is not pedantry. The lists of "states that do not license adjusters" circulating on training and vendor sites still carry Iowa, which stopped being true in July 2025, and they disagree with each other on several more. The distinction between a public adjuster license and an independent adjuster license is where most of that error lives, and it is the distinction that decides whether your people can work.
Where a department and its statute disagree, both are linked and the disagreement is written into the row: North Carolina is the clearest example, where the statute lets the employer file as work begins while the department says to wait for its response.
Regulators change these without notice and durations often run from the declaration rather than from your filing, so treat the date at the top as the shelf life of the whole page. If a row is out of date, or a state is missing, tell us at licensing@payna.com and we will verify it and update the page.
The reasoning behind the table is in the note on adjuster coverage, and the wider picture is on the insurance licensing page.
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