New Jersey licenses public adjusters under the Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act, N.J.S.A. 17:22B-1 et seq., through the Department of Banking and Insurance. Section 17:22B-7 requires individual applicants and sublicensees to pass a written examination of competency, administered by PSI; the examination carries 70 scored questions, and licensure also requires a $10,000 surety bond and fingerprinting. PassProfessor’s New Jersey Public Adjuster program is in the works, built on that examination and that Act.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
New Jersey’s public adjusters work some of the densest property exposure in the country: shore houses in Monmouth and Ocean counties, older housing stock in the northeast corridor, and commercial risks packed along the Turnpike. The state regulates the work under its own statute — the Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act — rather than inside the producer law, and the Act examines not only the individual applicant but each sublicensee who will act under a firm’s license. PassProfessor’s New Jersey Public Adjuster program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog, built on the PSI examination the Act requires and on the Act itself, which is where this examination’s centre of gravity lies.
Which license is this?
This page covers the New Jersey Public Adjuster license issued by DOBI under N.J.S.A. 17:22B-1 et seq. It is a standalone adjuster license: the holder represents insureds in negotiating and settling their claims, for compensation, and may not act on behalf of an insurer in that work. It is not a New Jersey insurance producer license, not the state’s insurer-side adjusting work, and not a sublicensee’s shortcut — sublicensees sit the same examination the Act prescribes for individual applicants. Candidates whose goal is to sell or broker insurance belong in producer preparation; this program serves candidates who will stand on the policyholder’s side of a claim.
What will the program cover?
Practice in the examination’s own shape. The New Jersey Public Adjuster examination is a computer-based, multiple-choice examination, and the program in the works practises in that shape throughout: timed sets at the examination’s pace, single-best-answer items, and section sets matched to the published outline’s weights. Candidates should arrive having already made their pacing mistakes in practice.
Written from the primary sources. The program is written from the outline PSI publishes and the adjuster law DOBI administers — the same documents the examination is built from. Where this state’s rules differ from the national pattern, and on New Jersey’s Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act material they do, the program teaches this state’s rule and names the difference, rather than teaching a national average.
The whole candidate, not only the test-taker. Around the item practice, the program carries the licensing route as DOBI publishes it — eligibility, the examination, and the a $10,000 surety bond, Live Scan fingerprinting, and the application DOBI decides that complete the application — because a licensing examination is a means to a license, and candidates plan better when the destination is mapped.
Preparation only, with the boundary kept clear. This is preparation for an examination administered by PSI Services LLC for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI). PassProfessor is not affiliated with either body, no completion of this program is reported to DOBI, and nothing in the program substitutes for any step in the licensing process.
The New Jersey examination is built from two bodies of material: the standard property and casualty knowledge any adjuster needs, and the Licensing Act itself — its examination, bond, contract, and conduct provisions. The program teaches the Act as a working document, because New Jersey candidates are licensed under a dedicated statute with its own definitions and its own discipline, and the state-law items on this examination are drawn from that statute rather than from the general insurance code.
What are the verified facts of the license?
| Fact of record | Detail |
|---|---|
| License | Public Adjuster, under the Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act, N.J.S.A. 17:22B-1 et seq. |
| Regulator | New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) |
| Examination | New Jersey Public Adjuster examination, administered by PSI Services LLC; required by N.J.S.A. 17:22B-7 of individual applicants and each sublicensee |
| Format | 70 scored questions; computer-based; offered remotely and in person (DOBI Bulletin No. 20-32) |
| Examination fee | $38 per attempt (third-party fee, paid to PSI) |
| Passing standard | 70% — the standard PSI publishes for this examination (see the guide’s scoring note) |
| Surety bond | $10,000 (N.J.S.A. 17:22B-12) |
| Fingerprinting | Live Scan electronic fingerprinting, with the PCN number filed with the application |
| Education note | The examination statute is the competency gate in the Act; no pre-licensing course mandate for public adjusters is stated in the Act itself |
How does preparation map to the examination outline?
The published outline for this examination organises the sitting as follows. Preparation in the program in the works is organised on the same sections, in the same proportions.
| Outline section | Weight / character |
|---|---|
| Insurance regulation and the Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act | State-law block |
| General insurance concepts | Foundations block |
| Property and casualty insurance basics and terms | Terms block |
| Dwelling and homeowners policies | Personal property block |
| Commercial property and businessowners policies | Commercial block |
| The adjustment process for the insured | Practice block |
Insurance regulation and the Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act (State-law block). The state-law block is the part of the examination that cannot be prepared from a national text: the licensing statute, the contract and fee rules that govern practice in this state, unfair claims settlement duties, and the regulator’s enforcement powers. Study this section from the primary text first and from summaries second; its items are written closely to the source.
General insurance concepts (Foundations block). The basics block tests the vocabulary and architecture of insurance itself: risk, peril and hazard, insurable interest, indemnity, valued policy and agreed-value concepts, underwriting, and the parties to the contract. The efficient method here is worked examples: short scenarios, answered and reviewed, rather than rereading notes.
Property and casualty insurance basics and terms (Terms block). Terms and concepts items are definitional on the surface and applied underneath: actual cash value against replacement cost, coinsurance, proximate cause, negligence, liability, subrogation, and the standard conditions vocabulary. Preparation for this section should be built from the outline’s own subtopics, worked at examination pace.
Dwelling and homeowners policies (Personal property block). Homeowners items work through the HO forms section by section: Section I property coverages and their internal limits, Section II liability, the named-perils against open-perils distinction, and the exclusions and conditions that decide real claims. Candidates most often underrate this section because its items look familiar from practice; the examination tests the published version, not the remembered one.
Commercial property and businessowners policies (Commercial block). Commercial property items cover the commercial package and commercial property forms: causes-of-loss forms, coinsurance at commercial scale, business income and extra expense, equipment breakdown, and the endorsements that move coverage. Study this section from the primary text first and from summaries second; its items are written closely to the source.
The adjustment process for the insured (Practice block). The adjustment process block is the practice block: duties after a loss, investigation and documentation, estimating and valuation, the proof of loss, negotiation, the appraisal clause, and settlement options. The efficient method here is worked examples: short scenarios, answered and reviewed, rather than rereading notes.
Who earns this license?
New Jersey candidates typically arrive from the trades and from claims itself: contractors and estimators who have scoped shore and suburban losses, former company and independent adjusters changing sides, and staff joining established public adjusting firms as sublicensees — a New Jersey particular, since the firm structure runs through sublicensees who must each be examined. The biennial licence rhythm and the shore market’s storm cycle shape the population: after a coastal event, the state’s licensees are suddenly very visible, and DOBI’s licensing gate is what separates them from unlicensed solicitation.
What is the route to the license?
The Act’s route runs: pass the PSI examination that 17:22B-7 requires, complete Live Scan fingerprinting, file the $10,000 bond the Act requires, and apply to DOBI with the examination score report and the fingerprint PCN number among the application documents. DOBI publishes that candidates may test remotely or in person at PSI sites. The score report is a required part of the application, so the application cannot be completed before a pass. The companion guide walks the route in the Act’s order.
What makes this examination demanding?
Seventy scored questions is a full sitting, and the examination’s difficulty is its double allegiance: candidates must hold standard property coverage knowledge and the Licensing Act’s specifics at the same time, and the Act items punish general knowledge — New Jersey’s bond figure, its sublicensee structure, and its contract rules are its own. Candidates licensed as adjusters elsewhere will find the coverage material familiar and the Act material genuinely new, which is the correct order in which to study them.
An honest note on format
PassProfessor practice works in the format this examination uses — computer-based, multiple-choice, timed at the examination’s pace. The vendor does not release its examination items, and no provider can offer them. Practice results are a study gauge, not a prediction of a licensing outcome, and the examination decision and the licensing decision both belong to bodies other than PassProfessor.
How should you use this page while the program is in the works?
- Join the notify list today. Enrollment is not open yet, and the notify list is how you hear the moment it is. While you wait, read the exam guide — it walks the licensing route, the outline section by section, the sitting itself, and a preparation plan in full.
- Confirm the license before the syllabus. Read the ‘Which license is this?’ section above twice if your background is insurer-side adjusting or producing; in New Jersey, the public adjuster credential is its own license with its own examination route.
- Start the application clock-watching early. The steps around the examination — in this state, a $10,000 surety bond, Live Scan fingerprinting, and the application DOBI decides — have their own lead times, and candidates who start them during preparation do not lose a season to paperwork after a pass.
- Study from the primary documents alongside any preparation. The vendor’s handbook or bulletin and the state’s adjuster law are the examination’s sources, and both are published for candidates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the New Jersey Public Adjuster license? It is the license DOBI issues to the adjuster who represents the insured — the policyholder — in a claim, rather than the insurer. Public Adjuster, under the Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act, N.J.S.A. 17:22B-1 et seq.. The holder is retained by the insured, for compensation, to document, evaluate, and negotiate the insured’s claim.
Who regulates public adjusters in New Jersey? the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI). The regulator writes or administers the licensing rules, receives the application, and issues the license; the examination vendor administers the test and nothing more.
What examination must New Jersey public adjuster candidates pass? The New Jersey Public Adjuster examination, administered by PSI. 70 scored questions; computer-based; offered remotely and in person (DOBI Bulletin No. 20-32)
What is the passing standard? 70% — the standard PSI publishes for this examination (see the guide’s scoring note)
Is there a pre-licensing education requirement? The examination statute is the competency gate in the Act; no pre-licensing course mandate for public adjusters is stated in the Act itself
What else does licensure require besides the examination? Licensure sits alongside a $10,000 surety bond, Live Scan fingerprinting, and the application DOBI decides. The examination is one input into the application; DOBI issues the license on the completed file, and no candidate may act as a New Jersey public adjuster before it issues.
How is a public adjuster different from an independent adjuster? By client. An independent adjuster adjusts claims on behalf of insurers; a public adjuster is retained by and represents the insured. The licenses, the duties, and in New Jersey the licensing treatment are distinct, and preparation for one does not substitute for preparation for the other.
Does passing the examination make me a licensed public adjuster? No. Passing satisfies the examination requirement; the license issues when DOBI approves the completed application. Acting as a public adjuster before the license issues is unlicensed practice, however the examination went.
When will the PassProfessor New Jersey program open? The program is in the works and enrollment is not open yet. Join the notify list on this page and you will be emailed when enrollment opens; the companion exam guide is available to read now for planning your preparation.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with DOBI or PSI? No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) or PSI Services LLC. The regulator owns the license and the vendor administers the examination; this program is preparation only.