Virginia licenses public adjusters through the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance, under Code of Virginia 38.2-1845.1 and following sections — and licenses no other kind of adjuster at all. The examination is Prometric’s VA Public Adjuster, Series 11-08: 50 scored questions plus 5 pre-test questions in one hour, with Adjusting Losses the largest outline section at 25%, and a $50,000 bond behind the license. PassProfessor’s Virginia Public Adjuster program is in the works.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
Virginia is the only state in this family where the public adjuster stands alone: the Bureau of Insurance licenses public adjusters and, by its own statement, no other type of adjuster — company and independent adjusters require no Virginia license at all. The license therefore carries the whole weight of adjuster regulation in the Commonwealth, and it is built accordingly: an examination before application, an FBI fingerprint check, and a $50,000 bond in favour of the Commonwealth attested on the application itself. PassProfessor’s Virginia Public Adjuster program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog, built on Prometric’s Series 11-08 bulletin and outline.
Which license is this?
This page covers the Virginia Public Adjuster license issued by the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance. The Bureau’s own framing is the cleanest statement of the license’s distinctness: public adjusters do not work for any insurance company, are not public employees, and do not work on behalf of the Commonwealth — they work for the insured who retains them, under a license the Commonwealth requires and no other adjusting role in Virginia requires. Candidates should not import other states’ adjuster structures into this license; in Virginia there is exactly one adjuster license, and this is it.
What will the program cover?
Built section by section on the outline the Bureau of Insurance publishes. Prometric publishes the content outline for the VA Public Adjuster examination (Series 11-08), and the program in the works follows that outline as its table of contents — its sections, in its proportions. Practice items are original, written for this program from the outline and the state’s adjuster law; they are not examination items, not recalled items, and not another company’s items reworded.
A public adjuster’s exam, prepared as a public adjuster’s exam. The candidate this program serves will represent insureds, not insurers. The scenario work is therefore written from the insured’s side of the table: documenting a loss the insurer has undervalued, reading a denial against the policy language, and knowing exactly which Virginia rules govern the contract the client signs. That orientation runs through the coverage material as well as the state-law material.
Section-level diagnostics. Results are organised by outline section rather than as a single score, because a single score cannot tell a candidate whether the next study hour belongs in the Adjusting Losses section, at 25% the largest block on the outline or in the coverage forms. The outline’s heaviest sections get the deepest practice sets, in the outline’s own proportions.
Independent preparation, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance or Prometric. The program confers no license, no credit, and no exemption; the Bureau of Insurance alone issues the license, and Prometric alone administers the examination.
Series 11-08 puts Adjusting Losses at the front of the outline with 25% of the fifty scored questions — the practice block outweighs every form — and Insurance Basics behind it at 20%, with Insurance Regulation the smallest section at 7%. The program weights accordingly and teaches the Virginia regulation material from Article 4.1 itself, the short statutory article that creates the license, because a 7% section drawn from a short statute is the most completely learnable material on the examination.
What are the verified facts of the license?
| Fact of record | Detail |
|---|---|
| License | Public Adjuster — the only adjuster type Virginia licenses (‘No other type of adjuster, including company or independent adjusters, require licensure in Virginia at this time’ — Bureau of Insurance) |
| Regulator | Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance; law at Va. Code 38.2-1845.1 through 38.2-1845.24 (Title 38.2, Chapter 18, Article 4.1) |
| Examination | VA Public Adjuster, Series 11-08, administered by Prometric at test centres or remotely through ProProctor |
| Format | 50 scored questions plus 5 unscored pre-test questions; 1 hour |
| Examination fee | $35 per attempt (third-party fee, paid to Prometric, per the Prometric Virginia candidate information bulletin effective December 13, 2024) |
| Passing threshold | Not published: the Prometric bulletin and the Series 11-08 outline state no numeric passing threshold; none is stated on this page |
| Outline weights | Insurance Regulation 7%; Insurance Basics 20%; Adjusting Losses 25%; Dwelling Policy 7%; Homeowners Policy 13%; Commercial Package Policy 10%; Businessowners Policy 13%; Other Coverages 5% |
| Sequence and validity | Resident applicants pass the examination before applying; examination results remain valid for a license application for 183 calendar days |
| Bond | $50,000 bond in favour of the Commonwealth, attested on the application and kept in force while the license is in effect; FBI fingerprint check required |
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 | 7% |
| Insurance Basics | 20% |
| Adjusting Losses | 25% |
| Dwelling Policy | 7% |
| Homeowners Policy | 13% |
| Commercial Package Policy | 10% |
| Businessowners Policy | 13% |
| Other Coverages | 5% |
Insurance Regulation (7%). Regulation items test the licensing machinery itself: who may act as a public adjuster, what the application and renewal require, which acts are prohibited, and what discipline the regulator can impose. Study this section from the primary text first and from summaries second; its items are written closely to the source.
Insurance Basics (20%). 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.
Adjusting Losses (25%). 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. Preparation for this section should be built from the outline’s own subtopics, worked at examination pace.
Dwelling Policy (7%). Dwelling policy items concentrate on the DP forms: which perils each form insures, how Coverage A through E are structured, fair rental value and additional living expense treatment, and the valuation basis the form applies. Candidates most often underrate this section because its items look familiar from practice; the examination tests the published version, not the remembered one.
Homeowners Policy (13%). 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. Study this section from the primary text first and from summaries second; its items are written closely to the source.
Commercial Package Policy (10%). 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. The efficient method here is worked examples: short scenarios, answered and reviewed, rather than rereading notes.
Businessowners Policy (13%). Businessowners policy items test the BOP as a packaged product: its property and liability sections, eligibility by business class and size, the standard endorsements, and where the package stops and a commercial package policy begins. Preparation for this section should be built from the outline’s own subtopics, worked at examination pace.
Other Coverages (5%). Other coverages is the residual block: inland marine and floaters, flood program mechanics, earthquake and specialty endorsements, and the miscellaneous forms the outline gathers at the margin. Candidates most often underrate this section because its items look familiar from practice; the examination tests the published version, not the remembered one.
Who earns this license?
Virginia’s candidate pool serves the Commonwealth’s mixed exposure: coastal and tidal water losses in Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore, older housing in Richmond and the Valley, and the dense suburbs of Northern Virginia. Because no other adjuster is licensed in the state, the public adjuster is also the most visible adjuster in a Virginia claim — the only one carrying a state credential into the negotiation — and the pool reflects that standing: experienced adjusters and estimators who want the Commonwealth’s one adjuster credential, practising under a bond sized like a fiduciary’s.
What is the route to the license?
The Bureau’s sequence is examination first: resident applicants pass the Series 11-08 examination before applying, with results valid for 183 calendar days. The application then carries the attestation that the applicant has, and will keep in force, the $50,000 bond in favour of the Commonwealth, alongside the FBI fingerprint check. The examination fee is $35, paid to Prometric, and the examination may be taken at a test centre or remotely through ProProctor. The companion guide walks the route and all eight outline sections.
What makes this examination demanding?
Fifty scored questions plus five pre-test questions in one hour is the arithmetic that governs this sitting: sixty minutes must cover fifty-five items whose identity as scored or unscored is not disclosed, at roughly sixty-five seconds each. The second demand is documentary honesty — Prometric publishes no numeric passing threshold for this series, so candidates cannot pace themselves against a known line, and preparation has to aim at the outline in full rather than at a calculated minimum.
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 Virginia, 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 $50,000 bond in favour of the Commonwealth, attested on the application, and fingerprinting — 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 Virginia Public Adjuster license? It is the license the Bureau of Insurance issues to the adjuster who represents the insured — the policyholder — in a claim, rather than the insurer. Public Adjuster — the only adjuster type Virginia licenses (‘No other type of adjuster, including company or independent adjusters, require licensure in Virginia at this time’ — Bureau of Insurance). The holder is retained by the insured, for compensation, to document, evaluate, and negotiate the insured’s claim.
Who regulates public adjusters in Virginia? the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance. 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 Virginia public adjuster candidates pass? The VA Public Adjuster examination (Series 11-08), administered by Prometric. 50 scored questions plus 5 unscored pre-test questions; 1 hour
What is the passing standard? Not published: the Prometric bulletin and the Series 11-08 outline state no numeric passing threshold; none is stated on this page
Is there a pre-licensing education requirement? See the verified facts table on this page for the education position for this license, and confirm the current position with the Bureau of Insurance before planning around it.
What else does licensure require besides the examination? Licensure sits alongside a $50,000 bond in favour of the Commonwealth, attested on the application, and fingerprinting. The examination is one input into the application; the Bureau of Insurance issues the license on the completed file, and no candidate may act as a Virginia 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 Virginia 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 the Bureau of Insurance approves the completed application. Acting as a public adjuster before the license issues is unlicensed practice, however the examination went.
When will the PassProfessor Virginia 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 the Bureau of Insurance or Prometric? No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance or Prometric. The regulator owns the license and the vendor administers the examination; this program is preparation only.