Insurance License Hub

The California Public Insurance Adjuster license

Public Insurance Adjuster

Adjusts a claim on behalf of the policyholder rather than the insurer. California asks for a course, an exam, two years in adjusting and a $20,000 bond.

Course

20 hrs

The shortest single course route.

Ways in

2

Every one of them requires the state exam.

Exam

Varies

Priced per paper. The prices are below.

Every way to qualify

More than one route leads to this license, and which one you take changes what you study and whether you sit the exam. They are listed in full because the course is only the first of them.

  1. Route 1 Take the 20-hour course and hold two years of adjusting experience

    State exam required

    Prelicensing education

    • 20 hours of public insurance adjuster prelicensing education, approved by the Department

    and experience

    • 2 years Two years of certified experience in the insurance adjusting field, where 2,000 hours of compensated time counts as a year. Twelve months licensed as an Apprentice Public Insurance Adjuster satisfies it outright.

    The examination is passed before the application is submitted, not after. The experience requirement is Insurance Code section 15011(c) and it applies whichever way the education requirement is met.

    Read at the Department on 2026-08-14

  2. Route 2 Hold a current public adjuster license in another state

    State exam required

    Current out-of-state license

    • A current public insurance adjuster license in another state

    and experience

    • 2 years Two years of certified experience in the insurance adjusting field, where 2,000 hours of compensated time counts as a year. Twelve months licensed as an Apprentice Public Insurance Adjuster satisfies it outright.

    Insurance Code section 15009.1 waives the twenty hours where the out-of-state license is current. It waives the education and not the examination.

    Read at the Department on 2026-08-14

Courses

This is the part you buy. 1 of the 2 products sold for this license satisfy the requirement above, and the rest are practice material. Each seller opens to what it holds and what each package costs.

  • WebCE

    Meets the requirement: take the 20-hour course and hold two years of adjusting experience.

    $169.95

    See 1 option ▾

    Listed as "CA PUBLIC ADJUSTER EXAM PREP COURSE", WEBCE, INC., category Public Insurance Adjuster Course, Non-contact, 20 hours, which is the figure the Department asks of the applicant. The name says exam prep and the register says pre-licensing education, which is the Florida trap running backwards for the third time on this site after West Virginia and Texas. The only other approved course in the whole category is America's Training Center Online's twenty-hour video

    • CA Public Adjuster Exam Prep Package

      $169.95

    Go to WebCE

  • Mometrix

    Exam practice. It does not satisfy the course requirement.

    $59.99/month

    See 1 option ▾

    • Insurance Claims Adjuster Course

      $59.99/month

    Go to Mometrix