Public Adjuster Fees: State Fee Caps From the Statutes

Most pages ranking for this question come from public adjusting firms quoting a typical range. This one reads the law: every cap links the text it came from.

What the percentage is taken from

A public adjuster represents the policyholder, not the insurer, and is usually paid a share of the claim. The North Carolina Department of Insurance guide reports the arithmetic: with a 10 percent fee and a final settlement of $50,000, “you would owe the public adjuster $5,000”. The other half of the question is what the percentage is taken from, and several states narrow that base.

Rule	Where written, per the statutes	Why it matters
Money paid or offered before the contract is excluded	Florida 0% tier; New York; Kentucky; Mississippi	Pays the adjuster on what they add
Policy limits paid within a short window: no percentage fee	Texas (72 hours); Utah; Virginia; Florida (1% tier)	A full, fast payout leaves little to charge for
No fee before settlement	Kansas; Utah; South Carolina; Colorado	Stops retainers and deposits
Deductible and living expenses carved out	Florida section 626.854(11)(c) and (d)	Neither is a payment the adjuster obtained

State-by-state fee caps

The table lists 39 jurisdictions, each cap quoted or closely paraphrased from the linked text; brackets name any mirror or archive copy used. Hawaii, New Hampshire, West Virginia and Massachusetts are left out because their text could not be opened, New Jersey and Pennsylvania because only their regulations were read.

Jurisdiction	Fee cap, per the text	Citation and source
Florida	20% of claim payments; 10% for claims made in the year after a Governor’s emergency declaration; 1% or 0% in the cases shown below	Florida Statutes section 626.854(11)
Georgia	33.3% of the insurance settlement	Georgia Code section 33-23-43.3(a) (Justia mirror)
Utah	20% non-catastrophic; 10% catastrophic	Utah Code section 31A-26-402(6)(c) (amended 2026)
Tennessee	15% if signed before any insurer offer; 25% of the increase if signed after one; not commercial	Tennessee Code section 56-6-913(a) (FindLaw mirror)
Iowa	15% non-catastrophic; 10% catastrophic disaster	Iowa Code section 522C.10 (from 2025)
New York	12.5% of the recovery; up to 20% on a supplemental claim if the total stays within 12.5%	11 NYCRR 25.7(a) (regulation)
Delaware	2.5% of the first $25,000; up to 12% above $25,000	Delaware Code title 18, section 1756(e)
Texas	10% of the insurance settlement	Texas Insurance Code section 4102.104(a)
Illinois	10% on a personal residence; 10% on other property after a declared catastrophic event	215 ILCS 5/1570(d), (e) (archived copy)
Kentucky	10% of proceeds received after the contract	KRS 304.9-4333(2)(b) (from 15 July 2026)
Michigan	10% of the amount paid in settlement	MCL 500.1226(3) (archived copy)
Kansas	10% of any settlement or proceeds	Kansas Statutes 40-5513(a)
Mississippi	10%; on a claim with a prior written offer, 10% of the amount above it	Mississippi Code section 83-17-523(1) (HB 1174, 2025)
South Carolina	10% of any settlement or proceeds	South Carolina Code section 38-92-120(E) (Act 209 of 2026)
District of Columbia	10% of the total recovery	DC Code section 31-1631.08(e)
Colorado	10% in a catastrophic disaster only	Colorado Revised Statutes 10-2-417(4) (public.law mirror)
New Mexico	10% in a catastrophic disaster only	13.4.8.17(D)(5) NMAC (regulation)
North Carolina	10% in a catastrophic incident only	NC General Statutes 58-33A-60(d) (archived copy)
Virginia	10% in a catastrophic disaster; otherwise “fair and reasonable”	Virginia Code section 38.2-1845.14
Oklahoma	10% on a Commissioner-declared catastrophe; not for-profit commercial	Oklahoma Statutes title 36, section 6218(C)
Rhode Island	10% in a declared catastrophic disaster	230-RICR-20-50-4.12(A)(3) (regulation)
North Dakota	Under 10% in a catastrophic disaster	ND Century Code 26.1-26.8-16(3)
Louisiana	Percentage or contingent fees are “null and void”; a “reasonable fee” only	Louisiana RS 22:1703(A)
Arizona	No statutory cap found	Arizona Revised Statutes 20-321 to 20-321.03
California	No statutory cap found	California Insurance Code section 15027
Connecticut	No statutory cap found	Connecticut General Statutes section 38a-726
Idaho	No statutory cap found	Idaho Code section 41-5815
Indiana	No statutory cap found	IC 27-1-27
Maine	No statutory cap found	Maine Revised Statutes title 24-A, section 1476
Maryland	No statutory cap found	Maryland Insurance Article sections 10-401 to 10-416
Minnesota	No statutory cap found	Minnesota Statutes 72B.135
Missouri	No statutory cap found	RSMo chapter 325
Montana	No statutory cap found	MCA 33-17-302
Nevada	No statutory cap found	NRS and NAC chapter 684A
Ohio	No statutory cap found	Ohio Revised Code chapter 3951
Oregon	No statutory cap found	ORS 744.502 to 744.584
Vermont	No statutory cap found	Vermont Statutes title 8, chapter 131
Washington	No statutory cap found	RCW 48.17
Wyoming	No statutory cap found	Wyoming Statutes title 26

The NAIC Public Adjuster Licensing Model Act (#228), which states can copy, sets 10 percent for catastrophic claims and 15 percent for any claim in Section 14.D. Iowa matches it; most other capped states chose 10 percent or a catastrophe-only cap. Why catastrophes matter is in our disaster insurance gap report.

Florida, tier by tier

Florida has the most detailed rule. Per Florida Statutes section 626.854, subsection (11)(b), a public adjuster may not charge more than the following, and subsection (11)(f) makes any “maneuver, shift, or device” around the limits a violation.

Situation, per the statute	Maximum fee	Subsection of section 626.854
Ordinary claim	20%	(11)(b)2
Event under a Governor’s emergency declaration, claim made in the year after it	10%	(11)(b)1
Policy limits paid or committed within 14 days of loss or 10 days of the contract, whichever is later	1% of that coverage part	(11)(b)3
Paid or agreed in writing before the contract	0% of that coverage part	(11)(b)4
Reopened or supplemental claim	20% of the new payment only	(11)(a)

After the year following the declaration, the 20 percent limit applies again. Per subsection (7), emergency claims get a longer cancellation window: 30 days after the loss or 10 days after signing, whichever is longer.

What 10 percent against 20 percent means in dollars

Each cell is the statutory maximum on that payment, per the rates in the cap table; contracts can set lower rates.

Claim payment	10% (Texas and others)	12.5% (New York)	20% (Florida, Utah)	33.3% (Georgia)	Delaware tiers
$25,000	$2,500	$3,125	$5,000	$8,325	$625
$50,000	$5,000	$6,250	$10,000	$16,650	$3,625
$100,000	$10,000	$12,500	$20,000	$33,300	$9,625
$250,000	$25,000	$31,250	$50,000	$83,250	$27,625

Two cases where the base, not the rate, decides

Florida reopened claim, per the statute, section 626.854(11)(a): the insurer paid $40,000, then a public adjuster recovers a $30,000 supplemental payment. Per the statute the fee is based on the new money only, so the ceiling is $6,000, not 20 percent of $70,000.

Mississippi prior offer, per the statute, section 83-17-523(1) as amended in 2025: the insurer offered $60,000 in writing before the contract and the claim settles at $100,000, so the fee cannot exceed 10 percent of the increase, $4,000.

Where public adjusters cannot work normally

In five states the texts below remove public adjusting, suspend it, or remove the percentage fee that funds it.

State	What the text says	Source
Arkansas	“Public adjusters are prohibited from adjusting claims in Arkansas.”	Arkansas Insurance Department licensing page
Alabama	“Alabama does NOT license or recognize public adjusters.”	Alabama Department of Insurance licensing FAQ (archived copy)
Alaska	Licensing chapter has an independent adjuster class, acting for insurers, and no public adjuster class	AS 21.27.010
Kentucky	“For a period of two (2) years beginning on July 15, 2026, a public adjuster shall not negotiate with an insurer on behalf of an insured”	KRS 304.9-4331
Louisiana	Percentage-based contracts are “against public policy and null and void”	Louisiana RS 22:1703(A)

Kentucky’s 2026 amendments apply to contracts signed on or after 15 July 2026, per the statute’s note.

What regulators and the trade publish

No regulator page read for this article publishes a national typical fee, and NAPIA, the trade association, gives none. The 10 to 20 percent range repeated in search results comes from public adjusting firms.

Publisher, per the linked page	What it says about fees	Source
NAPIA (trade association)	“often” a “percentage of the final settlement”; no figure	napia.com
New York DFS (regulator)	“negotiable”, capped at 12.5%	dfs.ny.gov
North Carolina DOI (regulator)	Worked example at 10%	ncdoi.gov
Georgia OCI (regulator)	“up to 33 percent”	oci.georgia.gov
Sill Public Adjusters (a PA firm)	“typically range between 10% and 20%”	sill.com, 30 September 2025

Public adjuster, attorney or appraisal

The standard ISO HO 00 03 05 11 homeowners form has its own dispute tool. Under its Appraisal condition, if the parties “fail to agree on the amount of loss, either may demand an appraisal”; each side chooses an appraiser, the two pick an umpire, and each party will “Pay its own appraiser” and share the umpire. It settles price, not coverage.

	Public adjuster	Attorney	Appraisal
Acts for	The policyholder	The policyholder	Each side picks one
Decides	Nothing; prepares and negotiates	Legal disputes, including coverage	The amount of loss only
Paid by	Percentage, capped in many states	Engagement terms and bar rules	Each side pays its own; umpire shared
Fits	A large or hard-to-document covered loss	A denial or coverage dispute	Agreed coverage, disputed price

Deadlines run whichever route is chosen. The same form requires suit “within two years after the date of loss”, and in Florida Florida Statutes section 627.70132 bars a claim not noticed within 1 year and a supplemental claim after 18 months. Coverage is covered in does homeowners insurance cover water damage and smoke damage insurance claims.

Before you sign: a decision path

1. Find your state in the tables. If public adjusting is prohibited or suspended there, the options are an attorney or appraisal.
2. Get prior payments and offers in writing. Several states exclude them from the fee base.
3. Is the dispute about coverage or price? Coverage points to an attorney; price on a covered loss points to a public adjuster or appraisal.
4. Do the arithmetic. Multiply the proposed rate by what you expect beyond the existing offer, and compare it with the state cap.
5. Read the contract for the base and the exit. It should state the exact percentage. Note the cancellation window: 3 business days in New York per DFS, 10 days in Florida, and up to 30 days after the loss on Florida emergency claims.
6. Check the licence on your insurance department’s lookup.

For contractors: where the line is

Restoration and roofing contractors meet public adjusters on large losses, and several states regulate the overlap from the contractor’s side. NAPIA calls a contractor negotiating a claim without a public adjuster or attorney licence “the unauthorized practice of public adjusting”.

State	What the statute says	Citation
Texas	“A contractor may not act as a public adjuster … regardless of whether the contractor … holds a license”	Texas Insurance Code section 4102.163(a)
Florida	A licensed contractor may not “handle, or perform public adjuster services” unless licensed as a public adjuster	Florida Statutes section 626.854(16)
Georgia	“A contractor shall not act as a public adjuster” on property it is or may be repairing	Georgia Code section 33-23-43.8(k)
Kentucky	A contractor shall not “negotiate … as a public adjuster or otherwise, on behalf of any insured”	KRS 367.628(1)(a)
Arizona	A post-storm contractor “shall not also act as an adjuster on behalf of the insured”	Arizona Revised Statutes 32-1158.02(L)
Indiana	“A real property improvement supplier shall not act as a public adjuster”	IC 24-5-11-10.5(d)
Minnesota	A residential contractor may not “adjust a property insurance claim” unless licensed as a public adjuster	Minnesota Statutes 325E.66
Colorado	A roofing contractor “shall not claim to be or act as a public insurance adjuster”	Colorado Revised Statutes 6-22-105(3)

The rule runs both ways. Texas section 4102.158 bars a license holder from taking part “directly or indirectly in the reconstruction, repair, or restoration” of property it adjusts, and Delaware section 1758(b)(6) bars any interest in a “restoration” or “loss mitigation” business. Contractors may still write and discuss their own estimates. Keep mitigation separate, as on what is water mitigation, and price lines as the carrier reads them, per how Xactimate pricing works. More is in our insurance hub.

Questions people actually ask

How much should I pay a public adjuster?

No more than your state’s cap, and often less, because rates are negotiable. New York’s regulator calls the fee negotiable within a 12.5 percent cap; Texas caps it at 10 percent; Florida at 20 percent, or 10 percent in the year after a declared emergency. Check what the fee is taken from as well as the rate.

Is it worth it to use a public adjuster?

It depends on how much the adjuster adds beyond what the insurer has already paid or offered; Florida, New York and Mississippi exclude earlier payments or offers from the fee base. For a coverage dispute, the North Carolina regulator’s guide points to a private attorney instead.

What should I not say to an insurance adjuster?

This page gives no scripts. The standard ISO HO-3 form says the policy covers no insured who intentionally concealed or misrepresented a material fact or made false statements, and it requires you to cooperate in the investigation. What matters under that wording is accuracy.

How much does a public adjuster make per claim?

The contract rate times the payments it applies to, within the state cap. Per the North Carolina regulator’s example, 10 percent of a $50,000 settlement is $5,000. Per the caps in the table, $100,000 of payments yields a ceiling from $9,625 in Delaware to $33,300 in Georgia.

When is it too late to hire a public adjuster?

The policy and state law set the deadlines. The ISO HO-3 form requires suit within two years after the date of loss, and Florida bars a claim not noticed within 1 year and a supplemental claim after 18 months. Hiring late also matters because amounts already paid may sit outside the fee base.

What are public adjuster fees in Texas?

Per Texas Insurance Code section 4102.104, the total commission may not exceed 10 percent of the insurance settlement, and no percentage fee is allowed when the insurer pays or commits to the policy limit within 72 hours of the loss report. Contractors may not act as public adjusters there.

What are public adjuster fees in California?

Per California Insurance Code section 15027, there is no percentage cap. The fee must not leave the insured with less than any amount the insurer paid before the contract, and the whole fee cannot come from the first payment. AB 597, a 2025 bill to amend the section, was still in committee.