Prohibiting public adjusters from negotiating for or effectuating the settlement of any insurance claim relating to residential lines of insurance.

Session of 2026
HOUSE BILL No. 2461
By Committee on Insurance
Requested by Marlee Carpenter on behalf of Kansas Association of Property and
Casualty Insurance Companies
1-15
AN ACT concerning insurance; relating to public adjusters; prohibiting
public adjusters from negotiating for or effectuating the settlement of
any insurance claim relating to residential and personal lines of
insurance; amending K.S.A. 40-5501 and 40-5503 and K.S.A. 2025
Supp. 40-5502 and repealing the existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
New Section 1. (a) No public adjuster shall negotiate for or effectuate
the settlement of any insurance claim for loss or damage arising from
residential and personal lines of insurance.
(b) This section shall be a part of and supplemental to article 55 of
chapter 40 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 40-5501 is hereby amended to read as follows: 40-
5501. K.S.A. 40-5501 through 40-5519, and amendments thereto, and
section 1, and amendments thereto, shall be known and may be cited as the
public adjusters licensing act, and it shall govern governs the qualifications
and procedures for the licensing of public adjusters , on and after July 1,
2009. It. Such act specifies the duties of and restrictions on public
adjusters, which include including limiting their public adjuster licensure
to assisting insureds in first party claims.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 40-5502 is hereby amended to read as
follows: 40-5502. As used in K.S.A. 40-5501 through 40-5519, and
amendments thereto:
(a) "Applicant" means a person an individual who has submitted an
application to become a licensed public adjuster in accordance with this
act.
(b) "Business entity" means a corporation, association, partnership,
limited liability company, limited liability partnership or other legal entity.
(c) "Catastrophic disaster" means, according to the federal response
plan, an event:
(1) Declared by the president of the United States or governor of
Kansas;
(2) results in large numbers of deaths and injuries;
(3) causes extensive damage or destruction of facilities that provide
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HB 2461 2
and sustain human needs;
(4) produces an overwhelming demand on state and local response
resources and mechanisms;
(5) causes a severe long-term effect on general economic activity; and
(6) severely affects state, local and private sector capabilities to begin
and sustain response activities.
(d) "Commissioner" means the state commissioner of insurance.
(e) "FBI" means the federal bureau of investigation.
(f) "Fingerprint" means an impression of the lines on a finger taken
for purpose of identification. The impression may be electronic or in ink
converted to electronic format.
(g) "Home state" means the District of Columbia and any state or
territory of the United States in which a public adjuster's principal place of
residence or principal place of business is located. If neither the state in
which the public adjuster maintains the principal place of residence nor the
state in which the public adjuster maintains the principal place of business
has a law governing public adjusters substantially similar to this act, the
public adjuster may declare another state in which it becomes licensed and
acts as a public adjuster to be the home state.
(h) "KBI" means the Kansas bureau of investigation.
(i) "Licensed public adjuster" means a public adjuster licensed in
accordance with this act.
(j) "NAIC" means the national association of insurance
commissioners and its affiliates and subsidiaries.
(k) "Person" means an individual or a business entity.
(l) (1) "Public adjuster" means any individual who:
(1) (A) For compensation or any other thing of value, and solely in
relation to first party claims arising under insurance claims or contracts
that insure the real or personal property of the insured, aids or acts on
behalf of an insured in negotiating for, or effecting the settlement of, a
claim for loss or damage covered by and limited exclusively to commercial
lines insurance contracts;
(2) (B) advertises for employment as a public adjuster of insurance
claims or directly or indirectly solicits business or represents to the public
that such person individual is a public adjuster of first party insurance
claims for losses or damages to real or personal property covered by and
limited exclusively to commercial lines insurance contracts; or
(3) (C) for compensation or any other thing of value, investigates or
adjusts losses or advises an insured about first party claims for losses or
damages to real or personal property of the insured covered by and limited
to commercial lines insurance contracts, for another person engaged in the
business of adjusting losses or damages covered by and limited exclusively
to commercial lines insurance contracts.
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HB 2461 3
(2) A "public adjuster" shall not negotiate for or effectuate the
settlement of any insurance claim arising under residential and personal
lines of insurance.
(m) "Uniform individual application" means the current version of
the NAIC uniform individual application for resident and nonresident
individuals.
(n) "Uniform business entity application" means the current version
of the NAIC uniform business entity application for resident and
nonresident business entities.
Sec. 4. K.S.A. 40-5503 is hereby amended to read as follows: 40-
5503. (a) A person An individual shall not act as or represent that such
person individual is a public adjuster in this state unless the person
individual is an individual licensed as a public adjuster in accordance with
this act the public adjusters licensing act.
(b) A licensed public adjuster shall not:
(1) Misrepresent to a claimant that the individual is an adjuster
representing an insurer in any capacity, including acting as an employee of
the insurer or acting as an independent adjuster, unless so appointed by an
insurer in writing to act on the insurer's behalf for that a specific claim or
purpose. A licensed public adjuster is prohibited from charging that ;
(2) charge a specific claimant a fee when appointed by the insurer
and the such appointment is has been accepted by the licensed public
adjuster; or
(3) negotiate for or effectuate the settlement of any insurance claim
for loss or damage arising from residential lines of insurance.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a license as a
public adjuster shall not be required of the following:
(1) An attorney-at-law admitted to practice in this state, when acting
in such person's professional capacity as an attorney;
(2) a person who negotiates or settles claims arising under a life or
health insurance policy or an annuity contract;
(3) a person an individual employed only for the purpose of obtaining
facts surrounding a loss or furnishing technical assistance to a licensed
public adjuster, including photographers, estimators, private investigators,
engineers and handwriting experts;
(4) a licensed health care provider, or employee of a licensed health
care provider, who prepares or files a health claim form on behalf of a
patient; or
(5) a person who settles subrogation claims between insurers.
Sec. 5. K.S.A. 40-5501 and 40-5503 and K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 40-5502
are hereby repealed.
Sec. 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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