As all of you should know, IA's are required to be licensed in a lot of states, and with that license comes requirements to keep up your continuing education requirements, etc.  To get the license you have to fill out an application, pay some $ and in some cases take a test on your skills and knowledge.  And as discussed on a different thread a while back, most states bar people with a felony conviction from obtaining a license.  Every one of us should  follow the licensing laws of the states we work in, and what this post is about should apply to IA's the same as it does to PA's.

I am dealing with the remains of Katrina on the legal end of the claims and last May their licensing laws went into effect, that required all adjusters (PA's IA's and staff) to be licensed, with varying requirements to get those licenses. One requirement for PA's is they have to post a $50,000 bond, which is the same as Texas I think. As per the LA. DOI it is a felony to adjust claims without a license, but it is unknown how much that would be enforced.  I have a habit of checking to see if a PA (and IA's we use) are licensed when I see their name on a file and if they have had any involvement in the case after the licensing laws went into effect.  So far only a couple I have run across have bothered to get properly licensed, but when deposed a couple have claimed that they held the proper license.  The problem with that is we knew they weren't before the deposition, and by them saying that they were is a very easy way to catch them in perjury, which pretty much blows them out of the water on any credibility.  They have recently received a subpoena from us to supply documentation on this license they had so it should be interesting on how that is handled.

There was also another PA working the Katrina stuff that is involved in numerous lawsuits I have who is not only unlicensed, but has a felony conviction for sexual assault on a child in Colorado, according to the public record in the National Sexual Offenders Registry. An excellent IA firm by the name of Adjustco in New Orleans pointed us to the registry, and although what this PA did in the past has no bearing on the cases involved, it does come into play on his licensing or lack thereof.  This person has since relocated to the south Florida area, so IA's in that area may want to make sure the PA's they are dealing with do carry the proper licensing.  PA's working that area also may want to verify that others working for them don't get their company in trouble by handling claims unlicensed.  Handling claims unlicensed on both the IA and PA side of the fence could open up the person or company they work for to an E and O situation.