House Insurance Committee unanimously reports bill to tighten public adjuster rules, cap fees

The House Insurance Committee unanimously reported House Bill 1972, a proposal to revise the public adjuster licensing law to strengthen consumer protections and set limits on adjuster compensation.

Joe Keller, staff presenting the measure, told the committee: "House bill 19 72 updates the public adjuster licensing law to tighten rules prohibiting conflicts of interest, specify what must be in a public adjuster contract, provide a longer contract rescission period, and limit public adjuster commissions to 10% of disaster related claims and 15% of nondisaster related claims."

The bill's sponsors said the measure incorporates updates from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model law and reflects input from the governor—s office, the insurance department, insurers and the public adjuster industry. Representative Mirsky, the bill—s maker, said the changes would "provide clear standards regarding the terms of public adjuster contracts, limit conflicts of interest, give consumers more time to rescind the contract, and set uniform standards for public adjuster compensation."

Co-prime sponsor Representative Olson Moore described the legislation as a bipartisan effort intended to protect Pennsylvania consumers from "predatory and unethical practices," preserve licensed representation and "remove bad actors who exploit disaster victims." Both sponsors thanked committee staff and interested parties for working on the language.

Key provisions discussed in committee include requiring specific content in public adjuster contracts, expanding the time in which a policyholder may rescind an adjuster contract (the transcript does not specify the new rescission period), tightening rules to limit conflicts of interest, and capping commissions at 10% for disaster-related claims and 15% for non‑disaster claims. The committee record does not list additional details such as enforcement mechanisms or exact rescission-day counts.

Committee members noted the complexity of insurance policies for consumers and said the bill aims to increase transparency so policyholders can understand the services and costs before signing an adjuster contract. Presenters and sponsors repeatedly emphasized bipartisan development and stakeholder input, including the insurance department and industry representatives.

The committee asked if there were any negative votes; none were heard. The bill was "unanimously reported as committed," with no recorded negative votes. The transcript does not specify the bill's next procedural step.