Except as provided by Subsection (2), a public adjuster may receive compensation for service provided under this chapter consisting of an hourly fee, a flat rate, a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim, or another method of compensation.
Terms Used In Utah Code 31A-26-402
Endorsement: means a written agreement attached to a policy or certificate to modify the policy or certificate coverage. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Insurance: includes :
(i)
a risk distributing arrangement providing for compensation or replacement for damages or loss through the provision of a service or a benefit in kind;
(ii)
a contract of guaranty or suretyship entered into by the guarantor or surety as a business and not as merely incidental to a business transaction; and
(iii)
a plan in which the risk does not rest upon the person who makes an arrangement, but with a class of persons who have agreed to share the risk. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Insured: means a person to whom or for whose benefit an insurer makes a promise in an insurance policy and includes:
Public adjuster: means a person required to be licensed under Section 31A-26-201, who engages in insurance adjusting as a representative of insureds and claimants under insurance policies. See Utah Code 31A-26-102
Rate: means :
(i)
the cost of a given unit of insurance; or
(ii)
for property or casualty insurance, that cost of insurance per exposure unit either expressed as:
(A)
a single number; or
(B)
a pure premium rate, adjusted before the application of individual risk variations based on loss or expense considerations to account for the treatment of:
A public adjuster may not receive a compensation consisting of a percentage of the total amount paid by an insurer to resolve a claim on a claim on which the insurer, not later than 72 hours after the date on which the loss is reported to the insurer, either pays or commits in writing to pay to the insured the policy limit of the insurance policy.
(b)
A public adjuster is entitled to reasonable compensation from the insured for services provided by the public adjuster on behalf of the insured, based on the time spent on a claim that is subject to this Subsection (2) and expenses incurred by the public adjuster, until the claim is paid or the insured receives a written commitment to pay from the insurer.
(3)
Except for the payment of compensation by the insured, a person paying proceeds of a policy of insurance or making a payment affecting an insured’s rights under a policy of insurance shall:
(a)
include the insured as a payee on the payment draft or check; and
(b)
require the written signature and endorsement of the insured on the payment draft or check.
(4)
A public adjuster may not accept any payment that violates this section notwithstanding whether the insured gives authorization to the public adjuster. A public adjuster may not sign and endorse any payment draft or check on behalf of an insured.
