(a) Upon application, the commissioner shall issue a crop insurance adjuster license to a person who meets both of the following requirements:

(1) Obtains an insurance adjuster license, with the exception of the examination requirement of Section 14026.

(2) Provides evidence that he or she has satisfactorily completed the loss adjustment training curriculum and competency testing required by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Standard Reinsurance Agreement.

(b) For the purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Crop insurance” means insurance provided by the private insurance market that indemnifies for damage to crops from unfavorable weather conditions, fire, lightning, flood, hail, insect infestation, disease, or other yield-reducing conditions or perils, and multiple peril crop insurance reinsured by the federal crop insurance corporation.

(2) “Crop insurance adjuster” means a person who investigates, negotiates, or settles crop insurance claims.

(c) A person shall not act as or purport to be a crop insurance adjuster unless licensed as a crop insurance adjuster.

(d) A person shall not contract, employ, or use any other person to adjust claims made under a crop insurance policy unless the other person is licensed as a crop insurance adjuster.

(e) All provisions of this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter shall apply to crop insurance adjusters, unless exempted by or in conflict with this article or the regulations adopted pursuant to this article.

(f) The commissioner may adopt regulations to implement this article, including, but not limited to, regulations that require applicants to satisfy other competency requirements in addition to or instead of those referred to in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), and regulations that establish standards of practice for crop insurance adjusters.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 786, Sec. 46. (AB 2303) Effective January 1, 2013.)