Resources
The rest of the profession.
A licence gets you in the door. Everything after that is the part nobody hands you a list of: the association that answers your question at nine on a Sunday, the designation that takes three years, the conference where you meet the umpire you will call next spring, the software the carrier writes its estimate in. This is that list.
General education, not advice
Every organisation, credential, event and product named here belongs to somebody else. We are not affiliated with any of them, none of them sponsor this site, and listing something is not a recommendation or a statement that it is any good. It is a pointer to what exists so you can judge for yourself. Details published by third parties change constantly; follow the links and confirm anything that matters directly with the organisation.
Full disclaimerAssociations
19 listedThe national body, the regional associations that cover several states at once, and the state groups. For most people this is where a mentor, continuing education and the current read on a regulator come from.
OpenCarrier directory
105 listedClaims phone numbers, online filing links and claims inboxes for the property insurers you will actually be dealing with. Every contact shows the carrier page it was read from and the date, so you can open the original before you dial.
OpenTools of the trade
What this work actually runs on.
Official portals, public data, the estimating software, the standards, and the places worth reading. Grouped by what they are for.
Official portals
Where licences, filings, company records and disaster declarations actually live.
- FEMA Disaster Declarations Federal Emergency Management Agency · free FEMA's official listing of declared federal disasters, searchable by state, incident type and date, including the counties designated under each declaration. It is used to confirm that a named event was federally declared and which areas it covered.
- FloodSmart (National Flood Insurance Program) Federal Emergency Management Agency · free FloodSmart is FEMA's public site for the National Flood Insurance Program, explaining flood coverage, how to file a flood claim and what the NFIP policy pays. Flood losses are handled under the NFIP's own rules rather than a standard homeowners policy, so it comes up whenever water enters from outside.
- NAIC Consumer Information Source (CIS) National Association of Insurance Commissioners · free CIS is an NAIC lookup for licensed insurance companies, showing key financial information, licensing status and closed complaint counts by company. It is used to confirm the identity and licensing of the carrier on a claim.
- NAIC State Insurance Department Directory National Association of Insurance Commissioners · free A directory maintained by the NAIC listing every state and territory insurance department with links to their official sites. It is the reference point for finding the regulator that licenses adjusters and handles complaints in a given state.
- NFIP Flood Insurance and Claims Manuals Federal Emergency Management Agency · free FEMA publishes the NFIP Claims Manual and Flood Insurance Manual as free PDFs setting out how flood claims are adjusted from notice of loss through final payment, alongside underwriting rules. They are the governing procedural documents for any NFIP flood claim.
- NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry) National Insurance Producer Registry NIPR is the non-profit affiliate of the NAIC that operates the electronic system states use for producer and adjuster licence applications, renewals, appointments and address changes. Most states route public adjuster licence applications and renewals through it.
- SERFF Filing Access National Association of Insurance Commissioners · free SERFF Filing Access is the public view into the NAIC's System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing, where insurers submit policy forms, rates and rules to state regulators. It lets anyone search publicly available filings for a participating state, which is how filed policy forms and endorsements can be located.
Weather and event data
Public records used to establish what happened, and when, at a given address.
- Cotality Weather Verification Services (CoreLogic Hail Verification Report) Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) A commercial service that produces address-specific historical weather reports, including hail verification reports stating estimated hail size and the timing of hail events at a given location. Such reports are ordered by carriers, contractors and adjusters when the date of a hail or wind loss is in question.
- HailTrace HailTrace, LLC HailTrace produces storm tracking maps and per-address weather history reports covering past hail, wind and tornado events, prepared with staff meteorologists. The reports are used as documentation of what storm affected a specific property and when.
- NOAA Severe Weather Data Inventory (SWDI) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information · free SWDI is an integrated archive of severe weather records from NOAA, including radar-derived hail signatures, storm cells, lightning and local storm reports, downloadable by location and date range. It provides the underlying radar and report data behind many hail and wind date-of-loss questions.
- NOAA Storm Events Database National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information · free A searchable federal database of storm and severe weather events reported by the National Weather Service, including date, time, county or location, event type and narrative. It is a common starting point for establishing whether a hail, wind or tornado event occurred near a property on a claimed date of loss.
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service · free The Storm Prediction Center issues severe weather forecasts and watches and publishes archived daily storm reports listing reported tornado, hail and wind events with times and locations. The archived daily reports are used to check severe weather activity on a specific date.
- National Weather Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · free The National Weather Service publishes forecasts, warnings, local office storm summaries and public information statements for the United States. Local office event summaries and archived warnings are used as primary references for what weather occurred in an area.
Estimating platforms
The software property claims are commonly written in. Listed because you will encounter them, not as a recommendation.
- Cotality Claims Estimate (formerly CoreLogic / Symbility) Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) Claims Estimate is property claim estimating software that builds line-item repair estimates from a maintained cost database, running on the company's Claims Workspace platform with desktop and mobile field capture. It is the estimating product line that grew out of Symbility and CoreLogic's claims business.
- Xactimate Verisk (Xactware) Xactimate is property claims estimating software from Verisk that produces itemised repair and replacement estimates using a regularly updated unit-cost price list. It appears in property claims because many carriers and independent adjusters exchange estimates in its format.
Measurement and imagery
Services that produce roof and structure measurements from aerial or photographic data.
- EagleView EagleView Technologies EagleView sells aerial imagery and derived property measurement reports, including roof, wall and whole-property measurement reports ordered per address. The reports are used in property claims and roofing work as a source of measurements without a physical roof climb.
- HOVER HOVER Inc. HOVER turns smartphone photographs of a building into a 3D model with exterior measurements and material takeoffs. It is used on property inspections to capture roof and siding dimensions and to generate measurement documentation.
Published standards
The consensus documents that define what a proper scope of work looks like.
- ASTM International Standards ASTM International · paid ASTM International publishes consensus test methods and practices, including standards on roofing materials, hail impact and moisture testing that are referenced in property inspection and damage assessment reports. Individual standards are purchased from the ASTM store or read through a subscription.
- IICRC Standards (S500, S520, S700 and others) Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification · paid The IICRC publishes ANSI-accredited consensus standards for inspection, cleaning and restoration work, including S500 for water damage restoration, S520 for mold remediation and S700 for fire and smoke damage restoration. Restoration scopes and drying documentation on property claims are frequently written and argued by reference to these documents.
- NFPA Codes and Standards National Fire Protection Association · free tier The NFPA publishes fire and life-safety codes and standards, including NFPA 921, the Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, which is the reference commonly cited in origin-and-cause work on fire claims. NFPA provides free read-only online access to its codes and sells printed and digital copies.
Policyholder advocacy
Non-profit organisations publishing free guidance for insureds.
- Consumer Federation of America, Insurance Program Consumer Federation of America · free The Consumer Federation of America is a nonprofit consumer advocacy association whose insurance program publishes research and comment on home and auto insurance pricing, availability and claims practices. Its reports are a source of consumer-side analysis on property insurance market conditions.
- United Policyholders United Policyholders · free United Policyholders is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that describes itself as an information resource and voice for insurance consumers, offering claim guidance, disaster recovery help and advocacy. It states that it does not sell insurance or take money from insurance companies, and its published guidance is free to use.
Directories and hubs
Curated listings that collect the rest of the industry in one place. Some let businesses pay for placement, so read them as starting points.
Publications worth following
Industry press and practitioner writing that stays current.
- Claims Journal Wells Media Group, Inc. · free Claims Journal is a trade news publication covering the insurance claims industry, including catastrophe response, claims technology, litigation and regulatory developments. It reports on the day-to-day operating environment adjusters work in.
- Insurance Journal Wells Media Group, Inc. · free Insurance Journal is a property and casualty insurance news publication organised by national and regional editions, covering carriers, market conditions, regulation and catastrophe losses. Its regional coverage is a way to follow the carriers and market conditions in a given state.
- Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog Merlin Law Group · free A blog published by Merlin Law Group, a firm that represents policyholders in property insurance disputes, covering policy interpretation, claims handling, bad faith, appraisal and state-specific regulation. Posts frequently address public adjusters and appraisal directly.
Also here
Once you are settled in.
Neither of these is urgent on your first week, and both matter by your first year.
Education and designations
25 listedCredentials you can earn after the licence: professional designations, restoration and inspection certifications, and the published standards they are built on. Plus what each state's own data says about continuing education.
OpenEvents
21 listedThe recurring conferences and association meetings. Dates move every year, so these are listed by the pattern they recur on, with a link to the organiser for the actual date.
Open