waterdamagequotesInsurance · who argues the claim for you
Public adjusters in Ontario: who needs a licence, how to check one, and what the rules say about fees
On a water damage claim, the adjuster you meet first works for the insurer. A public adjuster is the reverse: someone you hire, for a fee, to prepare and negotiate the claim on your side. They are legal in Ontario, they must be licensed, and working without a licence is an offence under the Insurance Act.
This page does not recommend, rank or list any adjuster or firm. It sets out what the law and the regulators say: who counts as an adjuster, which ones need a licence, how to check one, the conduct rules that apply, and how Quebec — the one province that regulates the contract itself — does it differently.
The short version
- Ontario’s Insurance Act defines an adjuster to include anyone acting for an insured, for compensation. Acting without a licence is an offence.
- FSRA: company adjusters represent insurers; public adjusters represent policyholders; both public and independent adjusters must be licensed.
- Ontario has a public licence lookup. It takes two minutes and answers the first question.
- Quebec requires two contract offers — hourly and percentage — and a 10-day right to rescind. This site found no Ontario fee rule.
Three kinds of adjuster
FSRA's own three-way split: insurance company adjusters represent insurers and do not need a licence of their own; public adjusters represent policyholders; independent adjusters represent either. Public and independent adjusters must be licensed by FSRA and sponsored by an adjusting firm at all times. fsrao.ca blocks automated reads; this was read from an archived copy of the regulator's page.
The publisher’s own copy: http://web.archive.org/web/20260209000000/https://www.fsrao.ca/licensing/individual-adjuster/apply-new-insurance-adjuster-licence
| What you would call them | What FSRA calls them | Who pays them | Licence in Ontario |
|---|---|---|---|
| The insurance company’s adjuster | Insurance company adjuster | The insurer | Not needed while employed by a licensed insurer |
| An adjuster the insurer hires in | Independent adjuster | Whoever retains them — usually the insurer | Required, sponsored by an adjusting firm |
| An adjuster you hire | Public adjuster | You | Required, sponsored by an adjusting firm |
| A restoration company “handling your claim” | Not an adjuster unless licensed as one | — | Holding out as an adjuster without a licence is an offence |
The last row matters on water losses in particular. After a flood, a restoration contractor may offer to “deal with your insurer”. Dealing with the insurer about the work they are doing is one thing; negotiating your settlement for a fee is adjusting, and Ontario requires a licence for it.
What Ontario law says
Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, s. 1 (definition of “adjuster”) · 2026
The definition covers anyone acting for an insured, as well as for an insurer, and anyone who holds themselves out as an adjuster, consultant or adviser on settling such claims. It excludes lawyers acting in the usual practice of law and salaried employees of a licensed insurer adjusting its own losses.
Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, s. 397(7) · 2026
Section 397(1) provides for adjuster licences, and bars a licensed insurance agent or broker from also holding one. Licences expire on June 30 each year unless sooner revoked or suspended. Section 398 separately prohibits public adjusting of motor-accident claims — auto only, not property.
Two details in the Act are worth knowing. An adjuster licence cannot be held by a licensed insurance agent or broker, so the person who sold you the policy cannot also be your paid adjuster. And the Act’s prohibition on public adjusting applies to motor vehicle accident claims only; property claims, including water damage, are open to licensed public adjusters.
How to check a licence
Individual Adjusters and Adjusting Companies Licensed in Ontario (public licence lookup) · 2026
The public register lists every adjuster and adjusting company currently registered in Ontario, or whose licence expired in the last three months, searchable by adjuster ID, last name or city. It is the one check that takes two minutes and settles the first question.
Search by name or licence ID before signing anything. A licence expires every June 30 unless renewed, so an expired listing is worth asking about. FSRA also requires every licensed adjuster to be sponsored by an adjusting firm at all times; the firm’s name belongs on the contract.
The conduct rules
In force February 14, 2024, under Insurance Act s. 438–439, which prohibit any unfair or deceptive act or practice. The rule names adjusters among the persons it reaches and also lists referral fees solicited or paid in connection with services to a claimant (s. 6(2)), and false or misleading information about a provider's billing practices or licensing status (s. 6(5)). This site found no Ontario rule setting public adjuster fees or requiring a particular contract form.
The publisher’s own copy: http://web.archive.org/web/20250810000000/https://www.fsrao.ca/media/24721/download
Ontario’s unfair or deceptive practices rule names adjusters among the people it covers. Three of its items speak directly to post-flood sales: unreasonable fees for services to a claimant, referral fees paid or sought in connection with those services, and misleading statements about billing or licensing. If a contractor and an adjuster arrive together and one pays the other for the introduction, the rule is the reason to ask about it.
Fees, and the Quebec model
This site found no Ontario rule setting public adjuster fees or requiring a particular contract form, and no official source for a “typical” percentage. Figures quoted online are mostly American; this site does not repeat them.
Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (Quebec), CQLR c. D-9.2, s. 48 · 2025
Section 50 lets the claimant rescind the contract within 10 days of receiving it, by registered mail. Quebec's Chambre de l'assurance de dommages says about 30 of more than 3,000 claims adjusters practising in Quebec — roughly 1 per cent — are mandated by claimants, and that the claimant is fully responsible for paying them. Read from an archived copy; legisquebec blocks automated reads.
Quebec’s rule is a useful checklist anywhere, even where it is not law: ask for the fee both ways — by the hour and as a percentage — and compare them against the size of the claim; ask what happens to the fee if the insurer increases its offer without the adjuster’s help; and ask for cancellation terms in writing.
Alberta and British Columbia
Insurance Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. I-3, s. 460(2) · 2026
… they hold a valid adjuster's certificate of authority, among other conditions. Alberta's definition of an adjuster, like Ontario's, covers someone negotiating a settlement on behalf of an insured. Current as of May 14, 2026.
British Columbia’s Financial Institutions Act likewise defines an insurance adjuster as a person who makes an adjustment or settlement of a claim under a contract of insurance; the Insurance Council of BC licenses adjusters under it. Neither Alberta’s nor BC’s licensing pages that this site could read use the term “public adjuster”; their licensing rules reach adjusters acting for insureds all the same.
When one is, and is not, the right tool
A public adjuster argues about the amount and the presentation of a claim. They are most relevant on a large loss with a long inventory — the finished-basement contents problem set out on our page on replacement cost and actual cash value — and where the dispute is valuation rather than coverage.
Where the insurer says the loss is not covered at all, the free route comes first: the insurer’s complaint process, a final position letter, and the General Insurance OmbudService, set out on what to do when a claim is denied. And where the question is legal — a limitation period, a coverage interpretation — the Insurance Act excludes lawyers acting in the practice of law from the adjuster definition for a reason: that is a lawyer’s job.
What stays yours even with an adjuster
Hiring someone to argue the claim does not move the obligations the policy puts on you. Two of them start before any adjuster, public or company, has seen the house.
Insurance Bureau of Canada, How to file a home insurance claim · 2026
IBC describes this as a requirement of the policy itself, not a courtesy. It adds that in the event of loss policyholders are obligated to protect their property from further damage if it is safe to do so — boarding up windows, putting tarps over damaged roofs — or hiring a qualified professional if doing the temporary repairs yourself would not be safe.
The first is the duty to limit further damage: stopping the water, starting the drying, and keeping the receipts for doing so. A public adjuster retained a week after the flood cannot undo a week of standing water, and an insurer is entitled to ask why it was left. The second is the paperwork: the sworn proof of loss is yours to sign, whoever prepares it, and IBC says it is typically due within 30 days.
Insurance Bureau of Canada, How to file a home insurance claim · 2026
The proof of loss form lists all damaged or lost property with the value or cost, and IBC notes you must sign and swear that the statements you make are true. It is the single hardest deadline in a Canadian home claim and it is the one people discover late.
Insurance Bureau of Canada, How to file a home insurance claim · 2026
This sits in direct tension with a restorer who wants to skip the bin, which is why it is worth knowing before the truck arrives. IBC also says to attach proofs of purchase, receipts, police reports, owner’s manuals and warranties, and to keep all clean-up receipts.
Keeping damaged items until they have been seen is the step that most helps any adjuster later — yours or the insurer’s — because an inventory of things that have gone to the curb is an argument, and an inventory of things still in the garage is evidence. Our page on the duty to mitigate sets out the first-week obligations in full.
Why this site has nothing to gain from your answer. We are paid a fixed amount for each enquiry, agreed before it is sent. It does not move with the size of the job, with whether you book anything, or with which company you pick. So there is no version of this page where steering you is worth anything to us — which is also why you will not find a company named, rated or recommended anywhere on this site.
Questions people actually ask
What is a public adjuster?
FSRA describes public adjusters as adjusters who represent policyholders, as opposed to insurance company adjusters, who represent insurers, and independent adjusters, who may represent either.
Do public adjusters need a licence in Ontario?
Yes. FSRA says public and independent adjusters must be licensed and sponsored by an adjusting firm. Ontario's Insurance Act makes acting as an adjuster without a licence an offence, and its definition of adjuster includes a person acting on behalf of an insured for compensation.
How do I check an adjuster's licence in Ontario?
Use the public register of individual adjusters and adjusting companies licensed in Ontario, which lists those currently registered or whose licence expired within the last three months, searchable by adjuster ID, last name or city.
How much do public adjusters charge?
This site found no Ontario rule setting fees and no official source for a typical percentage. In Quebec, a claims adjuster offering services to a claimant must propose two contracts, one hourly and one percentage-based, and the claimant can rescind within 10 days.
Can a public adjuster handle a car accident claim?
Not in Ontario. The Insurance Act prohibits soliciting or negotiating, for compensation, the settlement of a motor vehicle accident claim on behalf of a claimant. That prohibition does not extend to property claims.
Can my insurance broker act as my adjuster?
No. Ontario's Insurance Act says a person licensed as an insurance agent, or as a broker under the Registered Insurance Brokers Act, shall not receive a licence to act as an insurance adjuster.
Where to read next
- When a water damage claim is denied
- Replacement cost vs actual cash value
- How a Canadian water claim runs
- What the policy asks of you first
- What restoration work costs, and whose figures those are
Sources cited on this page
- Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, Apply for a new insurance adjuster licence (archive copy of February 9, 2026)
- Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, s. 1 (definition of “adjuster”)
- Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, s. 397(7)
- Individual Adjusters and Adjusting Companies Licensed in Ontario (public licence lookup)
- Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices Rule, s. 6(3)
- Insurance Bureau of Canada, How to file a home insurance claim
- Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (Quebec), CQLR c. D-9.2, s. 48
- Insurance Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. I-3, s. 460(2)
Every figure above was read from the source it is attributed to on September 20, 2026. How we check this.
Water damage quotes
Three taps, then your details. Free to you, and never sent to more than three companies.
Your request is ready to send
Here is what happens after you submit:
- Your answers go only to restoration and plumbing companies that take enquiries for your area, when one is.
- No more than three may contact you, using the details you gave. If none is taking enquiries, nobody contacts you, and you can ask us to delete what you sent.
- You decide who, if anyone, you use. You are committed to nothing.
We are not a restoration company, we do not carry out work, and nothing sent through this form starts, alters or supports an insurance claim.