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Iowa Public Adjuster Practice Exam

20 exam-style questions drawn from the same bank as our full Iowa Public Adjuster course (Iowa Public Adjuster — Exam Prep). Answer all 20, then grade yourself — most state exams require 70% to pass. Explanations for every question are part of the full course.

1. Under the efficient proximate cause doctrine, when a covered peril and an excluded peril combine to produce a loss, the loss is covered if:
The two perils occurred more than 72 hours apartThe covered peril was the dominant cause that set the chain of events in motionThe insured can physically separate the damage caused by each perilThe excluded peril contributed less than half of the total damage
2. The mnemonic DICEE, used to analyze most property and casualty policies, stands for Declarations, Insuring agreement, Conditions, Exclusions, and:
Escrow termsEstimatesEndorsementsEvidence rules
3. An agent told the insured "you're covered for flood," but no flood form appears on the forms schedule. After a flood loss, the integration rule means:
The forms schedule is disregarded whenever it conflicts with what the insured says he was verbally promised at saleThe agent's spoken statement is automatically read into the policy as a binding oral endorsement of flood coverageThe insurer must pay the flood loss because the agent had apparent authority to bind coverage simply by saying soThe policy consists only of the declarations, listed forms, and endorsements — the conversation is outside the contract
4. Which type of adjuster is the only license category that represents the policyholder?
Public adjusterIndependent adjusterCatastrophe adjuster deployed by the carrierCompany (staff) adjuster
5. A $300,000 covered loss is insured by two policies with pro rata other-insurance clauses: Policy A has a $400,000 limit and Policy B has a $200,000 limit. How much does each carrier pay?
A pays $150,000; B pays $150,000Each pays $300,000A pays $200,000; B pays $100,000A pays $100,000; B pays $200,000
6. Square foot estimating is an appropriate method for:
Resolving a disputed unit price during a line by line carrier reviewPricing repetitive trade work such as roofing installed by the squareSetting a reserve or valuing a total loss that can no longer be scopedSettling a partial loss where finish quality varies from room to room
7. How does a warranty in an insurance contract differ from a representation?
A warranty applies only to personal lines, while representations are used exclusively in commercial and marine policiesA warranty may be given orally, while a representation is valid only when it is written into the signed applicationA warranty is made part of the contract and guaranteed to be true, and is held to a stricter standard than a representationA warranty can never void coverage, while any representation, however trivial, automatically voids the entire policy
8. Under an all-in (all-inclusive) master policy convention, the HO-6 Coverage A functions primarily as:
A gap-filler for the master policy deductible and anything the documents still assign to the ownerThe primary and only source of coverage for all of the interior finishes throughout the entire unitCoverage for the common elements and shared building structures located outside the individual unitDuplicate coverage that pays alongside the master policy on the exact same item of building damage
9. A homeowners base form provides replacement-cost loss settlement, but an attached endorsement converts roof wind/hail losses to ACV settlement. Which provision controls the roof settlement?
Neither one — the direct conflict makes the settlement provision ambiguous and voids the policyThe base form, because the originally issued printed form always outranks any later attachmentThe endorsement, because an endorsement controls over the base form as to the matter it addressesThe provision more favorable to the insured always controls whenever two clauses address the same subject
10. In below-grade (basement) areas, the SFIP covers:
Every finished improvement, floor covering, and personal contents item that is stored below gradeNothing whatsoever that happens to be located below grade in the basement area of the home at allContents that are stored below grade in the basement, but never the building structure itselfOnly listed items such as structural elements and essential equipment like furnaces and water heaters
11. Why should a notice of loss describe the damage broadly rather than naming only the one visible item?
Because the insurer must open a separate claim for each item describedBecause a narrowly described notice can be read to exclude damage found laterBecause notice delivered to an agent is never treated as notice to the insurerBecause the form requires the insured to state a dollar amount at notice
12. Salvage, as the term is used in claim practice, means:
Damaged property that retains value after the loss occursProperty the insured forces on the insurer before payment is madeThe portion of a settlement withheld until repairs are completedThe reduction in value attributable to age, wear, and condition
13. With respect to the carrier's reserve on a claim, a public adjuster may properly:
Set an independent reserve figure the carrier must adopt on requestSupply documented facts early that make an adequate reserve unavoidableTreat the reserve, once it becomes known, as the carrier's binding offerDemand that the carrier disclose the posted reserve and then raise it
14. Under an 'all-in' (all-inclusive) master policy convention, the master policy covers:
Absolutely nothing that is located inside any of the individual unitsThe structure, fixtures, and improvements including owner upgradesOnly the bare, unfinished structural shell of the buildingOnly the common elements sitting outside the residential buildings
15. On the ISO BOP, built-in business income coverage carries:
A twenty-four-month cap combined with a coinsurance clauseCoverage that is available to the insured only by separate endorsementA stated dollar limit together with a coinsurance clause requirementNo coinsurance and no dollar limit, for up to 12 consecutive months
16. A family displaced by flood asks about additional living expense under their SFIP policy. The correct answer is:
ALE is covered under the SFIP, but only for a policyholder's declared principal residence, never a rentalALE is covered under the SFIP whenever the insured also purchased the separate contents coverage optionThe SFIP has no additional living expense and no business interruption — no time-element coverage at allALE is covered under the SFIP at a flat twenty percent of the building coverage limit that is carried
17. Which of the following is a policy CONDITION rather than an exclusion or a declaration?
The insured's duty to submit a sworn proof of lossThe dollar limit shown on the dec for Coverage AThe policy's carve-out for any loss caused by floodThe named insured's exact full legal name and address
18. The policy provision barring abandonment means the insured may not:
Refuse to let the insurer take property for which it has paid the lossTurn damaged property over to the insurer and demand payment of the limitSell damaged property to a salvage buyer before the insurer inspects itDiscard damaged materials the insurer has already photographed and released
19. A fire at a rental house insured on the landlord's DP-3 destroys the tenant's furniture. The tenant asks a public adjuster to claim her furniture under the landlord's policy. The correct answer is:
The claim is proper because the fire loss physically occurred at the described premises on the policyThe tenant is not an insured under the landlord's DP policy, so her contents are not covered by itThe landlord's Coverage B responds to the tenant's furniture because it sat inside the insured dwellingCoverage C on the landlord's policy automatically extends to cover a tenant's personal belongings inside
20. Under the standard property form, the insured's duty concerning further damage after a loss is to:
Complete permanent repairs before the insurer inspects the propertyRetain the emergency service vendor that the insurer designatesLeave the property untouched until the insurer authorizes any workTake reasonable steps to protect the property from further damage

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