Does Illinois require insurers to add a public adjuster as co-payee?

No. Section 1575(b) says a public adjuster contract “may specify” that the adjuster be named co-payee, and Bulletin 2026-01 asks insurers to add the adjuster only when the contract they received contains such a provision.

Can an Illinois public adjuster contract require the check be issued in the adjuster’s name only?

No. Section 1575(e)(2) bars a contract term requiring the insured to authorize an insurance company to issue a check only in the public adjuster’s name. Co-payee status is permitted; sole-payee is not.

Did Bulletin 2026-01 quote 215 ILCS 5/1575(f)(4) in full?

No. The bulletin ends the quotation at “the obligation of the insured, not the insurer” and does not include the statute’s closing clause, “except when rights have been assigned to the public adjuster by the insured.”

Does my carrier already have a copy of my public adjuster contract?

Yes. Section 1575(j) requires a written contract on a Director-approved form before any services other than emergency services, with an exact copy provided to the insurer.

State legal — Illinois

Illinois Bulletin 2026-01 Omits 1575(f)(4)’s Assignment Exception

The Department’s quotation of 215 ILCS 5/1575(f)(4) stops before the statute’s assignment exception.

By Andy Rouhafzai, FounderSeptember 7, 20262 min read

Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Daniel Schwen

In short

Illinois Company Bulletin 2026-01 asks insurers to name a public adjuster as co-payee, or mail a claim check to one, only when the adjuster's contract contains such a provision. The bulletin's quotation of 215 ILCS 5/1575(f)(4) stops before the statute's closing clause, “except when rights have been assigned to the public adjuster by the insured.” Section 1575(b) makes co-payee status permissive, and under 1575(j) the insurer already holds the executed contract that governs.

Illinois Company Bulletin 2026-01 quotes 215 ILCS 5/1575(f)(4) and closes the sentence a clause before the statute does.

Issued by Director Ann Gillespie and dated January 9, 2026 in its body, though the Department's filename slug reads 01-08-2026, the bulletin renders the fee provision as: the salary, fee, commission, or other consideration "is the obligation of the insured, not the insurer."¹ The statute continues past that period: "except when rights have been assigned to the public adjuster by the insured."³ The exception is absent from the bulletin. The bulletin does not flag the omission.

What the Department asks of carriers is narrow: add an Illinois public adjuster as co-payee, or mail a claim check to one, only "when the public adjuster contract the insurance company receives contains such provisions."¹ Section 1575(b) says a contract "may specify" co-payee status, and 1575(e)(2) forbids a term requiring the check be issued in the adjuster's name alone.³ Under 1575(j) the carrier already holds an exact copy of your executed contract, so both sides are working from the document that decides whether you stay on the check.³

Read your own form before you forward the bulletin to a desk adjuster who left you off a draft, the way you would audit a Massachusetts policy ahead of its deadline, and check the compensation clause against the cap in each state where you work. The bulletin has been standing guidance since January 9, 2026, alongside a companion bulletin on third-party lead generators issued January 26.⁴ Neither one changed what 1575(b) permits your contract to say.²

Sources cited

Company Bulletin 2026-01 – Public Adjuster as Co-Payee (Jan. 9, 2026)— Illinois Department of Insurance
215 ILCS 5/ Illinois Insurance Code, Article XLV – Public Adjusters— Justia (Illinois Compiled Statutes)
215 ILCS 5/1575 – Contract between public adjuster and insured— FindLaw
Company Bulletin 2026-02 – Third-Party Public Adjuster Lead Generators (Jan. 26, 2026)— Illinois Department of Insurance

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