New York Independent Adjuster Practice Test

Answer choices

1. A. Accept the entire file because claim adjusters may collect any information concerning an insured once a loss has been reported.
2. B. Request and retain only information reasonably relevant to the claim investigation and avoid collecting unrelated personal data merely because it is available.
3. C. Decline all third-party records because privacy requirements prohibit an insurer from obtaining information from outside sources at any stage of the claim investigation.
4. D. Require the vendor to send all available records so the insurer can decide later whether unrelated personal data might become useful.

Wrong-answer review

• A. Accept the entire file because claim adjusters may collect any information concerning an insured once a loss has been reported.: Incorrect. It conflicts with the cited rule, coverage structure, or factual trigger that controls this scenario. An adjuster should tie information requests to a legitimate claim need.
• C. Decline all third-party records because privacy requirements prohibit an insurer from obtaining information from outside sources at any stage of the claim investigation.: Incorrect. It conflicts with the cited rule, coverage structure, or factual trigger that controls this scenario. An adjuster should tie information requests to a legitimate claim need.
• D. Require the vendor to send all available records so the insurer can decide later whether unrelated personal data might become useful.: Incorrect. It conflicts with the cited rule, coverage structure, or factual trigger that controls this scenario. An adjuster should tie information requests to a legitimate claim need.

Answer choices

1. A. Apply depreciation to the entire repair estimate first, because valuation must always precede any causation analysis.
2. B. Pay the entire estimate if any part of the reported loss resulted from a covered cause, regardless of the issued insurance policy's causation language.
3. C. Divide the estimate equally between covered and excluded causes because the file contains evidence of both conditions.
4. D. Determine the causal contribution of the covered storm event and the pre-existing deterioration, then apply the policy to the supported damage.

Answer choices

1. A. Use homeowners property coverage for the motorhome because the insured sometimes lives in it.
2. B. Apply the RV policy's physical-damage coverage to the motorhome and its liability coverage to qualifying third-party claims, keeping those interests separate.
3. C. Use a single liability limit for both the insured RV damage and the third-party claim because all motor-vehicle damage is liability.
4. D. Use no-fault coverage for the motorhome repair because motorized recreational vehicles are paid as economic loss.

Answer choices

1. A. Use the homeowners flood exclusion to deny the loss because sewer backup and river flooding are always the same cause of loss.
2. B. Apply the water-backup endorsement's trigger, limit, deductible, and exclusions to the documented loss rather than treating it as ordinary flood coverage.
3. C. Pay under Coverage C only because water-backup endorsements never apply to building property.
4. D. Apply the endorsement only if the insured also bought an NFIP policy, because water-backup coverage is contingent on federal flood insurance for every water loss.

Answer choices

1. A. Use a commercial builders-risk form instead, even though no such policy was issued, because construction losses cannot be adjusted under a dwelling policy.
2. B. Treat all building materials as personal property without reviewing the endorsement because they have not yet become a completed dwelling.
3. C. Review the endorsement to determine how construction status affects covered property, valuation, occupancy conditions, and applicable limits.
4. D. Apply a completed-home assumption because once framing is installed the under-construction endorsement no longer affects the loss.

Answer choices

1. A. Apply the policy's recovery provision to the proven loss and document the net covered amount before limits and deductible are finalized.
2. B. Pay the full $90,000 and treat the recovered $20,000 as an unrelated gain belonging entirely to the insured.
3. C. Ignore the recovery because restitution and insurance proceeds are always cumulative and may exceed the actual loss.
4. D. Reduce the issued insurance policy limit by $20,000 but leave the claimed loss at $90,000 because recoveries affect limits rather than loss.

Answer choices

1. A. Hull insurance coverage for both the passenger and aircraft because one landing event must be handled under one coverage section.
2. B. Aircraft passenger bodily-injury liability coverage, while aircraft physical damage is evaluated separately under hull coverage.
3. C. Property-damage liability because a passenger's body is treated as third-party property for aviation liability purposes.
4. D. Medical payments only, because passenger injury can never create legal liability under an aircraft policy.

Answer choices

1. A. Business income, because stolen money reduces the company's earnings and therefore becomes a time-element loss.
2. B. The commercial crime Employee Theft coverage, including its covered property, employee definition, loss trigger, limit, and proof requirements.
3. C. Inland marine, because electronic transfers move funds from one location to another.
4. D. CGL property damage, because the employee's conduct caused financial damage to property belonging to the employer.

Answer choices

1. A. Preserve the aircraft and records, investigate the landing event and pre-existing condition, and determine what damage is attributable to the covered occurrence under the hull policy.
2. B. Use aircraft liability coverage because maintenance issues concern negligence rather than physical damage to the insured aircraft.
3. C. Pay all gear replacement because any damage discovered after a hard landing is automatically caused by the landing.
4. D. Deny the entire claim because any prior maintenance discrepancy eliminates hull coverage for later accidental damage.

Answer choices

1. A. Apply the exclusion because jogging is athletic activity and exclusions should be extended to factually similar conduct.
2. B. Delay the claim until the insured proves that no professional athlete was present in the park at the time of injury.
3. C. Do not apply the professional-sport exclusion because the documented activity does not match the exclusion's stated trigger.
4. D. Apply half the exclusion by reducing the benefit because recreational exercise creates some of the same risk as professional sports.