1. (a) No person shall act as an appraiser for motor vehicle physical damage claims on behalf of any insurance company or firm or corporation engaged in the adjustment or appraisal of motor vehicle claims unless such person has first secured a license from the Insurance Commissioner, and has paid the license fee specified in section 38a-11, for each two-year period or fraction thereof. The license shall be applied for as provided in section 38a-769. The commissioner may waive the requirement for examination in the case of any applicant for a motor vehicle physical damage appraiser's license who is a nonresident of this state and who holds an equivalent license from any other state. Any initial license issued by the commissioner to an appraiser for motor vehicle physical damage claims shall expire two years after the date of the licensee's birthday that preceded the date the license was issued unless sooner revoked or suspended. The license may, in the discretion of the commissioner, be renewed biennially upon payment of the fee specified in section 38a-11. The commissioner may adopt reasonable regulations concerning standards for qualification, suspension or revocation of such licenses and the methods by which licensees shall conduct their business.
2. (b) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
3. (c) Any person who has been engaged in the business of motor vehicle physical damage appraising for a period of two consecutive years immediately prior to July 1, 1968, shall be granted a license upon application with no further qualifications. The commissioner may waive the examination required under section 38a-769, in the case of an applicant who at any time within two years next preceding the date of application has been licensed in this state under a license of the same type as the license applied for.

4. (d) For purposes of this section and section 38a-769:

   1. (1) “Motor vehicle” has the same meaning as provided in section 14-1;
   2. (2) “Motor vehicle physical damage appraiser” means any person, partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation that practices as a business the appraising of damages to motor vehicles insured under automobile physical damage policies or on behalf of third party claimants.

See Sec. 38a-354 re prohibition against designating where repairs are or are not to be made.

(1967, P.A. 526, S. 1, 2; 1969, P.A. 489; P.A. 77-614, S. 163, 610; P.A. 80-482, S. 290, 348; P.A. 82-96, S. 3, 8; P.A. 90-243, S. 40; P.A. 95-79, S. 148, 189; P.A. 98-98, S. 6; P.A. 99-45, S. 5; P.A. 04-217, S. 32; P.A. 08-178, S. 37; P.A. 10-5, S. 37; P.A. 17-15, S. 86; P.A. 24-138, S. 4.)

History: 1969 act raised license fee from $10 to $20 and added provisions re examination and examination fee; P.A. 77-614 placed insurance commissioner within the department of business regulation and made the insurance department a division of said department, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-482 restored insurance commissioner and division to prior independent status and abolished the department of business regulation; P.A. 82-96 amended Subsec. (a) to require biennial rather than annual renewal for motor vehicle physical damage appraisers' licenses and accordingly doubled the license fee, effective June 1, 1983; P.A. 90-243 in Subsec. (a) made technical changes re licensing requirement by enumerating the section numbers for licensure and fees, added a new Subsec. (b) and renumbered the remaining Subsecs., added a provision allowing the insurance commissioner, in his discretion, to waive the examination requirement if the applicant has previously had a license of the same type and added definitions for “motor vehicle” and “motor vehicle physical damage appraiser”; Sec. 38-92b transferred to Sec. 38a-790 in 1991; P.A. 95-79 redefined “motor vehicle physical damage appraiser” to include a limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; P.A. 98-98 amended Subsec. (a) to allow the commissioner to waive the examination requirement for nonresident applicants licensed in another state; P.A. 99-45 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute, re granting a license if nonresident applicant holds an equivalent license, “from any other state” for “from the state in which the applicant resides”; P.A. 04-217 amended Subsec. (d)(1) to eliminate reference to Sec. 14-1(30), effective January 1, 2005; P.A. 08-178 increased maximum fine from $500 to $2,500 and made a technical change in Subsec. (b); P.A. 10-5 made a technical change in Subsec. (d)(2), effective May 5, 2010; P.A. 17-15 made a technical change in Subsec. (d)(1); P.A. 24-138 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “initial license issued by the commissioner to an appraiser for motor vehicle physical damage claims shall expire two years after the date of the licensee's birthday that preceded the date the license was issued” for “such license issued by the commissioner shall be in force until the thirtieth day of June in each odd-numbered year”.