Filing a Property Damage Claim and Using Your Own Claims Adjuster

Sometimes, your insurance company’s adjuster is slow to act on your claim. Sometimes, hes wrong. You need to find an adjuster to help you and represent your needs, not the insurance companies. Here’s what you need to know when looking for one.

Public adjusters assume all of the duties necessary to have your claim processed, including making an inventory of the loss and presenting your case to the insurance company. A good public adjuster has experience in the industry and will understand your contract and the company’s responsibilities right down to the fine print. In exchange, a public adjuster receives a percentage of your claim.

Public adjusters are paid on a contingency basis. Which means they work for you and do not get paid if you do not receive a check from your insurance company. Typically, they work on a percentage of the claim amount paid to you by your insurance company and the percentage may vary with the size of the claim.

Why use your own adjuster?

The insurance adjuster that you would use ultimately represents the insurance company, that’s who they answer to at the end of the day. By using and hiring your own adjuster to represent you to file a new claim or reopen an existing claim can generally lead to an increased payout from the insurance company.

A Public Adjuster can take those major headaches away and let you get back to your home or business. A typical fire or flood policy contains hundreds of provisions and stipulations, constantly changing forms and endorsements, and many complex details such as inventory appraisals and real estate evaluations that are required in case of a loss. Most policyholders do not know that the burden of proof is theirs. Public Adjusters know the insurance business and are familiar with all procedures so they can work quickly to expedite payments.

When is it practical to hire a public adjuster:

• You’ve sustained a partial or full loss. Half the house burned down. Now you’ve got to document which of your possessions survived the fire, which burned and which are damaged beyond repair.
• You don’t have the time to follow up on your claim. Whether you’re a two-income couple with kids or a busy professional who travels frequently, filing a claim and following it through will take time, especially if you don’t have a record of your possessions and their value.
• You had loved ones injured or killed in the incident. If you’re spending your days at the hospital or mourning a family member, you may not even want to think about the claims process.
• The loss is business-related. Rather than assign an employee to handle the claim, some companies will outsource the job.