I've run into a number of home owners being told by their insurance companies not to sign anything with a public adjuster. That's not fair to the insured or public adjuster. Makes us sound like we're doing something wrong. Like we're a thief or some sort of criminal. If there's not a need for public adjusters, why are we given a license through the state to adjuster claims on the behalf of the policyholder/homeowner. Why do we have licensing requirements set by the state? Why do we have people in political positions advocate for public adjusters?
It's a known fact we are here to help the policyholders get a fair settlement. Also well known is the insurance companies don't always play fair and pay as they should. They take advantage of their position. The insurance people know if they say x thee odds of them getting y is highly in their favor. Example: Mr. Policyholder calls the insurance company to file a claim, because a pipe broke in his kitchen. Hello, Mr. Insurance company, I have a flood in my kitchen. Sorry, Mr. Policyholder, you don't have flood insurance, we can't help you. The policyholder doesn't know any better, but the insurance company does! A flood is when water comes from the outside to inside the house. A broken pipe is usually a regular covered claim. Is this a daily occurrence, I'd like to think not, but it happens. Everything with the insurance company is calculated. Think about it! Think about how your insurance rates are calculated. The time and energy put into research and modeling. They have statistics on statistics for everything. They can probably tell you how many times the average person picks their nose in a day and when they are more likely to do so. Then they want to complain when a policyholder hires a public adjuster to scrutinize their claim. Why??? Why is this an issue? Insurance companies don't just give money away. It's not like they say, Oh no, a public adjuster is involved give them whatever they want. Nope, it doesn't work like that. This drives me nuts. The problem for them is now they have to communicate with an equal. They don't like that. See, we know how to play by their rules, the rules they set. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the insurance company give a homeowner a proof of loss to fill out (what's that, right?). Most homeowners don't have a clue. What's fair about that? When we get more money than they paid you. It's because we used their rules, the states rules, and local rules to secure the increased settlement. They have absolutely no right to complain. Insurance companies pay because they know we are in the right and they have to pay. It's all according to their rules to begin with. They wrote the policies they sell us. It's called a unilateral contract, meaning it's all one sided. Which way do you think the claims benefits are leaning? It's nonsense. If they did what was right, there would be no need for us public adjusters. An example of what they do. I had an elderly lady with a shower pan leak that affected two bathrooms. The insurance company gave her a check for $3,500 plus her $1,000 deductible. So, technically she was given $4,500. $4,500 to repair two bathrooms, that's a joke. After getting involved....they gave her a total of $19,500. This is how we public adjusters benefit the homeowner. Now she can have both bathrooms repaired. I understand why the insurance companies don't want us involved. They want to pay out less money. But is it right what they tried to do? Having your own adjuster is to your benefit. Public adjusters are the only one legally allowed to help the policyholder in the claims process. Roofers, contractors, plumbers, restoration companies or even other types of adjusters are not legally able to assist you. Usually they want you to sign an assignment of benefits (AOB). Which gives them the rights and control of all the insurance money that would have been paid directly to you. Public adjusters are advocates for the you, the insured, policyholder, homeowner. Yes, we charge a fee. It's only collected after we've proven ourselves, because we're experts. Once you receive your settlement from the insurance company, then we receive our fee from you. In my opinion this is the best position the homeowner could be in. You control your money, to make repairs as you see fit, hire who you want, when you want. Damage Defenders,LLC - Public Adjusters What's the Difference?
To file a claim with flood insurance, the claim must qualify as a flood. This means water has come from the outside in. The flood must also affect 3 or more properties in the same vicinity. This would qualify as a flood claim. Water damage is damage sustained only to your home. It can be caused by wind, storm driven rain, or a broken pipe. These types of claims are handled by your home owner's insurance. Be cautious! Filing a claim with the wrong policy can lead to a denied claim. It's silly, they won't tell you why. They might say, "we don't cover floods", with no further explanation. As public adjusters, we have the knowledge and experience to ensure your claim is filed and processed with the correct policy. #publicadjuster #claim #flood Hurricane Irma will cause an influx of claims for insurance companies. To help meet the anticipated demand, they’re hiring independent & staff adjusters. Ads say, "Adjusters needed, NO experience necessary."
What does this mean for you, the policyholder? This may yield potentially mismanaged claims, a good chance of your claim being underpaid or denied, and/or delays in you receiving your payment. This occasionally happens with experienced adjusters; can you imagine with inexperienced adjusters? Just last week, a client with a underpaid claim was able to see the benefit of using our services. As public adjusters, we can resubmit claims in order to obtain proper payment. This is an example of the financial difference hiring a public adjuster can make. Claim: Initial Payment: (without our help - insurance company adjuster) - $4,530.33 Supplement Payment : (with our help) - $12,090.72 Total pay out - $16,621.05 That's almost 3x more than the insurance initially paid them. Is a public adjuster worth hiring? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Independent & staff adjusters work for the interests of the insurance company. Rightfully so, that's who employs them. Who works with your interests in mind? Public Adjusters do. An insured homeowner had water damage from a broken pipe. A plumber located the leak behind the cabinets in the kitchen. He had to go under the kitchen sink, cut out the back of the cabinet, and cut a hole in the exterior wall in order to have access to the leaking pipe.
This leak caused damage to all the wood floors throughout the first floor (about 1506 sq.ft.). The same exact flooring is on the entire 2nd floor, as well. The floors run under the kitchen cabinets, baseboards, stairs, toilet, and vanity. Furniture has to be moved around, walls need painting, drywall needs repair, and floors require replacing. There is a lot of work needed. The insurance company's in-house adjuster went there to estimate the damage and take a report from the insured. He spent 30 mins at the property, talking to the insured and taking measurements. The insured received a check for $7,186. That money is supposed to take care of all the repairs. The amount of money being paid will not cover all the repairs required to bring the insured back to a pre-loss condition. All the mentioned repairs will cost the homeowner much more. This is a great example of why a Public Adjuster is needed. #publicadjuster #claim #brokenpipe Just heard of a guy going door to door representing himself as a public adjuster. His line, " I'll pay to put you in a hotel and I will deal with the insurance company. My fee is 25% of your #claim.". During a state of emergency the max fee is 10%, by Florida law. Watch out for #scammers.
Unfortunately every industry has bad apples. So, it's possible a licensed public adjuster could be doing such a thing. Report people like this to the Florida department of insurance. They give us honest public adjusters a bad name. #Public Adjuster Fee #Bad adjusters |