How to Hire Public Insurance Adjusters for Insurance Claims

Need to maximize your insurance claim for your home but you don't know how to hire a Public Insurance Adjuster?

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Date of Loss of Home or Property
• Copy of Insurance Policy (if possible)
• List of Public Insurance Adjusters from phone book or references

1. Contact your insurance company to file a claim for your loss.
2. Locate your policy if possible (if it has not been destroyed).
3. Contact Public Insurance Adjusters in the phone book and those you have been referred to by others who have used a public adjuster.
4. Determine what areas you need an adjuster for (i.e., building, contents, and/or additional living expenses).
5. Contact as many references of the Public Adjuster as possible (preferably not less than five who have used the company within the last three years) before signing any agreements with a public adjuster.
6. Ask the references how effective the public adjuster was in dealing with insurance companies. Also, determine if they remained accessible to the references throughout the entire process of the claim.
7. Do not accept the fee offered by the Public Adjuster's representative. The companies are often prepared to negotiate 2% to 5% (or more) below what they first offer to you.
8. Consider if it is worthwhile to contract with the Public Adjuster on the building part of your claim. Usually, Public Adjusters do the least amount of work in this area.

Tips & Warnings

• If your home was not made from brick or concrete walls, it may not be prudent to use a public adjuster for the building portion of your claim.
• If your home was not an historic home it also may not be wise to use a public adjuster.
• If you were a pack rat, you most certainly will benefit from permitting the public adjusters to handle the contents portion of your claim.
• Do not be intimidated by your insurance company about using a public adjuster.
• Public adjusters can increase your payout by more than 60%, particularly for the contents.
• If you have been in your home for more than 10 years, you will likely increase your claim by at least $30,000.00 if you use a public adjuster.
• If your standard of living will be compromised by your insurance company, you might want to work with a public adjuster on your additional living expenses; however, be careful to negotiate a lower percentage than your contents for these expenses.
• The more money public adjusters make for you the more money they make for themselves.
• Unless you have a very small home or very few material possessions, it is wise to hire public adjusters for the contents portion of your claim. They have a crew that will document your every possession, even toothpicks, toilet paper, and writing pens.
• Public adjusters can make a lot of money on your building portion by doing very little to assist you. The percentage can be $20,000 or more. If your home does not have real tongue-groove wood floors, lath walls, brick walls, marble floor tiles, etc., you may not need a public adjuster for your claim.
• If you hire a public adjuster to assist with the building portion of the claim, ensure they are experienced in replacing like kind and quality. For example...does the public adjuster know that you had real tongue-groove wood floors covered with carpet? The carpet, padding, and original flooring must be replaced. Does the public adjuster determine whether drywall is being replaced over repaired lath and plaster walls?
• The local public adjuster may not be your most effective adjuster. It may be more effective to use a statewide company.