Home Ready to hire a public adjuster? Here’s what to ask
Local News

Ready to hire a public adjuster? Here’s what to ask

Contributors
roof damage
(© rayman7 – stock.adobe.com)

If working with an insurance company was easy, the term ‘Public Adjusting’ might not even have been coined. Very few people, after the emotional catastrophe of property damage are ready to take on another full-time job- getting their claim settled at a fair amount. It involves mentally exhausting work of estimating the damage, meeting contractors, legal work, going through insurance rules, preparing a claim, negotiation and so on and so forth. This does not even include starting conversation with the insurance company. For a complicated damage, it is difficult to commit to these tasks on your own. In such a situation you can hire ProFloridian Public Adjusters in Broward, Florida. Usually, they work on a percentage basis, that is, a percentage of the claim amount received and will take over all the processes of claiming and negotiating from you to work on your behalf.

While there may be staff adjusters or independent adjusters that work on the behalf of the company and not you, a public adjuster’s sole motive is to fight the case on your account. Once you have decided to hire ProFloridian Public Adjusters in Broward to work your case, you must be ready for the next step- which is asking them questions to see if they are the right fit for your case. Following questions must be answered by your potential Public Adjuster and you should go ahead with them only if you are satisfied with the answers.

  1. Ask about their licenses. Do they have their public adjuster’s license or they work with a local firm under their license rather than having the requisite qualifications individually Ideally, they should be experienced, local with the requisite license or affiliated with a reputable firm. They should also have a clean record with the authorities.
  2. About the history of their work experience. This will help you gauge whether they will be able to handle your case or not. How many years of experience they have under their belt. Ask them for local references whose claims they have personally handled in the past couple of years.
  3. Understand the terms of their charge. Most of them charge a fee ranging from 5-15% of the claim settlement amount. Make sure you pay according to the size and work required by your claim. If you want only certain parts of the claim to be handled by the Adjuster you must elucidate this in this meeting itself.
  4. Ask them how to proceed if you want to terminate the contract with them. In most cases you can rescind the contract within a couple working days but ask this to prevent any future confusion.
  5. Ask them if you can still be in contact with the staff adjuster or the insurance company directly for your claim. If you want to be involved negotiate this term as well.
  6. Claim adjusting should not be entirely left on an individual therefore it is proper if you do the math of the damage yourself before being rushed into coming up with the claim amount.

In conclusion, it is worth doing all this homework before hiring an adjuster as they take up all the legwork of filing a claim and securing a fair amount for you. An experienced adjuster will not only serve as a strong support for you but will provide insights and negotiation leverage for building your case in a much stronger way. They will help you cover any jargon and guide you towards rebuilding your home in a better way. It is always a good practice to check their references and proceed only if everything satisfies you in every way.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.