What Are Public Adjusters?
Have you or your family experienced a recent accident resulting in water, mold, fire damage or hurricane? Often, people don’t think about public adjusters, and unfortunately, so. A public adjuster represents you and assists you by providing detailed estimates, photos and paperwork to document your insurance claim. They can help you greatly, and evidence suggests you can be making a mistake if you don’t have one on your side. Here’s all the information you need to know.
The more significant the loss, the more painful it is to deal with your insurance company. Why? Insurance companies are big businesses who want to minimize their losses. It is important to have a Public adjuster representing your interests and holding the insurance company accountable for a successful claim settlement.
What is a Public Adjuster?
A public adjuster is an independent insurance professional that a policyholder may hire to help settle an insurance claim on his or her behalf. To become an adjuster, they must go through rigorous studying/training and then become licensed and must continue their education every two years. An adjuster will inspect the damage to your property and review your insurance policy to determine if you have a covered loss. If so, your adjuster will help you file your claim, document the damages and be present for all inspections with your insurance company.
Furthermore, public adjusters are important because they alleviate the stress of handling your own insurance claim so you can remain focused on your daily life. Let a public adjuster handle all the steps involved in filing and negotiating your claim. An experienced and knowledgable Boca Raton public adjuster should never settle your claim without your understanding and approval. Did you know that the people who hire adjusters typically receive 500% more than those who don’t? The results often speak for themselves.
Deciding When to File a Claim
To file, or not to file? That is the question. Even though insurance claims are far from the meaning behind Hamlet, Mel Gibson’s famous quote holds water. Sometimes it just doesn’t make cents.
There are several factors to consider. How high is your deductible and how much property damage did you sustain? Sometimes the damage is minimal and falls under your deductible. In that case, you would not file an insurance claim.
More often than not, your property damage is extensive, affects multiple areas of your property, the damage exceeds the deductible and the repairs to your property are costly. In this case, you would file an insurance claim.
In cases where it makes sense to file a claim, you certainly should.
Reasons to File a Claim
When thinking of reasons not to file, there are general guidelines for when there is sufficient evidence and time to file insurance claims for damage to your property. The following three instances should trigger you to file a claim:
- Water damage
- Hurricane/Wind damage
- Fire/Smoke damage
If the damage isn’t too extensive and it can fall under your deductible, sometimes it’s best not to pursue a claim and repair your property. However, when the damage is extensive, you should always file a claim as soon as possible.
If the cause of the property damage is in question, you should always call an expert such as a public adjuster in South Florida to help determine the cause of loss. This is important to know because not all losses are covered, and if they are, you need to report the cause and date of loss when filing an insurance claim.
Lastly, when the damage and expense of repairing your home or business to its pre-loss condition is higher than the policy limit in your insurance policy, you have experienced a total loss.
If you find yourself in doubt or are overwhelmed handling your insurance claim, you should get outside help. Contact Reliant for a free claim assessment. By doing so, you are having another set of eyes view your damage.
Claims for Home Damage
Insurance companies require you to file a claim shortly after a damage causing event. It's essential to be highly detailed and adhere to your post loss obligations and duties after a loss in your insurance policy.
Hiring a public adjuster in Boca Raton can alleviate any stress you may feel handling your own insurance claim. Suppose you have mold damage. No matter the culprit, filing a claim can be challenging. Many homeowners are unsure if their policy covers this damage and mold, if it is covered, must be caused by a covered loss within your policy. If you are one of these individuals, hiring a public adjuster in Broward County or the surrounding area is your best option.
Do you know there is a difference between water damage and flood? Water damage comes from a leak within your home or business and can come from different sources such as plumbing, air conditioning or even a leak in your roof. If your West Palm Beach property has extensive water damage, public adjusters in Palm Beach County can assist.
Flood damage is caused from a rising body of water that enters your property from the exterior and can be the result of Hurricanes and Windstorms. lDid you know that flood damage isn't covered under a normal homeowners insurance policy? In order to file a flood claim, you need to have a separate flood insurance policy for your property.
Do You Think You Would Benefit From Hiring a Public Adjuster?
Get in touch with us to see if an hiring an adjuster makes sense for you. We’re licensed in Florida, which means we can act as a public adjuster in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and throughout the rest of the state.
Whether you are unsure if you have enough damage to file a claim, or if your claim is covered, contact us for a free policy review and claim evaluation.
Karen Schiffmiller, CPIAU
Reliant Insurance Adjusters LLC 7777 Glades Road, Suite 100 Boca Raton, FL 33434 (561) 288-6434 Ext. 2
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Scott Scovin, CPIAU
Reliant Insurance Adjusters LLC 7777 Glades Road, Suite 100 Boca Raton, FL 33434 (561) 288-6434 Ext. 1
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