What are Public Adjusters?
what is a public adjuster? A public adjuster is a professional claims adjuster who represents as your fiduciary agent, and advocates for the policyholder in documenting, strategizing, appraising, and negotiating a claimant’s insurance claim. Insured can represent themselves in an insurance claim, but aside from attorneys and the broker of record, public adjusters licensed by state departments of insurance are the only type of fiduciary agent that can legally represent the fair treatment and the rights of an insured during an insurance claim process. A Public Adjuster is sometimes called a private insurance adjuster because they only work for the public and they are not legally allowed to work for large for-profit insurance companies. We believe that a public adjuster should be brought in to help with an insurance claim before the claim is even filed with the insurance company. Why? It essential that they understand the date of loss, that their initial call and questions asked of them when calling in a claim will be recorded and could be used against them. It is also important to note that in some states there are time deadlines to pay or deny a claim. For example, in Florida, an insurance company only has one deadline which is 90 days to pay or A public adjuster is helpful no matter what stage especially when it is clear that the insurer will not pay or underpay the claim. Most public adjusters charge a percentage of the settlement. Primarily they appraise the damage, prepare an estimate and other claim documentation, read the policy of insurance to determine coverage, and negotiate with the insurance company’s claims handler or better known as the company desk adjuster. This desk adjuster will usually take the field adjusters estimate who actually inspected the loss and make changes to the estimate to underpay the claim. We have known many independent adjusters who can verify that they have submitted coverage decisions and opinions and estimates that get sent in after they are the only individual on behalf of the insurance company to inspect the loss and then the insurance claim will get in some cases denied, partially denied or not paid for the amount written by the independent field adjuster that inspected the property. If you had hired a Public Adjuster not only do they have the ability to photograph, and document all electronic communications from the onset of the claim but they are also able to make sure the insured is not mislead to answer questions they do not have the knowledge or expertise to answer. Hiring the right public insurance is so important. You need to hire a public adjuster that understands that your claim ultimately could end up in litigation. And a great public adjuster documents everything in writing and treats the insurance claim as if there is always a possibility that it could end up in front of a jury with the hope that by doing everything exactly by the laws of their state and documenting every action of the insurance carrier that by the time the decision has to be made to settle or pay the claim the risk assessment department at the insurance company if your public adjuster did their job has documented enough to prove or potential have enough information to allege by an attorney that the insurance company had intentionally from the start of the claim never had the intention to pay the claim fairly and your public adjuster is really good he/she can get them to put things in electronic communications to help prove that they with premeditation were intentionally not investigating the loss and implementing the proper standards of the investigation so that they could intentionally underpay or falsy deny the claim. A Public Adjuster is not an attorney but the more educated a Public Adjuster is about the state statutes and the rules pertaining to what bad faith is and how it is defined in that state then the better chance you have as the insured of getting to a point where the insurance company does not want the risk of litigation cost because they realize that one of their adjuster or their entire adjusting team was not acting in good faith during the adjustment process to abide by policy language, state statute, and if your public adjuster is really good they will understand current case precedent in the state the insurance claim resides to know if the insurance carrier is still using old tactics to underpay claims when the courts have already ruled against another carrier that the actions they are taking are not acceptable according to a ruling by an appellate court or State Supreme Court. Most company adjusters in most states have very little requirements to become an adjuster. For example, in the State of Florida, it is not even required for an adjuster to have a high school diploma and all they have to do is pass a 40-hour course. They do not even have to pass a State Exam if they are going to work for the insurance company or as an independent. At least in the State of Florida a “Public Adjuster” is required to pass the 40-hour course, pass the accredited course final exam, pass a State Exam, and also complete a 6-month apprenticeship. But is that enough education and training for a homeowner to trust hiring a public adjuster? At Experienced Public Adjusters, we do not think this is nearly enough for someone to entrust us with what is probably the biggest investment most homeowner will ever purchase in their lifetime. We hire special individuals with special skill sets and education to deploy a considerable hirer level of adjuster than the industry has ever seen before. Owner David Dwyer has been a CEO and private business owner. David was also the youngest to ever graduate from an executive MBA program at the age of 22 from the State University of New York. He has continued his post-graduate education at Harvard University, Aileron Consulting and many other educational programs to continually self develop his skill sets to not only run a successful company but to be the best public adjuster there is in the United States. In 2019 he was ranked in the top percentile finished his “Negotiation Mastery” at Harvard University. Experienced Public Adjusters appointed Public Adjusters are trained directly by David Dwyer and weekly all take part in advanced training to improve their skill sets as public adjusters so they can better serve our clients. We have a group meeting in person and sometimes through zoom each week to discuss each claim file to discuss strategy, evaluate the current state of the claim, review estimates, current claim situations, and provide success stories and share ideas so we can all develop as adjusters each week and also provide the best possible strategy to move forward with on each claim. We believe that as one company, and one team we can function as one laser-focused unit to provide the best possible representation of each client we represent. We all have the same passion to help others, a sense of urgency to expedite claims, and we all have winning attitudes. We believe that caring for our client’s best interest must come first and that must be immediately followed by a constant desire to WIN! And our clients deserve every last penny owed to in accordance with State Statute and the language of the insurance policy language they purchased in consideration for their premium payment.
What is a Public Adjuster?
A public insurance adjuster working for Experienced Public Adjusters is a professional residential and commercial property loss claims adjuster who works on behalf of a policyholder in evaluating and negotiating the insurance claim of a claimant with the goal of reaching the best possible outcome. Businesses and individual homeowners hire public insurance adjusters when they need help in properly filing a new claim or when they feel that the insurance company is underpaying or denying a claim.
Why You Need a Public Insurance Adjuster for an Insurance Claim
This is a very complex industry and every state has different laws pertaining to first party property claims. There are local and state building codes and permitting requirements a Public Adjuster should know of should know where to go in order make sure there will not be any additional building code, energy saver code, and permitting requirements that may be required to upgrade the home or business to get your home back to pre-loss condition. Your Public Adjuster and in our case when hiring our Public Adjusting firm you will get a team that specializes and has extensive knowledge in all the claim types that are covered, excluded, and all the endorsements in an insured policy. To ensure that your insurance company gives you an equitable settlement, you need to acquire the assistance of a qualified, professional and experienced public insurance adjuster with a company with a vast support team and resources at their fingertips.
Here are a few of the main reasons why it is important to hire an Experienced Public Adjuster rather than filing a claim without taking any assistance:
At Experienced Public Adjusters, we have the most qualified and Experienced Public Insurance Adjusters. It can be said with absolute confidence that we will serve your best interest and assist you in collecting the highest settlement amount possible. Our process of working on your behalf if completely transparent: we include you in all communications, our public adjusters extensively review your full insurance policy and get guidance from our Corporate retained counsel if needed, evaluates your damages, thoroughly investigate your property, extensively documents and photographs the loss, recommends if the insureds should hire experts to support opinions, provide the most extensive and supported estimate of your damages and make proper adjustments to your claim, we provide you ongoing feedback of your claim status, and maximize your settlement by using all our experience. We can provide a highly qualified Public Adjuster to any claim in the State of Florida. And we are now expanded and licensed in multiple states and have offices in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Franklin, North Carolina. We as a company have adjusters with licenses to represent insurance claims in Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Montana.
We will provide you free guidance and advice if you call. We offer in-person onsite home and business inspections. And we always offer no cost full insurance claim evaluations. We expect you to interview us and we expect to not only earn your business but we have the philosophy that once you use our professional services that you will never hire another public adjusting firm and you will recommend us to all your friends, family, and coworkers.