So you have damage to your property and are thinking of filing a claim, or maybe you’ve already filed the claim and the claim has been underpaid or denied? What do you do from here? You can accept what the insurance company offers you and keep it moving. Or you can hire a Public Adjuster to represent you in the claim but you’re unsure if you should hire representation or not.
Let’s take a look at some PROS and CONS of hiring a Public Adjuster.
LET US RANK
PROS OF HIRING A PUBLIC ADJUSTER
- Claims advocate on your side.
When you have the right Public Adjuster on your side, you level the playing field in the claims process. You have someone with the same license, the same level of experience, someone who has seen every kind of insurance claim, knows how to navigate through the claim process, and knows how to get the claim resolved fairly.
But wait, you thought that insurance companies will pay what is necessary to bring you back to pre-loss condition. Well… let’s think about this. When you file an insurance claim, the burden of proof falls on the person making that claim. Since you are the one making that claim, you need to tell the insurance companies how much they owe you. However, that is never the case.
What happens when you file the claim is that your insurance company comes out to do an investigation and determine that dollar amount for you. Is it in their best interest to include and pay for all your damages? Insurance companies are a business and it simply doesn’t make sense for them to determine the correct amount they owe to you.
They will almost always underpay your claim. Why? Well, they know that the vast majority of insurance claims are not represented by a Public Adjuster. This means insurance companies save millions of dollars because most home and business owners will accept the low settlement offered by their insurance company.
- A-Z Claims Handling
There’s a lot of stress that comes with filing a claim. Your average American has many things to worry about throughout their day. Adding a claim to their list of to-do’s is often not an option.
One of the biggest pros of hiring the right Public Adjuster is that it will save you a lot of time and money. Public Adjusters file the insurance claim, write a detailed estimate, gather all documentation and supporting evidence, attend all reinspections, follow up with the insurance company every week, negotiate your claim, dispute any unfair amounts, and last but not least, settle your claim!
- No upfront fees.
Public adjusters work on a percentage basis. 10% for emergency claims such as a hurricane claim and 20% for nonemergency claims such as a pipe burst or a hail roof claim. The fees come directly out of the settlement amount. If a public adjuster is not able to recover, there is no fee.
CONS OF HIRING A PUBLIC ADJUSTER
- Public Adjusters take a percentage of your settlement.
This means that it may cut into the money needed to make the necessary repairs.
- There are bad apples.
There are Public Adjusters who lack the experience and/or the integrity to be great Public Adjusters. You must do your research, look into the company’s google reviews, look at the company’s BBB, and preferably be referred by someone you trust.
Since Public Adjusters get paid more if you get paid more, there are some Public Adjusters who commit fraud to get you a higher settlement and pocket more money for themselves. These PAs hurt the insurance industry and set an unrealistic standard for the insured moving forward.
- It may be difficult to find a Public Adjuster for a small claim.
A lot of the time a smaller claim brings on the same amount of work as a bigger claim for much less compensation. A lot of Public Adjusters will skip out on helping homeowners with smaller claims.