When something bad happens, it seems like you can’t catch a break. A natural disaster, theft, water damage, etc. doesn’t only happen to your home and your property, but they happen to you. Something that you may have had zero control over can cost you a ton of time and money to repair. Hopefully you have homeowners insurance, but even with that, you should read your contract multiple times so you know exactly what you’re covered for.
Unfortunately, when there’s damage or something missing from your home or property, the insurance company doesn’t simply write you a check for replacements or repairs. They have to send an adjuster from their company to interview you as well as inspect the damage or missing items you’re proposing. Wouldn’t it be nice if the insurance company could just believe you when you said you needed $10,000 to fix the damage in your basement from the recent flood? Well, if that were the case, insurance fraud would be a lot more apparent than it already is. On the other hand, your insurance company and adjusters from the company aren’t always so easy to work with. While they’re going to say they appraise the damage fairly, many people think that they’re going to give you a low ball estimate for your settlement.
In order to maximize your payout from the insurance company, you can look into hiring your own public adjuster. You’re going to want an adjuster that’s experienced in your location, like Excel adjusters, public adjusters in Los Angeles. They specialize in property loss for water, fire, earthquake, flood, and theft. Hiring someone with the expertise in the situation you’re dealing with will make the process of filing a claim that much smoother. Trying to do it all yourself can be exhausting and extremely challenging, especially if the damage is so severe that it’s left you without a livable home. There’s a ton of legwork, legal papers, math, insurance language, negotiation, and filling out paperwork that has to get done before you see any money. From the start, the insurance company has a leg up on you because they’ve been through the process thousands of times whereas this might be your first. For most people, the process is just too much. It takes time away from their job and family, as well as causes a ton of stress.
Uphelp.org listed questions to ask before you hire a public adjuster. The questions are as follows:
- Are you licensed to practice public adjusting in my state?
- Will you be handling my claim personally?
- How many other claims have you signed up in this area?
- Tell me about your claim adjusting and construction estimating skills, credentials and experience?
- Please give me at least three references of local clients who were satisfied with your work
- Let’s talk about the free contract (if they work on contingency fees)
- If I hire you, can I still communicate with the insurer/company adjuster?
- Will you or your company’s name be on every check the insurance company issues after I hire you?
- If I want to terminate the contract before a settlement has been finalized, can I, and how much will I owe you?
You don’t want to find any surprises from your public adjuster, who is supposed to be on your side, during the tedious process. It’s better to ask the questions before signing a contract with the public adjuster than to find things out along the way. Public adjusters are often rooting for you because they’re paid a percentage of your final settlement. However, you shouldn’t feel rushed to choose a public adjuster. Most of the time, you have nothing to lose when hiring a public adjuster as a backup or second opinion on your claim. You just want to make sure that the person you’re going to be working with is someone you trust.
