Client Maria T had water damage to her home in August of 2012. Her insurance company, which has to remain nameless for liability purposes, sent an adjuster to her home and they offered her about $12,000, after deductible, for her damages. The insurance company called the homeowner to discuss the offer and our client told the insurance company that she just hired a Florida public adjuster.
Public adjusters are licensed professionals that represent the policyholder when evaluating and settling an insurance claim. Public adjusters licensed by state departments of insurance are the only kind of claims adjuster that can legally represent an insured’s rights throughout an insurance claim procedure, other than attorneys and the broker of record. When it is obvious that the insurer will pay the claim and the only issue is the accurate identification and appraisal of the loss, a public adjuster will be most helpful. The majority of public adjusters take a cut of the settlement as payment. They primarily assess the damage, create an estimate and other claim-related documentation, study the insurance policy to ascertain coverages, and bargain with the claims adjuster of the insurance company.
The inside adjuster from the insurance company said if she would cancel the contract with the Florida public Adjuster they would increase the offer to $20,000. We believe a few laws were broken just then by the insurance company.
Our client declined the offer. Talk about bad faith! My estimate was 125,000.00 We agreed to the appraisal route. Their appraiser raised the offer to $25,000. We stuck to our guns. After what seemed like a year, the Umpire awarded us $104,000 for building damage, $43,000 for personal property damage, and $40,000 for additional living expenses.
Our client had never heard before about public adjusters. Because we excel at increasing your settlement and take great pleasure in providing excellent customer service, we are confident that we are the best public adjusters in Florida. We distinguish ourselves from other Florida public adjusters by upholding a set of key values. We were able to get her $175,000.00 more than she would have received handling the claim on her own.
