What is a Public Adjuster?

If you're a homeowner, business owner, or car owner, you need insurance to cover your assets and protect you from liability. When filing a claim with your insurer, the company will send an in-house or independently contracted adjuster to your property to examine and assess the damage.

The adjuster works for the insurer, and they don't have your best interests at heart. The adjuster's job isn't really to assess the damage to your property; it's to do everything they can to reject your claim. There's nothing more frustrating than your insurer calling you to tell you they are not paying you the money they owe you.

Fortunately, you can greatly dimmish the chances of your insurer rejecting your claim by hiring a public adjuster to assess your property.

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What is a Public Adjuster?

The public adjuster works for the policyholder, not the insurer. As a result, they have your best interests in mind when assessing the damage to your property.

Many homeowners and vehicle owners don't realize they have the option of hiring a public adjuster to help them process their claim.

What Does a Public Adjuster Do For You?

A public adjuster has all the same qualifications and licenses as in-house and independent adjusters. You can hire them to manage the claims process from start to finish.

A public adjuster has years of experience in dealing with insurance companies across America. They understand the processes involved with filing and paying out a claim.

The adjuster will work on your behalf, negotiating with the insurer to get you the best claim possible. There is less chance of the insurer low-balling your claim or rejecting it with a public adjuster working for you.

If they do low-ball you or deny your claim, the public adjuster will negotiate with the insurer to find out why and what you can do to receive the full payment.

Hiring a public adjuster takes the hassle out of filing and processing your insurance claim, giving you the fastest turnaround times for the settlement of your claim. Typically, people will use public adjusters for claims exceeding $10,000 in value.

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Do I Need to Hire a Public Adjuster in Florida?

If you're dealing with a large claim amount or a technical claim requiring experience to file and process, hiring a public adjuster is a good idea.

Many homeowners and business owners don't have the time to navigate the claims process themselves. As a result, they end up waiting months for the insurer to settle.

If you don't understand your policy, there is a good chance the insurer will low-ball your claim, giving you much less than you expect. A public adjuster prevents the insurer from taking advantage of you. They will negotiate with the insurer on your behalf to process your claim.

When the insurer realizes you have a public adjuster working for you, they will take a different approach to handle your claim. The public adjuster gives them the accurate information they need to process your claim without sending an in-house adjuster to your property for the damage assessment.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Public Adjuster in Florida?

Public adjusters typically don't charge any upfront fees for their service. They will assess your case and decide if it's worth it for them to pursue it. In most cases, public adjusters will only work with high-value claims.

They will track their expenses during the process and then bill you after you receive your settlement. There is no out-of-pocket cost to hire Florida Public Adjusters to file your claim and manage the claims process.

Public adjuster fees typically have a cap on the service issued by the state. For example, Florida state law caps the public adjuster fee at 20% of the claim amount. Florida also has a 10% fee cap for insurance claims resulting from a state of emergency declared by the Florida Governor, Ron De Santis.

Work with Florida Public Adjusters to Fast-Track Your Insurance Claim

There are dozens of private adjustment firms across the United States. However, not all of them have the experience you need to get the outcome you deserve from your insurer. Before picking your public adjuster, do some research on the firm.

Look at their past case history, where they specialize, and their success rate. Check on social media to see what people are saying about that specific adjustment firm and its adjusters.

Florida Public Adjusters offers you a qualified, experienced, and professional team. We'll work with your insurer to ensure you get the full settlement of your claim. If there are any issues with your insurer, we'll work with you to resolve them. Contact us, and we'll discuss your case.

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History and Experience of Public Insurance Adjusters

Many public adjusters previously worked for an insurance company. After years of working for an insurance company, many adjusters use their experience to flip to “the other side” and represent the public, meaning home and business owners instead of the insurance companies. These experienced public insurance adjusters know the tricks, tactics, and strategies used by insurance companies to reduce claims. Almost every good public adjuster is not only state licensed but also has years of experience working in the highly complex insurance industry.

Your insurance company has its own team of adjusters. These adjusters are in charge of analyzing your claim after an incident. These adjusters have one responsibility: to protect the bottom line of the insurance company. They work on behalf of the insurance company. The goal of the insurance company is to pay you the lowest amount they’re legally obligated to pay. By hiring an experienced, licensed public adjuster, you’re getting someone “on your side” who can fight back against your insurance company and provide professional expertise to achieve a fair settlement for your loss.

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Understanding The Three Types of Insurance Claims Adjusters

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There are three different main types of insurance claim adjusters:

  • Staff Adjusters: Staff adjusters are hired by the insurance company and often work within the company itself.
  • Independent Adjusters: Independent adjusters are freelancing contractors that are then hired by the insurance companies to deal with claims.
  • Public Adjusters: The policyholders themselves and not the insurance company hire public adjusters.

So out of all the classes of insurance claim adjusters, public adjusters are the only ones who have nothing to do with working on behalf of the insurance company. They are hired by the policyholder to go over the claim, and to ensure that they receive the correct amount of money from the insurance company to cover the damage or loss to their buildings or property from a disaster or accident.

The first step is to decide if you need a public insurance adjuster. If you decide to hire your own adjuster, your adjuster will go through your insurance policy meticulously and look at the damage done to your property. The adjuster will then assess the situation to determine the costs needed for repairs or replacements caused by the accident or disaster. At this point your adjuster will enter the negotiation process with the insurance company in order to maximize the settlement offer for your claim.

Public adjusters come in all different levels of of expertise and experience. It is important to hire someone who is an expert in the particular category that your insurance claim falls under. There are public adjusters that specialize in floods and water damage, public adjuster that are experienced with fire and smoke damage, public adjusters for tornado, wind and storm damages, public adjusters with expertise in hail and roof damage claims. Some well-experienced public insurance adjusters have extensive experience in many or all categories of disaster and loss claims. By hiring someone with extensive proficiency and experience in the particular field that your claims fall under, you will be more likely to get the best pay out for your insurance claim.

What Are Public Insurance Adjuster’s Duties?

A public adjuster acts as a representative of you, the policyholder. The public insurance adjuster ‘s objective is to navigate every stage of the claim process and advocate for the best interests of the insured. The adjuster advises, manages, and assists with filing a claim to your insurance company to attain the best possible outcome for the claimant. This means you can focus on other, more important tasks instead of dealing with the stress of insurance negotiations in the days and weeks following an accident.

There are many different duties that public adjusters perform for the policyholder:

  • Determine Coverage: Assess and examine the insurance policy in question to ascertain what compensation is applicable to the claim.
  • Inspect: investigate, record and validate the damages done to the property and any extra expenses
  • Evidence: Record, document and substantiate the claims as a representative of the policyholder
  • Estimate: Evaluate any losses to the policyholder’s home, business, or personal property and the monetary amount needed to cover all damages
  • Negotiate: Present the evidence, discuss and settle on a settlement pay out amount with the insurance company

If a disparity is found in the settlement, the public adjuster can reopen, renegotiate, or provide guidance on the next best course to achieve a fair and favorable settlement for the insured.

It should be remembered that a public adjuster is an insurance professional that has no affiliation or responsibility to the insurance company, only the insured, and therefore the policyholder pays for the public adjusters services. Most public insurance adjusters are paid a percentage of the total final settlement paid to the insured party, and in almost every state this must be communicated up front and detailed in the form of a signed contract between policyholder and the public insurance adjuster.

It is most advised to hire a public adjuster if you are dealing with claims of over 10,000 dollars, or if you feel unsure about what you insurance policy covers in regards to your claim. While it is not always necessary to hire a public adjuster, doing so will make the insurance process a lot less stressful for you as a policyholder.

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More About How Public Adjusters Help With Insurance Claims

After experiencing any sort of disaster people tend to be traumatized and emotional, and this is the worst time for them to start filling out insurance claims and loss forms. Typically insurance companies require you to place a claim as soon as possible after the incident has occurred; people are still shaken and stressed and this can result in forms being filled out incorrectly, or the wrong information on the disaster being given. All of this has a bearing on the outcome of the insurance claim, and it could significantly lower any compensation given out to the policyholder.

To avoid the hassle and the potential mistakes a good deal of business owners and homeowners hire public adjusters to deal with their insurance claims. Not only does it alleviate the stress of the situation, it also gives the homeowner peace of mind knowing that the insurance claim will be handled with a professional looking out for their best interest.

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Additional Topics on Public Insurance Adjusters

For more detailed information about the fees charged by a Public Adjuster, how to find a Public Adjuster and if you need a licensed Public Insurance Adjuster, see the following resources below.

Public Adjusters are available to help with your insurance claim

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What is a Public Adjuster?
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United Claim Clinic Mission Statement

At United Claim Clinic our number one mission is to educate consumers about the insurance claim process. Sometimes we can equip people with the knowledge to navigate a claim by themselves. For more complicated claims, we are here to be an advocate for the insured to see that the carrier fulfills their obligation to get your property and life back to normal.