I have worked reopened claims after a major disaster. The carrier for which I worked made effort to correct prior mistakes made in the claim process. I am also aware that in some instances other carriers may have only chose to correct prior claim mistakes when pushed to do so by a public adjuster or an attorney. Should the insured call a public adjuster to handle his claim? The answer to that question is neither yes nor no but it depends. For it depends on the claim, the carrier,the customer service, the estimatic differences, the coverage questions, and the combination thereof. My opinion.
if you’ve been an IA for 20 years – you’ve been representing the insurance company – not the policy holder.
that was a simple answer.
why all the “grief” about public adjusters? They do a job – advocating for the insurance consumer – there is now third party evidence in a research study done in Florida that people who hire public adjusters get paid more on their claims – there is no evidence to support that those claims are “inflated” or “fraudulent” – the buzz words used by the carriers. If the carriers are indeed knowingly paying fraudulent or inflated claims – they only have themselves to blame.
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FRAUD!!! Stop with the anti public adjuster consumer advocate rhetoric. This commentary is spot on.
I agree with Gary and Nancy. I too was an IA for many years and workied a lot of cleanup after storms. For the sake of closed claims in the umbers game after a storm, quality adjusting goes out the window so to speak. Adjusters are brought in from all walks of life and it seems that if you can breathe and walk at the same time you can be a claims adjuster. After the tree day school on how to be an adjuster, these people are sent out to handle claims. Most have never had any construction experience, estimatics, or know how to use a tape measure. The claims I have had to “clean up” were sorry excuses for claims handleing. That is why I am a PA now.
Again we end with the oil and water polarity between opinions of what is ” fair” or what it takes to “make someone whole”.
The issue is what product did you buy, and for the sake of price did you gamble that “it won’t happen to me”? It seems only when people are faced with the financial loss they didn’t anticipate or fund do they clutch at any solution to mitigate their lack of foresight.Hence, the 1800 thelaw2 and frenzy of PA’s following a catastrophe. The question is not” What’s right, but What did you buy.”
When faced with an unanticipated financial loss ?
Isn’t that the whole reason for insurance , Richard ?
I say again
The best defense to the Public Adjuster industry is a thorough assessment from the first IA/SA and pay the insured what they are legally entitled to, period!!
Who will advocate for the insured if a dispute arises ? The insurance company?
Even as an IA , I know the answer to that, every one of us does !!
Not until the quality of the individual claim becomes more important than the quantity of claims(IE trying to close as many claims per day as possible)will the PA industry stop being a source of contention.
If it was your house or a family members house that was damaged/destroyed during an event ,
do you want an adjuster who is more concerned with doing as many claims per day as possible or an adjuster who is there as long as it takes to do a CORRECT asessment and proper documentation of the claim.
Those of us who bang em’ out as fast as we can (I have been guilty of this as well) are doing a disservice to the insured and the industry !!
Until this changes, the PA industry will continue to thrive.
In regards to fraudulent and inflated claims, whoever is responsible deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
I have dealt with clowns and crooks claiming to be PA’s and I have also dealt with dedicated professional PA’s , there are bad apples in all industries and that includes IA’s and SA’s as well
it doesn’t have anything to do with what the policy holder bought, or failed to buy. That’s not usually where the issue comes in. If they have the coverage they should get paid – if they don’t – such is life. Like we all love to say – It is what is is.
The real issue is twofold – number one -poor claims handling. Not ALL IA’s handle claims poorly – and not ALL PA’s are crooks.
Let’s stop labeling one another, shall we?
Number two – complicated claims or claims that the policyholder simply does not want to handle on their own because of time constraints, or because they want a professional to handle it for them.
what’s the problem? Should policy holders be forced to take what the company gives them without getting their own insurance professional to review it?
Handling a complicated claim or any claim that you dont feel comfortable handling on your own is about as smart as letting the IRS prepare your taxes for you.
PA’s need the insurance companies – and the IA’s need the PA’s to solicit claims so they have work to do. And there is no reason to chastise a policy holder for wanting to get professional advice on their insruance claim. This commentary makes a number of great points about our symbiotic relationship.
The issue on whether to hire a PA is certainly up to the policy holder. And I agree that not all adjusters whether it is from the carrier or the public side are properly trained or intelligent. My problem is this is not a commentary but a commercial.
In almost 30 years I have NEVER received a legitimate propsal from a PA on 1st notice. Each and every one was inflated from 30% to 10,000% (PA estimate in excess of $400,000 and actual paid under $4,000).
I too have have the same issue with PA’s. For example, I had a claim with fire damage contained to 2 rooms. The insured got a PA and he gave an estimate for 42K. The guy had the ability to do it with a straight face. That was amazing to me. Our client, a small township mutual, stood firm and the file went through the “appraisal clause.” Final figure was a little over 11K which was $388 higher than my estimate. What a monumental freakin’ waste of time and money. If I wrote estimates that were that unrealistic (high or low) our I/A firm wouldn’t have any clients.
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I have worked reopened claims after a major disaster. The carrier for which I worked made effort to correct prior mistakes made in the claim process. I am also aware that in some instances other carriers may have only chose to correct prior claim mistakes when pushed to do so by a public adjuster or an attorney. Should the insured call a public adjuster to handle his claim? The answer to that question is neither yes nor no but it depends. For it depends on the claim, the carrier,the customer service, the estimatic differences, the coverage questions, and the combination thereof. My opinion.
for 20 years?
if you’ve been an IA for 20 years – you’ve been representing the insurance company – not the policy holder.
that was a simple answer.
why all the “grief” about public adjusters? They do a job – advocating for the insurance consumer – there is now third party evidence in a research study done in Florida that people who hire public adjusters get paid more on their claims – there is no evidence to support that those claims are “inflated” or “fraudulent” – the buzz words used by the carriers. If the carriers are indeed knowingly paying fraudulent or inflated claims – they only have themselves to blame.
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FRAUD!!! Stop with the anti public adjuster consumer advocate rhetoric. This commentary is spot on.
I agree with Gary and Nancy. I too was an IA for many years and workied a lot of cleanup after storms. For the sake of closed claims in the umbers game after a storm, quality adjusting goes out the window so to speak. Adjusters are brought in from all walks of life and it seems that if you can breathe and walk at the same time you can be a claims adjuster. After the tree day school on how to be an adjuster, these people are sent out to handle claims. Most have never had any construction experience, estimatics, or know how to use a tape measure. The claims I have had to “clean up” were sorry excuses for claims handleing. That is why I am a PA now.
Again we end with the oil and water polarity between opinions of what is ” fair” or what it takes to “make someone whole”.
The issue is what product did you buy, and for the sake of price did you gamble that “it won’t happen to me”? It seems only when people are faced with the financial loss they didn’t anticipate or fund do they clutch at any solution to mitigate their lack of foresight.Hence, the 1800 thelaw2 and frenzy of PA’s following a catastrophe. The question is not” What’s right, but What did you buy.”
Nancy has the best handle on this “discussion”.
Some of the nastiness in these comments indicates exactly why an individual has every right to get help from anyone they chose.
Life is not necessarily fair; when you are in doubt get some help or accept what you get.
When faced with an unanticipated financial loss ?
Isn’t that the whole reason for insurance , Richard ?
I say again
The best defense to the Public Adjuster industry is a thorough assessment from the first IA/SA and pay the insured what they are legally entitled to, period!!
Who will advocate for the insured if a dispute arises ? The insurance company?
Even as an IA , I know the answer to that, every one of us does !!
Not until the quality of the individual claim becomes more important than the quantity of claims(IE trying to close as many claims per day as possible)will the PA industry stop being a source of contention.
If it was your house or a family members house that was damaged/destroyed during an event ,
do you want an adjuster who is more concerned with doing as many claims per day as possible or an adjuster who is there as long as it takes to do a CORRECT asessment and proper documentation of the claim.
Those of us who bang em’ out as fast as we can (I have been guilty of this as well) are doing a disservice to the insured and the industry !!
Until this changes, the PA industry will continue to thrive.
In regards to fraudulent and inflated claims, whoever is responsible deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
I have dealt with clowns and crooks claiming to be PA’s and I have also dealt with dedicated professional PA’s , there are bad apples in all industries and that includes IA’s and SA’s as well
i couldn’t disagree more.
it doesn’t have anything to do with what the policy holder bought, or failed to buy. That’s not usually where the issue comes in. If they have the coverage they should get paid – if they don’t – such is life. Like we all love to say – It is what is is.
The real issue is twofold – number one -poor claims handling. Not ALL IA’s handle claims poorly – and not ALL PA’s are crooks.
Let’s stop labeling one another, shall we?
Number two – complicated claims or claims that the policyholder simply does not want to handle on their own because of time constraints, or because they want a professional to handle it for them.
what’s the problem? Should policy holders be forced to take what the company gives them without getting their own insurance professional to review it?
Handling a complicated claim or any claim that you dont feel comfortable handling on your own is about as smart as letting the IRS prepare your taxes for you.
PA’s need the insurance companies – and the IA’s need the PA’s to solicit claims so they have work to do. And there is no reason to chastise a policy holder for wanting to get professional advice on their insruance claim. This commentary makes a number of great points about our symbiotic relationship.
C’mon now – can’t we all just get along?
The issue on whether to hire a PA is certainly up to the policy holder. And I agree that not all adjusters whether it is from the carrier or the public side are properly trained or intelligent. My problem is this is not a commentary but a commercial.
In almost 30 years I have NEVER received a legitimate propsal from a PA on 1st notice. Each and every one was inflated from 30% to 10,000% (PA estimate in excess of $400,000 and actual paid under $4,000).
I too have have the same issue with PA’s. For example, I had a claim with fire damage contained to 2 rooms. The insured got a PA and he gave an estimate for 42K. The guy had the ability to do it with a straight face. That was amazing to me. Our client, a small township mutual, stood firm and the file went through the “appraisal clause.” Final figure was a little over 11K which was $388 higher than my estimate. What a monumental freakin’ waste of time and money. If I wrote estimates that were that unrealistic (high or low) our I/A firm wouldn’t have any clients.