What is a Public Adjuster?

If You Are A Homeowner, You Need A Public Adjuster

So you bought your home or are looking to buy a home in Florida and you know who your Realtor is, maybe even  a plumber and an a/c company , and of course you purchased homeowner’s insurance but no one told you about choosing a public adjuster? Similar to your insurance company, hopefully you will never need to use your public adjuster, however it is unlikely that over the course of time you spend owning your home, that you won’t have an occurrence that will cause significant damage and you will have to file an insurance claim.

Whether you experience damage to your property from hail, wind, a plumbing leak or a fire, you will need to turn to your insurance company to cover the cost of the damage to the insured property. Whatever the occurrence is that causes the damage, you always want to take measures to avoid further damage to your property once it is safe. If you are unsure what you need to do to prevent further damage, you can contact your public adjuster for professional advice on your next steps.  Once you alert your public adjuster that you have had damage to your property, they can come out and assess the damages to makes sure that the claim you submit is comprehensive and includes the obvious as well as things that you, as the homeowner, may not know to look for.  This will ensure that the insurance company doesn’t overlook anything that could let them deny or underpay your claim.

Once your claim is submitted, the insurance company will send out their own adjuster to inspect the damages. Many homeowners don’t know that you can have your own adjuster represent your interests, just as the insurance company has their adjuster who represents their interests. The insurance company adjuster will do their best to meet the responsibility of the insurance company while trying to save them money. A public adjuster represents you to make sure that your property is restored back to the condition your property was in before the occurrence; getting you the maximum settlement for your claim.

Hiring a public adjuster not only ensures your claim is not underpaid, and in some cases denied, but it also doesn’t cost the homeowner anything up front. Public Adjusters only get paid if the homeowner is paid. Like similar services, when you receive your settlement, the public adjuster’s fees are then paid.

Hopefully, damage to your property will be uneventful and rare! If you ever do have to file an insurance claim, now you are an informed homeowner and know you need to hire a public adjuster so that you get the maximum benefit of your claim!

Meet Firehouse Adjuster Stu!