Before discussing the topic of ‘what are public adjusters’, I’d like to begin with my credentials on the subject. I am currently an owner and operator of a team of public insurance adjusters. However, I didn’t start there. Before this, I worked as an independent adjuster representing the insurance companies. My job duties included inspecting damaged homes, photographing damages, documenting my findings, and building estimates to assist in negotiating settlements.

As an insurance adjuster my job was to see if there were significant damages worth covering. Although insurance adjusters are expected to provide a fair judgement of damages, that doesn’t always happen. Insurance companies try their best to pay as little as possible. Insurance adjusters are incentivized to offer as little as possible. It’s usually an unspoken rule, but the message is loud and clear through bonuses and jobs provided. It would take a monumental shift in the way the insurance industry operates to enact that change. (a larger topic for another day)

I am no longer an adjuster for the insurance companies. I am an adjuster for the public and I value people over profit. I serve homeowners and business owners best interests to maintain their assets following a catastrophic or unexpected event.

• History of insurance adjusters
• What are public adjusters?
• How do public insurance adjusters differ from other adjusters?
• Do I need a public insurance adjusters?
• How much do public adjusters cost?
• Can I hire a contractor instead of a public adjuster?
• Can I hire an attorney instead of a public adjuster?
• When is it too late to hire a public adjuster to assist with my claim?

History of Insurance Adjusters

Modern insurance can be traced back to the 1600’s. A massive fire, Great Fire of London, destroyed over 30,000 homes and businesses. A man named Nicholas Barbon started a building insurance business, which later became the city’s first fire insurance company. People that were insured started paying insurance premiums, an amount of money paid for an insurance policy over a period, to protect their livelihood.

When insurance is involved following damage to your home or business, an insurance adjuster is someone who investigates claims to determine how much (or if) your insurance company should pay you for the damages. To provide fair representation for people, governments have allowed multiple types of adjusters as a method of checks and balances.

What are public adjusters?

A public insurance adjusters’ primary goal is to inspect, document, and represent the scope of damage occurred by a covered loss. A covered loss is damage to assets that an insurance company will provide financial reimbursement for. Public insurance adjusters maintain communication with homeowners and all parties involved by the insurance company during the entire claim process. Part of the job is to scrutinize the estimate written by insurance and prepare our own estimate for consideration. All efforts have an end goal to fully indemnify you, guarding you from costs that can be commonly left out by the insurance company.

Different Types of Adjusters

You may have heard insurance adjusters called different names. So, let’s identify the types and differences. There are three types of insurance adjusters: staff insurance adjusters, independent insurance adjusters, and public insurance adjusters. All three complete the same job of an insurance adjuster. How they differ is dependent upon who they are employed by:

• A staff adjuster– is an insurance claims adjuster that is an employee of the insurance company.
• An independent adjuster, often referred to by their initials, IA, is an insurance claims adjuster who is contracted by the insurance company to provide services.
• A public adjuster, also referred to by their initials as a PA, is an insurance claims adjuster that is hired by you, the policyholder, to provide services.

Do I Need a Public Adjuster?

Although public insurance adjusters are not a necessity throughout the insurance claim process. They are the government’s attempt to balance the scale. Public insurance adjusters represent your interests over the interests of the insurance conglomerate. You now have the right for expert representation throughout the entire insurance claim process. Additionally, you can contest the insurance companies’ final claim decision with the help of a public adjuster.

It’s not like your insurance is jumping at the chance to inform you of ALL your options. Here are 13 reasons people choose to hire a public adjuster. But I can tell you from my experience that most people hire a public adjuster for one of these three reasons:

1. When they are too busy to oversee the insurance claim process.
2. Feel their insurance company is not doing right by them, typically after their claim is originally denied.
3. Or, in most cases, a contractor refers someone to us when they notice insurance is not doing right by the insured. Meaning the claim settlement doesn’t fairly cover the necessary costs for the job. 

How Much do Public Adjusters Cost?

Be sure to shop around for a public adjuster. You can find high quality public insurance adjusters that do not max out what state law regulates. Florida requires that public adjusters charge no more than 20% for non-disaster related claims. Or more than 10% for disaster related claims.

Most public adjusters work on a contingency fee basis. It’s considered best practice, so you don’t pay before work is complete. Unfortunately, this does result in some public insurance adjusters becoming selective with the size of claims they support. Some will only assist in large damage situations because a claim of any size follows the same process. Thus creating a similar amount of effort for both large and small claims.

Contractor vs. Public Adjuster

We urge you to work with a licensed contractor to fix damage. While working with a licensed contractor, they can discuss damages and expected cost of repairs with your insurance company. However, contractors are legally unable to interpret or advise about insurance policy to you or adjust a claim on your behalf without a public adjuster or attorney license.

I mentioned above that licensed contractors are most often referring homeowners and businessowners to public adjusters. Florida Statute 489.147 provides specific limitations for contractors, but when the scope of work exceeds what is allowed, they will refer you to a licensed public adjuster or attorney for help.

Attorney vs. Public Adjuster

Of course, you can! Both handle claims and both have valuable roles in the claims process. The skillset of public insurance adjusters and lawyers are different on a foundational level. In fact, their roles complement each other throughout the claims process.

Public insurance adjusters help properly identify, document and value damages at initial stages of the claims process. They navigate the claims process attempting resolution throughout. While attorneys are able to help navigate the claims process from a contractual angle, providing additional support to your case.

So, do you need both? Not necessarily. Our team suggests involving an attorney when legal issues arise that a public adjuster is not legally able to handle. This could mean the insurance company fails to make a fair settlement offer, denies your claim, or insurance claim rights are at risk.

When is it too Late to Hire a Public Adjuster?

It’s almost never too late to hire public insurance adjusters. We suggest the sooner the better. This way, damages are documented and you are better represented from the start of the insurance claim process.

There are two reasons you no longer have the right to involve a public adjuster.

1. Date of Loss. Claims can be re-opened, even after settled, up to 2-3 years following the date of loss. Depending on the type of loss determines whether you have two or three years to return to your insurance company for additional You can find these details in Florida Statute 627.70132.
2. Signed Release. Many times, insurance will ask you to sign something called a “Release of all Claims” form as part of accepting a claim settlement. Often referred to as a release, it legally absolves the insurance company from any additional liability. This means that insurance agrees to pay some amount, but if that amount does not cover the cost of repair then you have no right to go back to request for more money.

When something catastrophic or unexpected happens in your life, it can be devastating. The life you’ve built changes in an instant. Fortunately, today, we have insurance to protect us financially in a time of loss. No matter the type, all insurance adjusters, work to investigate, evaluate, and eventually settle a claim between the policyholder and the insurance company.

Contact Our Office Today

If you are impacted by property damages in Florida, our team of experienced public adjusters can help. People that use a public adjuster like Fair Claim Experts save time, save money, have a better understanding of their claim actions, remove stress, and gain peace of mind. Let us help you get your property back to the condition it was in before damages occurred. We serve clients from all areas across the state of Florida: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Miami, Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville, The Villages. Click here to begin your free consultation.