Dealing with insurance companies can be extremely taxing, especially after a significant life-altering incident such as a fire or a flood, so sometimes it makes sense for you to hire a public claims adjuster to help you deal with the insurance companies. These are the big boys, helping people find alternative living arrangements, taking a survey of the damage, and handling the filing of claims and you generally won’t need them for minor incidents. If the incident significantly impacts your life and you think you need serious help, a public claims adjuster is who you should turn too.
The advantage of using a public claims adjuster is that the adjuster knows the claims process for your state inside and out. They can get you a quick response because they know exactly what they need to provide and how much they can get from the insurance companies. The disadvantage is obviously – they need to get paid. Sometimes this can be anywhere from 5% to 50% of the claim depending on the size and depends on how much work is involved. You can shop around for an adjuster as competition will lower their rate, you can always cancel the contract with 72 hours of signing it.
Before you hire an adjuster, make sure you really want the help. Then, after you’ve shopped around, check into the background of the one you’re thinking about signing with. You can check with the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters for information about your adjuster and see how he or she has been doing.
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DON’T DO IT!
Unless you are really uneducated or incapable of managing your own affairs, this is the biggest waste of money and heartache on the planet! I have few friends and a sister who lost their homes in a wild fire. Their homes were still smoldering when Public Adjusters started attacking them like vultures, trying to get them to sign up for their services. They were relentless! A a few of my friends and my sister thought it sounded like a good idea. They were naturally devastated and having someone to handle things for them was appealing.
Unfortunately, things quickly went from bad to worse. They could only stand by and watch in horror each day as a good chunk of their much needed settlement money went into the pockets of the Public Adjusters. I felt so bad for my friends and sister. They had very little input as to what was happening and could only communicate with their insurance agents through their Public Adjusters. Adding insult to injury, they stood by and painful witnessed their neighbors’ homes be rebuilt and occupants move back in. Meanwhile, their own homes had little to no rebuilding activity because their Public Adjusters were always finding something else to argue about with the insurance companies, the county, or just wouldn’t return their phone calls. It has been almost three years and their homes still aren’t repaired! It just breaks my heart…
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