Homeowners buy insurance to cover repairs and replacements after storms or other destructive events. But sometimes insurance companies find arguments against paying claims for damage. That is where a public insurance adjuster can help homeowners. For a fee, these adjusters can evaluate the damage to the property caused by storms, floods, earthquakes, fires and other events. Public insurance adjusters in Colorado work for the property owners, not the insurance companies.
Public adjusters vs. insurance company adjusters
A public adjuster is an insurance professional hired by a homeowner. They receive the same training and certification as the adjusters hired by insurance companies. An independent adjuster can be hired by an insurance company if the company does not have staff adjusters available.
Public adjusters interpret policy coverage, identify and evaluate losses, and in some cases can help negotiate settlements between homeowners and insurance companies fighting over a claim. Public adjusters work exclusively for homeowners, often receiving a percentage of the total claim paid by the insurance company.
Key ways public adjusters help policyholders
Public adjusters help homeowners with insurance policies in key ways: identifying losses, calculating total repair cost and negotiating insurance settlements.
Homeowners who do not have the expertise to evaluate insurance policies, identify covered losses and estimate repair costs often turn to public adjusters to handle the process. Their training prepares them for these services. Public adjusters can relieve homeowners during the stressful and complicated claim filing process.
The public adjuster creates a separate evaluation of the damage to the property and establishes liability for the damage. Their report can help counter insurance claim adjusters who might argue that damage is not covered because it came before the storm or in some other way is not covered under the terms of the policy.
Insurance claims adjusters serve their clients
Insurance companies hire adjusters to serve their best interests, which are not always the same interests as the homeowner. Because so much insurance loss evaluation is subjective, these adjusters can be conservative in how much of the damage they define as covered losses under the homeowner’s insurance policy.
Public adjusters do not serve the interests of insurance companies. When a homeowner hires them, the public adjuster has a fiduciary obligation to protect the homeowner. In most cases, public adjusters receive a percentage of the total claim paid by the insurance company, while insurance company adjusters are paid by the company. Public adjusters can receive between 5% and 20% of a claim paid to a homeowner, although some states cap the amount of the insurance claim that an adjuster can receive.
