What is the claims process for disaster victims?

The five steps to reclaiming your life after your home and life have been destroyed

Why use a public insurance adjuster?

1. Read everything carefully before signing anything. Your insurance company representatives will first present you with emergency money, for immediate needs and shelter. The second round of payments is where you need to be careful. Do not sign anything that limits your rights to seek additional income.

2. Find a copy of your insurance policy. If it is destroyed or not accessible, you should be able to obtain a complete copy of the original insurance policy with all its endorsements from the agent who sold you the coverage.

3. Make sure your family is safe. Most insurance policies include language that allows you to find a residence similar to your current one. Find a hotel or rental house near your children’s work or school that is an appropriate size, clean, and comfortable. Find a place similar in size and accommodation to your previous residence.

4. Seek professional help. Insurance companies hire and train their adjusters to represent the interests of the insurance company and, ultimately, its investors. In many cases, these adjusters do a great job helping their policyholders. However, sometimes your adjusters focus too much on the bottom line of the insurance company instead of paying the policyholder what is owed to them under the terms of their insurance policy. If you are in doubt about what your insurance company is telling you, or you simply don’t have enough time and experience to fully assess and resolve your claim, contact a professional who will work for you and represent only your best interests.

5. If you’re doing it alone, go slow and take your time. The insurance company may pressure you to speed up the process; You may be eager to put all of this behind you as quickly as possible to get back into your life, but you need to resist that urge. In these types of cases, especially in homes that have many improvements and renovations, or in families with many possessions, the rush definitely creates waste. Take your time and carefully review each and every document before signing any document. If you don’t agree with the repair or replacement estimates provided by your insurance provider, fight back.

Why use a public insurance adjuster.

In many cases, the Public Adjuster can get more money from the Insurance Company than you can on your own. Even after deducting the small percentage of the Public Adjuster’s fee (much less than hiring an attorney), you will probably win.

For most families affected by a disaster, the biggest advantage of using a public insurance adjuster is that they can get back to living their lives while a professional takes care of all the details. Instead of spending 20 hours or more a week researching replacement and rebuild costs, analyzing and completing various forms, and negotiating with insurance company appraisers and restoration experts, the Public Adjuster can do all of that. This means that you can return to your family life. Going back to normal and returning to a routine schedule will greatly help you and your family adjust and move on.

For many, the time savings and emotional satisfaction of having a professional handle the minutiae and painful negotiations is far more important than the additional funds the adjuster can obtain for them. It is more than just money.