When your home is damaged by fire, windstorm, or some other insured peril, you must work through your Homeowners insurance company’s claims process to get the money you need for repairs. Whether your damage is minor or extensive, both you and your insurance company must navigate through a maze of policy procedures, guidelines, and rules; but there is one major difference. Insurance companies have highly trained property adjusters to handle claims and protect their interests. They realize that it's crucial to have an expert to represent them, yet no insurance company spokesperson is likely to suggest that you hire an expert of your own. No one will explain that hiring a public adjuster will get you a better settlement.

The insurance claims process shouldn’t cost you money

Your insurance policy is a contract. The insurance company must pay you eventually, but getting to a final settlement often means working with insurance company priorities, not yours. A public adjuster understands that this could cost you money for a number of reasons. Here are just a few.

Early settlement

When an insurance company property adjuster receives an assignment, the goals are clear. The adjuster must contact you, inspect and evaluate your damage, report back to the insurance company and recommend a dollar reserve. In every claim update, an adjuster must also outline an action plan and time frame for closing your claim. That means while you are working hard to restore your home and get back to a normal life, insurance company higher-ups are pressuring your adjuster to settle, settle, settle.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with an early settlement. However, if it's too early in the process, it can result in a big financial hit. An early settlement can leave you on the hook for supplemental repairs, missed content items, out of pocket living expenses, and more.

Too much depreciation

Most homeowners insurance policies pay for awnings, appliances, personal property, and certain other items on an actual cash value (ACV) basis. The insurance adjuster will calculate property replacement costs and average life expectancies then reduce the final figures by a depreciation percentage deemed appropriate. If you don't know to negotiate a better settlement, the depreciation process can significantly reduce the amount of money you have to your replace furniture and other property.

Coverage intimidation

Property claims involve so many factors, it’s not unusual for a genuine coverage issue to arise. If you are a typical insured, you probably understand some Homeowners insurance coverage basics. With so many provisions, conditions, and definitions, your policy can still seem complicated and ambiguous. That puts you at a disadvantage when an insurance adjuster uses a coverage issue as leverage to reduce your claim payment.

• The company sends a letter outlining a coverage issue.
• You submit claim documentation and wait for a response.
• The adjuster restates the coverage issue, then offers to compromise your claim for a      reduced figure.

When this happens, the adjuster forces you to make a choice: a reduced payment -vs- no payment at all. If you don't have your own expert or you have neither the time nor the resources to go through the policy’s mandatory arbitration process, you will likely take the deal and walk away feeling cheated.

A public adjuster can be your expert

Public adjusters are the only property claim experts who put you first. They use information, knowledge and experience to navigate your claim process so you won’t have to do it alone. When you hire a public adjuster there's no up-front payment for services. Their fees are based on a small percentage of your final claim settlement. 

Miller Public Adjusters currently serves the states of
Wisconsin - Florida - Illinois - Indiana - Michigan - Minnesota - Texas

Call us 24 hours a day at (800)958-4829 to schedule an appointment or
please fill out a Free Claim Review to see if we can help.