What Is a Public Adjuster

Public adjusters are experts on property loss adjustment who are retained by policy holders to assist in preparing, filing and adjusting insurance claims.

Most people who have a claim have no idea how to prepare and adjust it. They more or less rely on their "insurance adjuster" to do that for them. BIG MISTAKE! What you must understand is that it is the insurance adjuster’s job to make company inspired settlements with policyholders, most of whom lack the fundamental information and adjusting skills to be on a level playing field with the adjuster. A Public Adjuster can help you level the field.

Knowledge is leverage. The more you know, the more power you have, and insurance adjusters are well trained to cut corners and save their company money and, more and more, look for ways to avoid paying claims. You need someone trained just as well in your corner looking out for your interests. The objective in adjusting should be to get as good a result as possible, as quickly as possible, as trouble free as possible. Most policyholders will continue their fate of dealing ineffectively due to the fact that they lack ability, information, and understanding. To adjust is to negotiate. An adjuster is a negotiator. Usually, only the person representing the insurance company is considered the adjuster, and the policyholder receives his/her adjustment, as previously stated, from a company inspired adjuster. In order to arrive at an adjusted settlement, each side has its own needs to satisfy. The less you know, the more likely you are to be forced to meet the needs of the insurance company. You must know your needs! * You must know your rights! A Public Adjuster can help you with both of these. If you don't know what to expect and how to get it, you may become overwhelmed and give in too easily.

No one knows the outcome of an adjustment beforehand. Therefore, it is impossible to anticipate to what extent either party will give in to the needs of the other. Bargaining power becomes the main ingredient in adjusting. It usually comes about naturally as facts come to the surface. Adjusting is a matter of give and take, and unless you are dealing from a position of strength and knowledge like a Public Adjuster can offer, you may be forced to give too much.

Insurance adjusters facing a knowledgeable public adjuster usually enter on a more cooperative basis, and there is a strong likelihood that each will strive for common goals.

Usually a policyholder is having to deal with a claim at a time following a disaster. Psychologically, most people are not up to the task under these circumstances. It is very common to see people in a state of shock, confusion and helplessness. A professional public adjuster will be emotionally level and competent.

The time of a personal disaster is not the time to be thinking about all of this for the first time. Think about it now and take comfort in the knowledge that a Public Adjuster can be there to protect your interest if indeed the unthinkable happens to you.