It can be emotionally taxing when your home was ruined due to a terrible disaster. The next steps of repair and compensation retrieval can be made easier with the help of a public adjuster. These licensed professionals will help survey your property damage and provide an accurate estimate of how much you are due. They can review both home residences and businesses, and using industry-trained knowledge, will tell you the total amount. They work independently from insurance companies and can help you prepare an adjusted claim for your insurance company to accept.
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Public Adjuster
These professionals know how insurance policies operate and will help you get the correct compensation that you are due. However, there are different aspects of your work for you to consider.
Pro: Public Adjusters Provide a Higher Estimate
They will give you the true price of your damage. Unlike insurance companies, they are not trying to save money and work unbiasedly. Insurance company public adjusters will give you an estimate that may be biased by company policies. In general, insurance companies want to save money and will always go for the lower cost.
Pro: Public Adjuster Are Free for a Consultation
A public adjuster will come to your home or property and evaluate the damage for no cost. They will not charge for any upfront costs of this initial consultation.
Pro: Their Background is Reputable
Licensed public adjusters always have an education or background in construction or a similar industry. This means they understand the costs that go into building all aspects of a home or establishment. With this experience, they can provide accurate estimates of how much compensation you are owed.
Pro: They Use Sophisticated Technology
Public adjusters apply the use of cutting-edge technology to come up with these estimates. They are highly technical and are trained to apply these tools for the right property loss costs. Their advanced software can’t be downloaded or used so easily by the average person. Hiring them is valuable due to their skillset.
Con: Public Adjusters Charge To File a Claim
While initially free, they will charge a percentage of how much compensation you are due. For example, you can receive $200,000 in damages and the public adjuster may charge 8% of this, giving them a $16,000 chunk. This may still be worth it because you might receive far less from your insurance company without their help. The good news is there is a cap of the percentage they can take in every state.
Con: Public Adjuster Have Different Levels of Experience
When you hire a public adjuster, you have to account for their education. Not all public adjusters have the same level of experience and knowledge. That is because they all worked in different industrial fields of construction, and not all have experienced working in the same kind of disasters. Some may be more knowledgeable in fire disasters, while others are smarter concerning hurricane damage. Because of this, you have to make sure when you talk to them that they have the right level of experience for the type of property damage you have.
Find Out More Information
According to the site hopepublicadjusters.com, you can usually speak freely with a public adjuster and they will provide you with all the information you need to get started.