On December 29, 2013 this rental home in Tampa, Fl. caught fire due to a cooking accident caused by the owner’s tenant.  Sadly, the tenant had no renters insurance and they lost everything. 

In this particular case, the owner was savvy enough not to make any quick decisions and hired a contractor to specifically board-up and secure the property as required by the insurance policy.  He then patiently waited for his insurance company claims adjuster to provide a repair estimate.  After waiting and waiting the owner quickly realized he was not getting anywhere fast.  He then decided to search for help and for some reason remembered the words “Public Adjuster”.  Soon thereafter, public adjuster Rick Tutwiler was called in to assist. 

Mr. Tutwiler immediately called the insurance company adjuster who advised that he had been very busy and was having problems with his estimating software program on his computer.  Mr. Tutwiler said that was not a problem as he had already completed a repair estimate, which the adjuster could use. 

The two adjusters quickly came to an agreement on the scope of the repairs but still had a few issues related to price.  Mr. Tutwiler advised the company adjuster of a new pricing update to his software and Viola, the issue was resolved!   

Not only did Mr. Tutwiler save the insurance company some money by not having to pay for long term loss of rental income but the policyholder was able to quickly fix this property without further delay.  A true win win for all.