It's difficult to prepare for a fire loss. This Miami-based client had their Chiefland, Fl. rental property catch fire while the tenants were cooking. The insurance company adjuster wrote an estimate that fell well short of the cost to fix the property. A frustrated owner contacted Tutwiler & Associates Public Adjusters. Florida claim adjuster Nick Chase immediately scheduled inspections with a State Fire Investigator to determine causation and the insurance company field adjuster to reinspect the damages.

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As we approach the winter season, we are all starting to turn on our heat, bundle up, pull out those space heaters for our drafty basements and turn on the heated blanket at night. While all the above are effective ways to stay warm during the winter months, it’s important to note that all of these methods of warmth are major contributors to the origin of commercial or residential house fires.

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ISV, LLC is a prominent property development company based in Windermere, Florida with a 9-year growing real estate portfolio.  Sadly, ISV’s owner learned that two of his residential multi-family dwelling structures in Sanford, Florida suffered extensive fire damage on May 11, 2021. Following a cause and origin investigation, fire officials were unable to determine the area of origin.  Despite ISV’s timely claim reporting and C&O Report submission, the claim adjuster assigned by ISV’s insurance company notified the claim was still being investigated by the carrier, informing: “the process could very well take several months to finalize.”

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Following a major commercial fire at a Ybor City nightclub in Tampa, Fl. the property owners made a quick decision to hire what turned out to be an unqualified Public Adjuster.  That adjuster decided to bring in a restoration company that he was friends with and together they made many mistakes with the claim. The insurance company offered $85,000 on the claim that obviously required a greater sum to put the property back to pre-loss condition. Client frustration built up and subsequently both companies were fired. But the damage was done, and the claim was a mess. In fact, the damage became worse!

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In the early morning hours of March, 2020, the homeowner (now residing out of state) received a call notifying him that his home caught fire destroying everything. After confirming that his ex and his son were safe, the insured notified his insurance company of the fire loss. While filing the claim the homeowner was asked a few basic questions that apparently raised a red flag with the insurer. Three days later he received a Reservation of Rights (ROR) letter. The ROR letter is used to notify a policyholder that the insurance carrier is investigating the claim and is issued to reserve the insurance company’s right and or preserve any timelines of state statutes to deny a claim at the conclusion of the investigation. The letter stated that “the investigation has revealed that you were not occupying the residence premises at the time of the above noted loss.” It was obvious the insurance company was making an issue of this as a reason to deny the claim.

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In February of 2019, the owner of a popular family Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh and his employees cleaned up for the night and headed home not knowing that when they locked the doors, it would be for the last time. What happened over the next number of months became a lesson in what can happen with what appears to be a straightforward property insurance claim and why it can help to have a public insurance adjuster advocating for you.

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A thriving furniture manufacturing plant located in NE Mississippi builds 3,500 sofas, loveseats and recliners each day out of its 1,000,000 square foot facility. The finished goods are stored then shipped from the warehouse to numerous retailers nationwide.  In January of 2018, an accidental fire occurred destroying 400,000 square feet of the insured’s building, along with almost $10 million of finished goods and raw materials. The insurance company was immediately notified and promptly investigated the claim.

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After a severe fire did significant damage to an orthopedics practice in North Carolina, public adjuster Keith Grams of Tutwiler & Associates was retained to represent the policyholders. Mr. Grams says this was an arson claim that came with an extraordinary amount of tight scrutiny and investigation by both insurance companies that were involved.

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Periodically, we like to highlight a property claim we’ve handled based on something new we’ve learned, alert readers of important insurance claim issues or just to show the value public adjusters can bring to the claims process. This was a particularly satisfying claim. Not only for the settlement amount we were able to achieve but because it helped improve the client’s perception of the value of public adjusters as you will see by the note at the end of this article.

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The public insurance adjusters at Tutwiler & Associates work extremely hard everyday to prove why our industry profession is so valuable to policyholders throughout the United States. We work with potential clients to guide them in their decision making and impress them with our knowledge while they take time to decide their best course of action. We strive to educate policyholders after a serious loss when they are the most vulnerable.  Case in point involves a massive electrical fire that occurred at a condominium on August, 2015 in Sarasota, FL. 

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