Many people might be surprised that having an adjuster look at your damage after a storm like Hurricane Milton is only the beginning of the insurance claim process. The field adjuster that inspected your property may not be an employee of the insurance company. They are typically independent adjusters on contract and typically are paid a set fee or percentage for each claim they handle. This is especially true during disaster situations when there are so many claims to adjust, there is a shortage of qualified adjusters, and they are hard pressed to get to as many claims as possible. Ask what firm they are with when they come to inspect your property and note how thorough they are recording your damage and if they are “listening” to you.

Unlike the good old days when field adjusters had the ability and authority to make offers and settle claims quickly, most initial inspections are typically being done to gather enough basic claim information to allow the insurance company to set a reserve dollar amount of the claim the carrier expects to pay. It also help them determine what other resources are needed to adjust or investigate the loss. Don’t hesitate to ask lots of pointed questions and pay close attention to what the adjuster has to say about your damage. But be wary about making commitments or engaging in conversation about issues involving the cause of loss and damage as this should be completely investigated before commitments are made. We’ve seen too many policyholders unfamiliar with “insurance industry lingo” talk about floods when they are really referring to water intrusion or agree with a seemingly innocent comment about their loss only to have it come back to impact their claim after a thorough investigation.  People just need to be mindful of not getting into discussions of wind versus flood if both perils potentially impacted the property.  By all means, cooperate fully with the company adjuster, (that is your contractual duty as the insured) just be careful. And if the adjuster or the contractor they are sending out on the initial inspection tells you there is no need to hire your own public insurance adjuster, report them to the Florida Department of Financial Services as you have a right to hire a licensed adjuster that represents you and not the insurance company.

We always encourage our clients to ask for advanced payment on the undisputed portion of their claim. Any advance should be paid under the content coverage so if there is a mortgage the bank or mortgage holders (bank) name is not on the advance check. If the mortgage holder is put on the advance check, this will delay the ability for ready cash to help you make repairs.

There is always an outside chance that some adjusters who work directly for your insurance carrier may have the authority and can settle a claim but beware of signing a release. If a “Proof of Loss” form is required from an adjuster to get an advance or partial payment, then the policyholder needs to write on the form “PARTIAL PAYMENT FULL LOSS AND DAMAGES TBD” (to be determined). This is an accepted practice and no adjuster from the carrier should balk at this.

Once your claim is submitted to your insurance carrier, it typically goes to an inside claims department for review. That’s right folks, a person who never saw your property is most likely the one who is making decisions on what you will actually be paid. If the field adjuster missed some damage the inside claims staff will never know and in some cases they may not always agree with the field adjuster’s conclusions on what damages they did document. This is why many of our public adjusters who get involved in a claim after the initial inspection will request another inspection once they have documented the claim. They will meet with the adjuster onsite to review the details of the inspection, point out any damage that was missed or incorrectly noted in order to represent the best interests of our client.  If there is anything suspicious about your claim, information is missing or something seems out of the ordinary, the insurance company claims department might also decide to re-inspect the property, call in engineers or send it to an investigative unit that looks for insurance fraud.  This and the mountain of claims that get filed when there is a serious storm event like the wind and flood damage from Hurricane Milton is what can cause many of the delays that occur processing your claim.

If you have severe damage, having a public insurance adjuster that works on your behalf to make sure your claim is properly valued can be to your advantage in getting the settlement you deserve. If you have questions regarding Hurricane Milton related property insurance damage claims visit our website or contact us to submit a question to one of our public adjuster insurance claim experts.