The storm season is approaching, and your family budget is dependent on proper insurance payouts after storm damage. Any damage to your home or car is documented by the insurance company, but you do not have to stand pat with the figures you receive from an insurance adjuster. Read the tips in this article to learn what a public insurance adjuster can do for you. A company like Benchmark Adjusters provides a service that may challenge what the insurance says in their official report.
#1: Surveying The Damage
You must survey the damage at your home as soon as it happens. Take pictures of the house before you meet with an adjuster, and ensure that you keep these pictures to compare to what the adjuster sees. The damage may not look quite as bad when the adjuster visits, and you need to have proof of what occurred just after the storm.
#2: Call Both Adjusters At Once
Contact your insurance company and the public adjuster at the same time. They should not arrive at your home at the same time, but they should survey the scene with 24 hours of each other. Both adjusters will give you an estimate of the damage, and you can compare these estimates after you have been visited by both adjusters.
#3: Comparing Both Estimates
You must use the estimate from the public adjuster to contest a low estimate from the insurance company. You must use the full report from the public adjuster to show the insurance company items that were missed by their own adjuster. You may choose to contest the numbers from the insurance company, and they may relent with a larger payout. You also have the option to ask your public adjuster to help you file a complaint with the local insurance commissioner.
#4: Filing A Complaint
Your public adjuster can help complete the paperwork for a formal complaint over an insurance estimate. Insurance companies have to comply with local rules if they want to operate in your state, and you can ask your public adjuster to submit the complaint form to the state. This form should be accompanied by paperwork prepared by the public adjuster, and you must follow up with this complaint as often as is necessary.
#5: Getting A New Offer
Your insurance company take a public adjuster’s estimate seriously, and you will receive a new offer from their adjuster. You should run this estimate by your public adjuster before you accept it. Your adjuster knows where the line is, and they will ensure that you do not overstep your bounds by asking for too much money. A truly cruel insurance company could accuse you of insurance fraud if you make demands beyond what the law provides for.
Hiring a public insurance adjuster provides another layer of security after damage occurs at your home. These adjusters provide a public service that may refute what the insurance company tells you. Their findings help families get more of their money back for repairs.