A public adjuster, or sometimes referred to as a private adjuster, the main role is to make the lives of our client’s easier when dealing with their insurance company on a claim. We work hard to ensure that our clients receive the maximum possible payout amount on their claims. This is done by the knowledge and experience we have in the insurance claim industry. We utilize the latest technology to assist in the damage assessment.

Most people assume that all they have to do is file a claim with their insurance company, and they’ll be paid the amount of money that they’re owed. Back in the good ole days you could depend on that, but in today’s world everything is about company profits. To do that the insurance companies pay out as little as possible on their claims. That is where we come in, by hiring a public adjuster they know that we are going to hold their feet to the fire until the proper settlement is obtained.

I was at a meeting one time with a claims supervisor for one of the largest insurance companies and he boosted “they automatically deny 75% of all commercial hail claims, of this 50% will give up and not pursue the claim after all, then once the insured fights the claim, the company will settle with 20% of those, but of the last 5% (which happens to be the larger claims) they will make the insured file a lawsuit before they will try to settle the claim”.

We are paid a percentage of the settlement amount. That means that we are not successful in obtaining a settlement from the insurance company to you, then we do not make any money. The percentage rate differs from state to state as based on limits set by each states department of insurance. For instance if we have a contract for 10% of the settlement, and the claim settles for $10,000 then our fees would be $1,000.

At Second Opinion Public Adjusters, we will come out and do a damage assessment and advise you as to what we feel the claim settlement should be. We will then file the claim on behalf. We will prepare our estimate for the damages to the property along with a photograph report of the damages. We will meet the insurance company adjuster at the loss location and point out all of the damages. We will review the insurance company’s estimate when they complete it and point out any deficiencies. Once the check is issued we will assist you in the processing of the check since it will probably have the mortgage company’s name on the check. We will request a re-inspection for any additional damages found during the repair process and meet the insurance company adjuster back out at the loss location and repeat as many times as necessary to obtain the proper settlement for your claim.