What Is A Public Adjuster & Should You Hire One?
In Texas, a Public Adjuster is a type of insurance claim adjuster who is licensed specifically to represent the policy holder. Also called a Public Insurance Adjuster, or Private Adjuster, they essentially perform the exact same job duties as an insurance adjuster, but they do it for you, the policy holder. In our experience, their average fee is 25% of any "new money", never to exceed an amount equal10% of your total claim.
It is worth noting that only insurance adjusters have the authority to approve or deny your claim. A public adjuster can make threats and/or complaints to the TX Dept. of Insurance, but they have no actual power to force your insurance company to approve your claim.
Public Adjusters Are Often
Ignored By Insurance Adjusters
When a PA is ignored, they have 3 main options for moving your claim forward.
Option 1: File complaints with the TDI. They (or you) can file a complaint with the TX Dept. of Insurance. If your insurance company's adjuster has been verifiably negligent, this tactic will yield results quickly.
However, if the dispute between your private insurance adjuster and the insurance company's adjuster is related to denial of coverage, then TDI complaints probably won't help your case. Especially, if the insurance company obtained reports, from 3rd party experts, which support their position. In order to resolve that type of coverage dispute, legal recourse will be necessary.
Many Public Adjusters Use APPRAISAL To Settle Claim Disputes
Full disclosure; We are a big fans of the APPRAISAL PROCESS. It is inexpensive. It works well, and we wish more public adjusters would utilize it.
Option 2: Use APPRAISAL to settle the claim
quickly and fairly..
As long as your claim dispute is not purely an issue of coverage denial, public adjusters can use the APPRAISAL clause of your policy to settle the dispute.
Of course, you can also demand APPRAISAL yourself, without the help of a public adjuster.
Appraisal is as a form of alternative dispute resolution that is “baked into” most insurance policies. It is faster than a lawsuit, far less expensive, and often yields amazing results for the policy holder. To learn more about how APPRAISAL can be used to settle your claim dispute, just follow the link here.
Some Public Adjusters Flip 90% of Their Claims To An Attorney
Option 3: Flip the claim to an attorney.
Many public adjusters are fully aware that "their gun has no bullets". So, when they encounter an unreasonable, or incompetent insurance adjuster that "won't play ball", they flip the case to an attorney. It seems to be a fairly popular business model for public adjusters in Texas.
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The strategy makes sense. We perform a lot of 3rd party expert services for attorneys, and have seen first hand, how effective they can be at settling claim disputes. But, that does not mean we believe hiring an attorney is always a good first choice.
It is true that attorneys have real bullets in their gun (metaphorically), and they can make insurance companies pay in ways that public adjusters can only dream about. However, it often takes 18-24 months to get a case settled, and most attorneys charge 40-45% of your claim settlement plus expenses. So even if a judge awards them triple the amount your PA was demanding, your actual net payment might not be much more than the PA.s original demand.
Should You Hire A Public Adjuster For Your Claim?
Property Damage Consumer Advocates of Texas is not a public adjusting firm. Therefore, licensing restrictions prohibit public adjusters from paying us any type of commission. So, rest assured we have no financial motive to give you biased advice.
For the sake of transparency, it's important to tell you how it is that we know so much about the "Insurance Claim Maze" works. Our in depth understanding this industry comes from providing appraisal & umpire services, construction consulting, and expert witness services, to Plaintiff Attorneys & Public Adjusters. We also provide those same services to Insurance Companies, insurance adjusters, and Property Management Companies.
We literally work for both sides of the insurance claim war. And, the fact that we do so is evidence that we are competent and unbiased in our ability to assess property damage, determine cause of loss, estimate repair costs, and handle APPRAISAL cases.
The Answer Is... Maybe
The truth is, it is impossible to give you good advice without knowing some details about your claim.
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Ask yourself, who is better equipped to help you navigate the insurance claim maze than us.
We are an industry insider, who walks freely between enemy camps. We have a network of trusted public adjusters, none of whom are legally allowed to pay us a commission. That means we have no financial interest in the outcome of your claim... which means you can trust our advice will be unbiased.
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So, if you're interested in our advice on this issue, just click the link below, answer a few questions, and we'll get back to you with some solid advice as to whether or not we think you would benefit by hiring a public adjuster for your claim.
