4 Tips for Hiring an Insurance Claims Adjuster

When you experience property loss or damage, you will find yourself in a position where you would need an insurance claim. However, the filling of insurance can be burdensome and can also raise your insurance rate. In this case, you need to look for an insurance claims adjuster to help assist you with the claim.

Here are a few expert tips for hiring a public claims adjuster

Licensing

All legitimate public adjusters are licensed and certified. However, each state has its own rules and regulations. Some states may have specific licensing boards, while other states do not. When you hire an insurance adjuster, make sure that you check whether the adjuster has a valid license in your state or not.

Association Memberships

There are many public adjuster associations in the United States. Some of them include the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA), as well as many state level and local public insurance adjuster member associations. Although in most cases membership is not required, however, a public adjuster who is a member of national, state, or local public adjuster associations might be more committed to the profession than someone who is not.

Experience

Experience is one important factor that you need to consider when you hire an independent insurance claims adjuster. However, not all experience is equal. An adjuster may have ten years of experience dealing with business damage insurance claims, but may not be the right choice for your home’s flood damage insurance claim. The best way to ensure that you are hiring the right public adjuster is to find someone that fits your requirements.

Charges reasonable fees

Make sure that you do not hire any adjuster who charges higher fees on smaller claims. Some public adjuster's fees range between 5 percent to 12 percent, and the average is around 10 percent. When you plan to hire an insurance adjuster, make sure that you do at the earliest. Some adjusters ten to charge more when hired midway through the claim process.

Make sure that you get what you owed, and hire an insurance claims adjuster to fulfill your needs.

Tactics Insurance Companies May Use to Unfairly Handle Claims

When we buy an insurance policy, we are signing an agreement with our insurance provider that states that the insurance company is legally required to cover certain damages when they take place under certain conditions. Unfortunately, insurance companies don’t always work in your (policyholder) best interest’ and may use tactics to unfairly handle claims. If you have recently suffered a loss that was covered by a policy and not happy with the settlement amount offered by your insurance provider, you can hire an independent insurance claims adjuster who can assist you in providing a fair settlement. Here are some of the tactics sometimes used by insurance providers to unfairly handle claims-

• Negligence of the policyholder - The insurer may argue that the policyholder was knowingly engaged in risky behavior or was negligent. If the insurance company is able to establish the assumption of the risk defense, the policyholder might not be able to recover any damages.
  
• Limiting Liability- Insurance companies often try to limit the amount of money they have to pay to the policyholder filing for a claim. A commonly followed approach is to minimize the extent of injuries. Companies seek evidence that can show that the accident was not that severe, so that their liability gets limited.
  
• Confusing policyholder with policy language - Many times, insurers may try to confuse policyholders with policy language to avoid having to compensate them. They may cite to an exclusion which limits their obligations towards the policyholder.

Do not hesitate to challenge the assessment of your claim by a company adjuster.  Public claims adjusters are there to protect from bad behavior by insurance companies.

Get in touch with an insurance claims adjuster today to discuss your case and ensure a fair settlement.