What is a Public Adjuster?

Florida Public Adjusting is typically dominated by former claims adjusters that have worked as an adjuster for one of the major insurance companies and has now decided to serve the public with their skills.  Florida Public Adjusters can either work for a Public Adjusting Firm or freelance.

The services that Florida Public Adjusters perform can vary slightly from other states, although, Public Adjusters by and large do the same thing; they help the public settle their property damage claims for a fair amount.

One mistake a consumer often makes is confusing the term Public Adjuster with that of a Private Adjuster.  Although it is a slight misnomer, a Private Insurance Adjuster actually works as an agent of an insurance company.  Public Adjusters represent only the policyholder and have no affiliation with any insurance companies.

Public Adjusters are experts on property loss estimating and are very familiar with the local building codes.  One major problem we have following a catastrophe is when out of state catastrophe claims adjusters with potentially little or no construction training at all, descend on Florida to write estimates where building codes are constantly changing and building design may be very different than how buildings are designed in the claim adjusters city of origin.

It is a necessity that these claims adjusters come to stricken areas after a natural disaster due to the amount of property damage and small number of adjusters that are stationed permanently in any particular city.  We appreciate the long hours and hard work that so many adjusters provide to us after a disaster.  However, as in any business with any amount of volume, problems occur and sometimes the people that are intended to fix these problems can cause even bigger problems.  This is why Public Adjusters exist and why the Florida Department of Financial Services finally recognized and licensed Public Adjusters in Florida to help its citizens with their property damage insurance claims.

Due to the method in which FL Public Adjusters are compensated for their efforts, even catastrophe victims that are truly devastated and short on money can afford their services. The reason why is that FL Public Adjusters charge absolutely nothing up front.  Fl Public Adjusters are only allowed to charge a percentage of the claim, and then only if they are able to negotiate a higher claim settlement than you have already received.

Sadly, Public Insurance Adjusting is somewhat of a specialized field.  Resultantly, Public Adjusters are drastically limited in number after a major disaster and their services can be difficult to retain.  In the case of a Hurricane, it is usually best to contact a Florida Public Adjuster once you’re reasonably certain the path of the storm will affect your property.  This will allow you to be near the top of the Public Adjusters list in case your property is damaged.