General | Homeowners | Commercial
A public adjuster is a licensed authority on adjustment of loss due to a covered peril that you can retain to assist you in the preparation, filing, adjustment and settlement of your insurance claims.
The public adjuster is employed exclusively by you, the policyholder, and serves only the policyholder’s interests. The public adjuster does not work for any insurance company.
A company or staff adjuster is an adjuster who is an employee of an insurance company. They represent the interests of the insurance company and are paid by the insurance company.
An independent adjuster is an adjuster who is hired on a contract basis and paid by an insurance company to represent the interests of the insurance company.
The public adjuster will represent the interests of the policyholder exclusively; the company and independent adjusters cannot represent the policyholder’s interest and by law must represent the interest of the insurance company that employs them.
The typical insurance policy contains hundreds of provisions and stipulations and many forms and endorsements that are constantly changing. Most people do not know or understand the policy provisions and cannot afford to learn them while in the process of filing their claim. Additionally, most do not realize the burden of proof rests with them, the policyholder, and may not provide the information necessary for a full recovery.
No. Your agent is not licensed to assist policyholder’s with the preparation, filing, and adjustment of insurance claims. The agent represents the interests of the insurance company, not the insured.
No claimant is required to hire assistance of any sort, however, it stands to reason that a trained, knowledgeable, professional is better able to navigate the claims process and negotiate a greater recovery than one could do for oneself.
The question for the do-it-yourselfer is: Is it worth it?
By undertaking the task of adjusting your own insurance claim the insured puts his/her own recovery at risk as the failure to fulfill the obligations under the contract of insurance can result in a lower claim payment or worse, an outright denial of the claim.
Because simply owning an insurance policy does not guarantee a full recovery from the insurance company.
Many do not realize that the policy is actually a contract between the policyholder and the insurance company and that if the policyholder does not perform its duties according to the terms of the contract then the insurance company does not have to provide the coverage. The public adjuster will assist the policyholder in complying with all terms of the policy thereby protecting the policyholder’s right of recovery.
The public adjuster will provide all the proof of loss necessary to assure a full and fair settlement.
InterClaim®’s fee is a percentage of the insurance company’s settlement with you. By maximizing your settlement InterClaim®’s services can save you the cost of our fee at the very least.
InterClaim® will convey all offers tendered by the insurer to the client. InterClaim will provide our analysis and our recommendations of said offers. InterClaim® will not accept or reject any offer tendered by the insurer without the authorization and direction of the client. Therefore, the client maintains control over the settlement process.
No. Once you hire InterClaim® to represent you, InterClaim® will make all meetings with the insurance company, their experts, and any other service providers that will be part of the claims process.
Absolutely! It is our standard procedure to communicate the content of all meetings with the insurance company, their experts and other service providers to our client. InterClaim® believes the insured that is kept well informed is able to make the best decisions on their claim matters.
When the insurance company is notified that their policyholder engaged the assistance of a public adjuster, they know immediately that the policyholder takes their claim seriously.
This coverage makes it financially possible to reopen your business as soon as it is reasonably possible, in your damaged location or at a temporary location.
If you wish to stay in business an immediate assessment must be made of where and when you can resume your business activity. This decision is going to be based on the degree of damage to your real and business personal property.
InterClaim®’s business interruption expert will assist the business owner with identifying the options and executing the decision while complying with the terms and conditions of the business interruption coverage.
InterClaim® will immediately conduct a coverage investigation to determine the terms and conditions of your business interruption coverage. InterClaim® will also conduct an analysis of your financial books and records to determine the financial condition of the business. If you are properly insured and your books and records are up to date InterClaim® will prepare a preliminary report as a basis for an advance payment from the insurer. Such advance payment can be used as a recovery fund to continue operations.
Your claim is based on the previous income experience of your business before the occurrence and the projection of your future income based on that past experience. The claim begins on the date of the occurrence and ends when the business reopens with the same facility as existed before the loss occurred.
InterClaim® will collect and organize the data necessary to produce the claim and produce a projection of the final amount of loss. InterClaim® will use this documentation to request and secure an advance payment for the insured’s immediate use. InterClaim® will then manage the claim and negotiate with the insurer and/or their forensic accounting experts toward a full and final settlement.
Would you allow the Internal Revenue Service to prepare your tax return? Of course not, and for the same reason you should not let the insurance company prepare your business interruption claim, or any other part of your claim.
It is InterClaim®’s experience that many times the inventory list maintained by the business owner is not an accurate reflection of the actual inventory that exists after the loss occurs. Further, most times the inventory does not include all furniture, fixtures, and equipment damaged by the occurrence. Therefore, if you do not conduct a full physical inventory of all damaged property as it exists after your loss, you will not have an accurate inventory of your property. This will result in one of two possible outcomes; you will possibly understate your claim thereby shorting yourself, or worse, if your perpetual inventory is inaccurate you may be overstating your claim thereby jeopardizing your own right of recovery.
It is InterClaim®’s opinion that unless the owner of the property conducts his/her own physical inventory he/she cannot be confident that a full physical inventory has been conducted.
InterClaim® will conduct a full physical inventory of all damaged furniture, fixtures, equipment and stock, and as necessary the undamaged property as well. InterClaim® will accurately and expeditiously research values of all property and prepare a claim to include all information required by your insurer to give fair consideration to your loss.
If you have suffered a loss please call InterClaim® (1.888.433.1919) and one of our courteous, compassionate associates will answer your questions and provide the assistance you need.
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