PUBLIC ADJUSTER IN MESA ARIZONA – NO CLAIM IS TO SMALL
The Farmers Insurance adjuster said, “why did your customers hire a public adjuster for such a small claim?” I replied, “Because the scope of repairs that was written by you was not sufficient to cover the damage sustained”. The Farmer’s company adjuster had indicated by his scope, that outside the flooring, there was only $1,250.00 worth of damage.
My customer, after the deduction of his deductible, held in his hand a check for $250.00. Not sure what to do, he had searched on the internet for a public adjuster in Mesa, Arizona and had come across our web listing and gave us a call. This was indeed a small claim, but when properly adjusted, settled out at over $17,000.00.
The increase in cost was not an inflation on our part, but only a complete and accurate itemization of the damages caused by the sudden and accidental broken plumbing system pipe.
The Farmers adjuster had also included in his scope the cost of the flooring, a laminate wood floor, at the price indicated by the pricing and evaluation service called ITEL, despite the fact that the insured had in his possession a sample of the flooring for the adjuster’s inspection as well as the original purchase receipts. The costs were significantly different, with the purchase receipts being much larger than what ITEL had reported.
Only after our customer engaged our services as a public adjuster, and our presentation to the Farmers company adjuster the complete and accurate scope of repairs for the claim, did the claim get the fair look that it deserved. I am not sure what the reason company adjusters and independent adjusters choose to not include all the factors and components of a claim in their scopes for repair. Maybe they are overloaded by their workload? Maybe they don’t have the proper experience necessary to make these determinations? Maybe time is an element to be investigated, as it takes much longer to write a complete and accurate scope of repairs. Whatever the reason, if insurance company representatives would write complete and accurate scopes of work the first time they visit the claim site, the need forpublic adjusters would be greatly diminished.
For some crazy reason, I don’t foresee this being anything that will magically change in the near future. That being said, I invite all insurance company adjusters who are annoyed by the insured’s hiring of a public adjuster, even for small claims, to treat their insured’s better by writing a complete and accurate scope the first time, especially on small claims. Owners of real property and other interested parties will not stand by any longer and fight alone for what their policies should pay for their damages. They will continue to hire public adjusters, as in this instance, and many will see the value of their claim increase to what it should have been from the beginning. As in this case from 5K to over 17k.
At Hudson Douglas Public Adjusters, no claim is to small for our evaluation. We offer a free claim evaluation to anyone who asks. We recommend that you hire a public adjuster even before you call your insurance company. But if you did not and you have a check In your hand that you feel will not adequately cover the costs of the repairs necessary, give us a call we can help!
