When the Damage is Done
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that property damage happens. Commercial or residential, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll deal some type of damage over the lifetime of the property, particularly in the Chicago metro area and Northwest Indiana, where weather is known it wreak havoc on roofing, siding and gutters.
The damage can come from from hail, collapse from snow and ice, water damage from frozen pipes, storm damage, mold, fire and more.
Needless to say, the world can throw a lot at your property. The question is what to do once it’s happened to you?
That’s where a licensed public adjuster comes in.
1. Working on Behalf of You
Is your insurance company really giving you what you deserve?
Sure, they have their adjusters but they’re working on behalf of the insurance company. Their goal is objectively different than yours, whereas an independent adjuster works for you.
The insurance company is, after all, a business and paying out more than they absolutely have to is not in their interest. The adjuster they employ is working from that angle when looking into your insurance claim.
Independent public adjusters have your interests squarely in mind for a couple of reasons. One, you hire them so the adjuster works for you and two, their compensation is typically a percentage of the settlement so it behooves them to get you everything you’re rightfully owed from the insurance company.
2. Local Experience and Understanding
If you’re a Calumet Region or Northwest Indiana resident, there are few things more important than local knowledge when it comes to assessing damage to real or personal property.
You live here and having someone on your side that does too is a gamechanger.
Working with public adjusters who truly understand the area, the root causes of damage and what it’ll take to make sure the issues in your claim or claims are really resolved going forward only comes from a local’s experience.
At the end of the day, having local support when dealing with property loss lends more confidence and assurance to the process.
In addition to understanding the area from a 30,000-foot view, local Indiana public adjusters know the legal nuances of the area as well, an essential differentiator in making a strong adjustment of a claim.
3. Policy and Claims Experts
You signed an agreement with the insurance company for XYZ terms but ultimately, it’s not in the best interest of their bottom line to pay out if they don’t absolutely have to, they’ll always aim for the minimum payment.
The contracts are often byzantine, dense and mystifying and while the intent isn’t to confuse you out of a proper settlement, it can feel that way. They do need to cover their bases though. Having experts on your side who are well versed on the ins and outs of those contracts, lending assistance to the insured, means you’re able to cut through the noise.
4. Time Savings
This is a big one.
Sure, you can go through this on your own. You can dig through the minutiae of your insurance policy, get your damage assessed and build your case to bring to them and their in-house adjusters. But do you have the time?
There are a lot of difficulties and stumbling blocks along the way to getting a settlement. Public adjusters serve to expedite the process because that’s their area of expertise. They know the pitfalls to look for and all the nooks & crannies of the law already.
5. Maximize the Compensation
All the above leads to getting you the settlement you truly deserve, or in other words, maximizing the compensation on your claim.
That’s the goal.
It’s about knowing the nature of your damages and presenting the facts to get the insurance company to adequately cover your loss and minimizing what you have to pay out of pocket.
And it’s squarely in the best interest of both and the public adjuster to get the loss covered fairly because, as mentioned, their compensation is generally tied to the settlement amount.
Suffering any time of loss or damage is already a hassle to deal with, and potentially devasting depending on the severity. Adding the uncertainty of whether insurance is covering real or personal property damage only serves to make matters worse.
Don’t go it alone, get a licensed and local Indiana public adjuster on your side to make sure you get what you’re owed on top of peace of mind.
Talk to us or schedule an inspection