One difference between a public adjuster and an independent adjuster is that a public adjuster works in favor of the policyholder and the independent adjuster works for the insurance company. The insurance company hires the independent adjuster on a contractual basis to manage the claim, whereas the public adjuster is hired by the policyholder to work with the insurance company to compensate for the covered losses.
Getting to know the internal workings of an insurance claim process could be a tough task for many, but knowing the difference between a public adjuster and an independent adjuster is vital to the process of receiving a claim for a policyholder who may have lost a great deal due to property damage.
The public adjuster is the one who will stand by you through thick and thin, guiding you through processing, settling and presenting the insurance claim. At the end of it all, he or she will make every effort to get the policyholder a claim that is 120-150% more than what’s initially offered by the insurance firm at the onset. The public adjuster and the policyholder need to agree on how the adjuster gets paid; It’s usually a percentage of the final settlement.
The independent adjuster is the person hired by the insurance firm to represent you in the settlement process for the claim. His or her service fee is paid by the insurance firm. At first, it might seem to you that the independent adjuster is helping you with the settlement… but the term independent adjuster is misleading. The reality is that the independent adjuster is employed by the insurance firm. In legal parlance, he or she is the legal representative of the insurance company.
A policyholder smartly utilizes the services of a public adjuster… he or she handles many responsibilities in the claim settlement process, from processing and submitting claim documents to negotiating for a decent payoff to the policyholder. The public adjuster’s responsibility is to get the maximum payout to the policyholder for their losses.
Scores of property owners prefer using the services of a public adjuster to file their insurance claims and complete the process efficiently.
Professional claims adjusters are adept at handling all types of claims with an expertise that comes naturally to them, coming from years of experience in the industry. They typically help people go from a no-win situation to a payout that covers all their losses and then some.