5 Secrets On Dealing With Insurance Adjuster After Home Damage

By Mary Green


The first messenger an insurer will send your way after a disaster will be an adjuster. His role is to assess how much your home has been damaged and also ensure that the insurer pays the least amount possible. Your tact when dealing with insurance adjuster after home damage will determine the level to which you are compensated. These suggestions will help you get the most from your insurer.

Review your policy to determine how much you are entitled to and how to make the claim. Behind the scenes, adjusters are tasked with ensuring that the amount paid is reduced to the lowest possible. This will only happen if you allow them to skip some items and value others below what is reasonable. Some of the areas you are likely to lose compensation over include generalized items. Adjusters keep some items out in order to reduce compensation.

The photos and videos you take will prove valuable. There are digital cameras on phones and other electronic items in the house. Make use of them to document the extent of your loss. If an adjuster claims that your house was not damaged to a particular extent, you can always proof through the photos. Videos are even more valuable because they are animated.

Temporary repairs will be for your own good. Insurers take every opportunity to decline paying. They will even claim that the damage happened after the storm because of your negligence and fail to pay. Such an argument can be admitted in court. To escape such traps, you need to perform repairs where necessary, especially to prevent continued damage.

Prepare for a tough encounter with adjusters. Their primary role is to ensure that insurers pay the least possible amount. They will therefore ask leading questions that are aimed at trapping you. They also skip items and push you around to admit guilt. The battle will only be won if you have fully understood the policy that has covered you.

Be honest to the core. Insurers will ask questions and document the information you have provided. In case you do not know, for instance, the cause of fire, say exactly that you do not know. Lying or concealing information will cause you to be accused of fraud. This will affect the amount of compensation you get and may even cause the entire claim to be dismissed.

It is not prudent or mandatory to sign the release letter. Release letters are used to confirm that insurers are done with compensation and they cannot be liable for any more. The law does not compel you to make any such signing because other damages may appear later. Once you have signed the release letter, damages that emerge in future will not be compensated.

Hire a public adjuster to be on the safe side. The reality is that adjusters from private insurers work to reduce the extent of compensation to the lowest possible value. With public adjusters, commercial interest is removed and you are therefore likely to get your deserved settlement. The work of adjusters is to reduce the amount you will be compensated to the lowest possible figure. Yours is to defend your items to ensure that everything is compensated.




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