The adjuster who walks your roof is not always the last word on your estimate. After Hurricane Ian, independent adjusters who inspected homes for insurance companies told reporters their damage findings were changed by the carriers afterward, and the payouts shrank. The adjusters said the changes were made without their consent, sometimes under their own names and licenses.
How It Works
A field adjuster documents the damage and writes an estimate. The file then goes to a desk reviewer inside the insurance company. Lines come off. Quantities drop. Roofs become repairs. The homeowner receives the lower number and assumes the person who stood in their attic wrote it.
A 60 Minutes investigation into Ian claims documented the same pattern, with estimates cut from hundreds of thousands of dollars to a fraction of the original scope.
How To Protect Your Claim
- Get the name and license number of the adjuster who inspects your home
- Ask for the complete estimate, every line item, not just the summary page
- Get your own independent inspection and estimate to compare against it
- If the number drops, ask in writing what changed and who changed it
Source: FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
Policyholder Advocacy Group writes its own scope of loss for every client, line by line. See how a public adjuster differs from the insurance company’s adjuster: Public Adjuster vs Insurance Adjuster. Free claim review: call 800.511.2240.
Isaias owners are seeing the same pattern. See what an insurance estimate missing damage looks like, and what to do about it.