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The independent adjuster your insurance company sent out to inspect your home did not charge you because they charged the insurance company for their services. Yes, you are responsible for the independent adjuster's fee. It's the same as if you hired him. In your post- you said that the public adjuster told you her fee is a % of the total not the 8000. Usually a public adjuster's fee is a % of the settlement plus you pay any expenses incurred on your behalf. My question for the public adjuster would be.....why did you not come out and write an estimate for the damage yourself? What is the point in hiring you if you can't write an estimate for damage? If all I needed was just another estimate - I could have hired an independent adjuster or a general contractor to write an estimate for me? What did you do to earn your fee - other than hire an Independent Adjuster to write an estimate? Then have her send you an itemized invoice of her services and an itemized invoice from the independent adjuster for his services. If you think the fees are out of line - contact the Texas Department of Insurance. All adjusters - regardless if staff (employed by your company), public adjusters or independent adjusters are regulated by the state insurance department. Insurance is regulated at the state level - so the highest regulatory body you can go to is the Texas Department of Insurance. Edit: if the IA's (independent adjusters) worked for the contractor - that's who paid them for their services. If you question the reasonableness of the fee- I'd get the itemized invoice and then call the Department of Insurance. They may be able to give you an idea of what the going rate for a Public Adjuster and an IA is in your area. I still would want to know what the public adjuster did to earn her fee? Granted, we don't have public adjusters in my state- but I thought the whole point of them was they could write their own estimates and would know the policy language so they could give you guidence on how to get more money. A word about IA fees- many IA's fees are based on a % of the estimate. So...the higher the estimate they write - the bigger their bill.

Source(s)

Insurance Adjuster 12 years

by MSAD

5 months ago

Asker's Rating: 

On the standard contract, it comes from the TOTAL, plus expenses. Most of the time, the insurance company pays for an estimate, so the costs are hidden, but the price depends on the damages. Some, for simple auto damage, are as cheap as $75. Yours seemed to be pretty complicated. This is how public adjusters make their money. They rarely get enough extra for you, to cover their fees.

by mbrcatz- 5 months ago

en ... Many homeowners reach a fair settlement with the staff or independent adjuster they are working with. In the event they are not, they can hire a public adjuster. Public adjusters claim that many homeowners do not collect all the money to which they are entitled due to a lack of familiarity with the claim process. The use of a public adjuster may mitigate this risk and could help put the policyholder on a more equal footing with the insurance companies, which increasingly use experts to support their side of a claim settlement. Public adjusters charge for their services, the standard rate is 10% of your claim settlement. For example, If you suffer a $250,000.00 fire loss, the public adjuster fee for assisting you would be $25,000.00 This $25,000.00 is taken out of your claim settlement. The objective of a claims adjuster should be to protect the insured against not only financial loss, but also the cost of recovering it. Specific duties include: * Responding to claims in a timely manner * Filing paperwork * Communicating with policy holders * Investigate liability * Assess damages * Research, detail and substantiate each aspect of the claim, including building damage, contents, and extra living expense claims. * Negotiate with product/service providers on time and cost of repairs for the purpose of making an offer of settlement to the insured. * Ensuring accurate procedures * Protect the interest of the insurance company the adjuster represents, when dealing with claimants. Some states now require public adjusters disclose to claimants whose interest specifically independent, staff and public adjuster represent, before they are retained by the policyholder. There is no such requirement at this time for insurance companies to do the same. the above was copied from Wikpedia. if i read this correctly and i have no legal background, the public adjuster fee of 10% of the total claims is correct. but as MSAD stated, most insurance companies have their own salaried adjusters that write estimates for auto, home etc. if they cannot handle or do not have salaried employees, they hire "outside estimators or adjusters". that cost is paid by the insurance company and the cost of doing business. you the policyholder is not charged for this. the public adjusters job is to do the entire job and get you the most money owed for your claim. to do this, they have to document and negotiate with the insurance company. but the fee of $1500 for the appraisers should have been the independent adjusters expense, not yours. so if i understand your question. if the adjuster took out 10% of the total claim, plus subtracting out the $1500 appraiser fee, you ended up with 2/3 of the original amount the insurance company stated they owed plus $1K. this would mean that if you had not hired the adjuster, your company would have paid more to fix your house? granted they are owed the 10% of the total claim, but the object is to get you more to repair and put you back to where you were prior to this hurricane. get an itemized listing of all services and expenses charged to you. then submit a complaint to the TX insurance department. good luck

by lucy- 5 months ago