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Don’t Give Away a Part of Your Insurance Payout to a Public Insurance Adjuster

Why You Should Consider Using a Restoration Company Over a Public Adjuster for Your Damage Estimate

Homeowners in Jensen, Sebastian, Vero Beach, Lakewood Park, Jupiter, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, and the rest of Florida’s Treasure Coast struggle with knowing where to turn when a significant insurance loss from flooding or fire hits home. Many get advice from friends, family, or neighbors. Some assume they can find a complete guide to getting paid for water, mold, and fire restoration services online. Others rely on the idea that their insurance agent will guide all decisions. One of the big suggestions homeowners in distress see repeated time after time is that they should “get a public adjuster.”

Is this sound advice? Most people repeat the line that an adjuster will “get you more money” when making this suggestion. Many homeowners fall into a big fallacy during the confusing aftermath of home damage: insurance claims from public adjusters equal big payouts. In reality, many homeowners can get better results by working directly with a restoration company. The key is getting an estimate from a reputable, knowledgeable restoration company that understands the claims process. Taking the wrong advice could mean that you’re stuck giving a portion of your insurance payout to a third-party adjuster. Take a look at what a realistic scenario looks like when trying to get insurance payouts for fire, flood, or mold damage.

 

The Power of the Estimate: Reasons to Use a Restoration Company Instead of a Public Adjuster

Helping homeowners on Florida’s Treasure Coast get damage estimates is what we do here every day at JASD Restoration. We’ve seen how having a reputable restoration firm like ours write reliable estimates helps our clients get the upgrades they need without climbing through red tape. Many homeowners want to know what makes going through a restoration company different from a public adjuster. That answer is pretty simple.

Our goal is to get you a proper estimate that will help you secure the funds needed to clean up a water, fire, or mold issue to get your house back to its original state as quickly as possible. Public adjusters have a different goal. The strategy of a public adjuster isn’t focused on your property. It’s focused on securing a commission. Here are the facts about public adjusters in Florida:

  • A public adjuster pursues the adjuster from your insurance company.
  • The public adjuster starts by writing up a comparative estimate. Remember that the adjuster doesn’t necessarily have the expertise or familiarity with fire, flood, and mold damage needed to construct an impeccable estimate the way an experienced restoration company can.
  • Yes, a public adjuster will write up what looks like a generous estimate. This is where many homeowners get blinded by the big dollar signs being thrown at them by a public adjuster they’ve hired. The reason for the significant estimate is that a public adjuster is attempting to collect a more substantial cut from your insurance payout.
  • Most adjusters take between 15 percent and 30 percent of your payout as their own! That leaves you with a restoration budget that’s up to 30 percent lower than what’s needed to restore your home.

Homeowners should also remember that public adjusters don’t help with the restoration aspect of filing an insurance claim. They help you file a claim that allows them to collect their commission. It’s still necessary to find a contractor capable of doing the work on your own.

 

Working With a Restoration Company From the Start: What to Expect

The view is different when you start with a restoration company. Here at JASD Restoration, we help homeowners get to work immediately. Our team can write the same estimates as public adjusters without claiming a commission. The estimate process also allows us to look at the damage to begin creating a plan to get you back to living in your home without concerns faster.

As restoration specialists, we’ve seen how public adjusters can leave clients without the funds needed to complete restorations after taking out their cuts. This is a big problem. Every dollar that an adjuster charges is one less dollar you have in your project budget. Making matters worse is the fact that insurance payouts are designed to cover the work and materials needed without any wiggle room. That means that the 15 percent to 30 percent that you’re forced to give away to an adjuster may end up coming out of your pocket to complete the job at the end of the day.

 

Your Time Is Valuable

The commission charged by a public adjuster is reason enough to avoid this route. However, many homeowners don’t realize just how much time they can expect to lose when they choose to work with a public adjuster instead of going directly to a restoration company for an estimate. The adjuster route truly adds a “project management” burden to your shoulders at a time when you’re probably already overwhelmed by the situation with your home.

Many people who use public adjusters are caught in a cycle of trying to catch up with lost costs by managing their own restoration projects. This puts them in charge of hiring individual painters, tile installers, drywall experts, mold experts, cabinet people, flooring people, and more. This can be impossible to juggle for someone who doesn’t have construction expertise. Trying to get the job done by managing your own carnival of contractors can be like taking on a full-time job.

When you hire a team like a team here at JASD Restoration to step in from the start, we’ll take on the project management aspect of getting your home back in shape. This gives you quality work without the time commitment. In addition to employing an in-house team of experts, JASD restoration also has long-term relationships with a wide variety of different subcontractors and specialists.

When you use a restoration contractor, there’s no need to spend your time managing projects after an estimate is approved. We can begin repairs as soon as funds are released. We’ll handle all of the coordination and management needed.

 

Talk to an Experienced Treasure Coast Home Restoration Expert Before Getting an Estimate From a Public Adjuster

Many people throw around the advice of hiring a public adjuster because it sounds like the “intelligent” thing to do. However, you might be surprised to discover that people who give this advice often haven’t used public adjusters. Many people who have used public adjusters quickly advise others against using this option. While the smartest choice may be to avoid contacting adjusters in the first place, these tips can help you to have a better experience:

  • Read your contract carefully. Confirm a public adjuster’s commission rate before signing anything. Make sure you understand the dollar amount that the commission will work out for your payout. Decide if you can live without that money when repairing your home.
  • Only use a public adjuster referred to you by someone who has used that specific adjuster.
  • Consider talking to a restoration company first, even if you consider using a public adjuster. Being able to make an apples-to-apples comparison will help you to make an informed decision.

The bottom line is that an estimate should be about getting you the funds you need to restore your home. Unfortunately, many public adjusters prioritize commission above all else. Homeowners must remember that an estimate from an adjuster that looks higher than an estimate from a restoration company is often “inflated” to account for the adjuster’s cut.

Work With a Respected South Florida Home Restoration Company in Jensen Beach

At JASD Restoration, we understand how overwhelmed homeowners feel when they need damage estimates. That’s why we offer 24/7 emergency home services for clients in South Florida communities like Sebastian, Vero Beach, Lakewood Park, Jupiter, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, and more! Our team has the training, certifications, and equipment to handle wind, fire, water, and mold damage. Let us help you get an estimate for remediation of any kind. Call JASD Restoration (772-334-8374) today for your consultation.

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