3 Ways an Adjuster Shortage May Impact your Claim

3 Ways an Adjuster Shortage May Impact your Claim

Insurance adjusters are in high demand after a disaster. This is great for an insurance adjuster but not so great for property owners. Shortages of insurance adjusters can lead to undesirable situations. The United States is no stranger to natural disasters. America gets hit with many dangerous weather conditions, from hurricanes and wildfires to tornados and blizzards. When a disaster is widespread, the area affected may experience a shortage of claims adjusters to handle all of the claims being made. This issue leads to more extended waiting periods for property owners to receive payment for their losses. Our public claims adjuster in Orlando offers this information on how an adjuster shortage may impact your claim.

A surge of unqualified public adjusters

You just lost your home to a catastrophic tornado. You have made every effort to hire a public claims adjuster to manage your claim, but you cannot locate a qualified adjuster in the vicinity. Then, you hear a knock at the door one day. It is a public claims adjuster that says she would love to handle your property loss claim. You are relieved and quickly sign the contract. Sadly, this is not always wise. After any significant disaster, there is often a surge of unqualified adjusters looking to cash in on the situation. These adjusters travel to areas impacted by disasters because they are confident they will find work, even if they are unqualified or not great at their job. Ultimately. One of the most significant consequences of insurance adjuster shortages is a surge in uncertified, unregistered, or unqualified public adjusters.

Bad adjusters push for quick settlements

Another consequence of a public adjuster shortage can hurt your bank account. If there is a significant demand for public adjusters, then even the best adjusters become more motivated to settle claims quickly with an insurer to move forward with other cases. Instead of fighting to their best ability with your insurer, your adjuster may be more apt to accept a slightly lower offer than usual to move on to the next case since they will get paid no matter what. Don't forget that your public adjuster gets paid once you accept a settlement offer from your insurance company. They get paid a percentage of the settlement between 5 and 15%. The difference between a $9,000 and $10,000 payment is probably not a massive deal to a public adjuster. But, the difference between a $90,000 and a $120,000 check from an insurer is a considerable amount for a property owner.

Insurers may take advantage of policyholders

Your insurance company knows when there is a shortage of public adjusters, and they know that you are more vulnerable because of this shortage. Because it is in their best interest to settle your claim as fast as possible and pay the lowest settlement they can, they will do their best to underpay your claim. After all, they are likely dealing with thousands of claims, so they do not want to get caught up with a single claim. In addition, significant disasters cost insurance companies millions of dollars, so they are motivated to reduce payouts where ever they can to keep profits coming in.

These are just a few ways public adjuster shortages might affect your property loss claim. Contact us today for help from an expert public claims adjuster in Orlando. We are here to help.

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