American Property Loss Public Adjusters
We are property loss experts on your side to quickly maximize your homeowners insurance claim. American Property Loss Public Adjusters offer public insurance claim adjusting and insurance claims consultation services for homeowners insurance claims and commercial business insurance claims throughout the United States.
Public Adjusters to handle your Property Damage Claim
If you are a property owner suffering through the aftermath of major storm damage such as hurricane damage, tornado damage, fire damage, hail, or some other form of devastation, you shouldn’t have to suffer through a homeowners insurance claim nightmare, too. That’s where hiring American Property Loss Public Adjuster services comes in to make your life easier!
Property Loss Services
The property damage claims process involves extensive paperwork, accounting, legal, construction, insurance jargon plus knowledge of repairing building structures and code compliance. Proving your property damage losses is YOUR job, not the insurance company’s, so make sure that you have a licensed and experienced Public Adjuster on your side because the last thing you need at a difficult time is more aggravation.
We take the burden of filing insurance claims papers off of your shoulders and handle all of the intricacies of a Homeowners Insurance Claim. American Property Loss Public Adjusters treat your insurance claim with extreme care, searching and claiming every possible property loss so that you receive the maximum compensation.
Homeowners Insurance Claim
Commercial Insurance Claim
Our team specializes in managing commercial claims, minimizing downtime, and ensuring you receive the compensation needed to get back to business as usual.
Insurance Claims Consultation
Not sure where to start with your insurance claim? American Property Loss offers expert insurance claims consultation to guide you through the process.
Contact American Property Loss
You wouldn’t think to defend yourself in a courtroom without the benefit of a lawyer, so why wouldn’t you contact expert Public Adjusters to defend your homeowners insurance claim?
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Property Damage Claims
Fire Damage
Flood Damage
Fire Damage
Flood Damage
Hurricane Damage
Tornado Damage
Earthquake Damage
Hail Damage
Recent Post
Cold Weather Insurance Claims – Third Largest Cause of Catastrophic Claims in US
Frozen Plumbing
With winter setting in, the likelihood of having a major property damage claim goes way up according to Insurance Services Office (ISO). In an article published on Dec 29 20111, by Denise Johnson on insurancejournal.com, ISO reported “almost $26billion in insured loss between 1991 and 2010.”
Winter storms, and the snow, ice, freezing cold and power outages that come with them can lead to many different types of insurance claims.
Weight of snow and ice – This is a covered peril on many homeowners, dwelling and commercial property policies. When a storm drop large amounts of snow and the roof caves in, there can be enormous amounts of damage as the snow crashed through the roof framing and into the living spaces. Worse yet, that snow may soon start to melt, adding to the damages. One of the things to consider with this kind of loss is some of the exclusions or reasons for denial of coverage. “Rust, corrosion, fungus, decay, deterioration, any hidden or latent defects” are specific exclusions for most covered losses. Determining whether or not these conditions apply may be the difference between a covered or denied claim.
Freezing of plumbing or related systems – If the heat goes out and pipes start freezing, huge water damage claims can result. Many builders have also started putting water heaters in attics to save space in the garage and interior of the home. Placing the water heater int he attic exposes it, and the pipes leading to and from it, to often extreme temperatures under normal conditions. A 1/2″ water line under normal household pressure can put out up to 360 gallons per hours according to manufactures publications. All of that water has to go somewhere, and many building materials and personal possessions may be damaged along the way. And remember, unless the owner makes an effort to maintain heat in the building, or has shut off the water, the freezing of plumbing or related systems peril may not cover losses that occur while the residence is unoccupied.
Ice Damming – Ice damming occurs when snow and ice on the roof repeatedly melt and freeze and water works its way up and under the shingles. As the water melts, it can works its way into the attic, ceiling and walls of a building causing damage that may go unnoticed for days or weeks.
Smoke and Fire Damage – As temperatures drop, many homeowners start up the wood stove or fireplace (or even the oil furnace). These heating devices give off smoke, and when working properly, that smoke goes up the chimney and out of the home. But when the are not working properly all of that smoke can come billowing into the home, leaving a layer of smoke and soot on building surfaces and personal property. Many of these items do not clean easily and have to be professionally treated and cleaned. Of course, in worst case scenarios, the device many fail altogether and a fire can result.
Winter is a good time of year to double check your insurance policy for how these damages might be handled in the event of a claim, a good time to think about how the weather is affecting your property and the perfect time to have that chimney cleaned and checked.
If catastrophe does strike, call our office and one of our Licensed Public Adjusters will review your claim at no cost and no obligation.
Remember, Our Success is Your Recovery!
Toll free – (855) – 757 – APLS
read Denise Johnson’s article here: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2011/12/29/228988.htm
Bloomberg.com – Home Insurers’ Secret Tactics Cheat Fire Victims, Hike Profits
In a report written in August 2011, bloomberg.com tells of many cases where insurance companies are hiring consultants to lower the amount paid on claims made by homeowner. The report cites examples where Allstate and State Farm hired Mckinsey & Co. to produce large presentations to teach employees how to reduce the amounts paid.
An excerpt follows from Bloomberg
`Boxing Gloves’
McKinsey produced about 13,000 pages of documents, including PowerPoint slides, in the 1990s, for Northbrook, Illinois-based Allstate. The consulting firm developed methods for the company to become more profitable by paying out less in claims, according to videotaped evidence presented in Fayette Circuit Court in Lexington, Kentucky, in a civil case involving a 1997 car accident.
One slide McKinsey prepared for Allstate was entitled “Good Hands or Boxing Gloves,” the tape of the Kentucky court hearing shows. For 57 years, Allstate has advertised its employees as the “Good Hands People,” telling customers they will be well cared for in times of need.
The McKinsey slides had a new twist on that slogan.
When a policyholder files a claim, first make a low offer, McKinsey advised Allstate. If a client accepts the low amount, Allstate should treat the person with good hands, McKinsey said. If the customer protests or hires a lawyer, Allstate should fight back.
“If you don’t take the pittance they offer, they’re going to put on the boxing gloves and they’re going to batter injured victims,” plaintiffs attorney J. Dale Golden told Judge Thomas Clark at the May 12, 2005, hearing in which the lawyer introduced the McKinsey slides.
The Alligator
One McKinsey slide displayed at the Kentucky hearing featured an alligator with the caption “Sit and Wait.” The slide says Allstate can discourage claimants by delaying settlements and stalling court proceedings.
By postponing payments, insurance companies can hold money longer and make more on their investments — and often wear down clients to the point of dropping a challenge. “An alligator sits and waits,” Golden told the judge, as they looked at the slide describing a reptile.
McKinsey’s advice helped spark a turnaround in Allstate’s finances. The company’s profit rose 140 percent to $4.99 billion in 2006, up from $2.08 billion in 1996. Allstate lifted its income partly by paying less to its policyholders.
The report paints a less than rosy picture of the insurance industry tactics towards policyholders with legitimate claims. Let’s face it, no company goes into business to lose money, but what are the limits that a company WILL go to to pad their pockets to the detriment of it’s customers? And how long before this kind of activity is going to be examined more closely and seriously?
An interesting piece in the article about Hurricane Katrina damage and insurance industry engineering their results to match what they wanted. Amazingly, there were only 1000 lawsuits filed in a hurricane that killed more than 1600 people and left half a million people homeless. One really questions how many claims were underpaid to people desperate to get their lives moving again and took whatever the insurance company offered. Also interesting is that there apparently much effort went into pushing the reports to indicate water damage was the culprit – even in the face of authoritative reports indicating wind damage. Note that flood damage is handled by the US government and does NOT come out of the insurer’s pocket, thus by attributing the damage to all water damage, the insurer alleviates themselves of any responsibility and thus any payouts.
For insurers, the multibillion-dollar question regarding Katrina was how much of the destruction was caused by wind and how much by water. Property insurance policies don’t cover damage caused by flooding; homeowners have to purchase separate insurance administered by the U.S. government.
Altering Reports
The wind/water issue has spurred allegations that insurers manipulated the findings of adjusters and engineers.
Ken Overstreet, an engineer based in Diamondhead, Mississippi, who examined destroyed Gulf Coast residences, says someone altered his findings on the cause of the damage to at least four homes.
“We were working for insurance companies, and they wanted certain results,” says Overstreet, who has been a licensed civil engineer since 1981. “They wanted to get a desired outcome, and that’s what they did.”
In this section a bit further down Bloomberg’s article, we see that the insurance industry is definitely being proactive. If we know Washington, it would appear that it probably won’t be examined seriously any time real soon…
Insurance Lobbying
To make their voice heard on federal regulation and other government decisions, insurers spent $98 million on lobbying in Washington in 2006, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, a unit of Congressional Quarterly. That’s the second-largest amount spent on lobbying by any group, behind $114.4 million by pharmaceutical companies.
This article is a must read for anyone interested in what to expect when filing a property damage claim or any other claim against their insurer – and why it is almost a must in all but the simplest cases to hire a professional Public Adjuster to help in property damage claims.
If the insurance company is hiring experts to find ways to reduce property damage claims, delay payouts or outright deny claims, why would anyone go through the process alone? We, at American Property Loss, are experts no your side. We are used to the games and stalling tactics the insurance company uses. We know how to ask for what is owed to you, based on your policy and damages, using their systems.
Call today for a free property damage claim evaluation. Remember, Your Recovery is Our Success!
(855) 757 APLS
Read the entire article here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aIOpZROwhvNI
Do insurance companies profit by not paying after a loss?
Insurance Company profits increase at your expense
Everyone has heard that “insurance companies don’t pay to increase their profits.”
But is this true? Well…… maybe.
An insurance company can make a lot of money on the small claims
In a recent article (Dec. 13, 2011) on the Huffingtonpost.com, it was reported that “an insurance company can make a lot of money on the small claims.” Jay Feinman, a professor at Rutgers University School of Law, goes on to say “because if you save a few dollars on a huge number of claims, it’s worth more than saving a lot of dollars on a very small number of claims.” Insurance companies are following a less traditional method of claims adjusting developed by consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Russ Roberts, a New Mexico-based management consultant and former business professor at Northwestern University describes the process as ” Rather than adjusting claims the traditional way, which gave claims managers wide latitude to serve customers, insurers embraced a computer-driven method that produced purposefully low offers to claimants.”
This process also led to the publishing of the book Delay, Deny, Defend by Jay Feinman, a professor at Rutgers University School of Law.
The report also references an unpublished Harris Interactive poll conducted earlier this year and states that “16 percent of surveyed adults have experienced financial hardship while waiting for an insurance claim to be settled or know someone who has. The same poll found that 59 percent of adults believe that most insurers intentionally delay claims — and those with an income of $35,000 or less were more likely to agree.
With 15.3 percent of Americans — about 46.2 million people — living in poverty, close to 10 percent unemployment, and roughly 2 million people who’ve been looking for work for more than two years, Allstate’s business model is profiting off many consumers at their most vulnerable. A claim delayed by even a month can spell financial disaster for a family. As a National Bureau of Economic Research study found, about 25 percent of Americans could not come up with $2,000 in a 30-day period.”
The insurance companies use these tactics to force people into a position where they “need” to accept a lesser offer than they would normally be willing to accept because they need the money now.
Hiring a Public Adjuster can help get monies flowing to the homeowner to relive the pressures caused by having a mortgage on a damaged property, rent for a temporary to live or run their business from and the increased costs associated with having a large insurance claim.
Once the Public Adjuster helps with immediate stress of cash flow, then the PA can focus on the bigger problem; getting the claim right.
As always, we are more than willing to review and claim, any situation and questions that may arise from this process. Call us at (855) 757 – APLS for a free property damage claim review with an experienced Public Adjuster.
full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/insurance-claim-delays-industry-profits-allstate-mckinsey-company_n_1139102.html
Public Adjuster’s Secrets – Things they know that You may not
In an August 8, 2009 article, Amy Danise of Insure.com wrote about the “Secrets of Public Insurance Adjusters: What they know about insurance companies that you don’t”.
Ms. Danise’s article starts out with “You’re at a disadvantage when you have major house damage or a total loss of your home. You face a home insurance claims process that could easily stretch out for more than a year, require reams of paperwork and leave you mentally and physically exhausted.”
If we take this statement at face value, then the deck is stacked against the average person, right from the start. Even when someone has the knowledge of the process, how many people have the time and resources needed to follow through on a detailed claim? Fighting for the items in the average claim is a full time, 40 plus hour per week job, and usually for more than one person.
One of the most frustrating for homeowners and adjusters alike is Out of State adjusters. Ms. Danise says “After a widespread disaster, insurance companies will bring in company adjusters from out of state who aren’t familiar with local costs. Adjusters from outside your area will not have a handle on how much tradespeople such as electricians or plumbers charge, or how much it costs to rebuild a house.”
As a result of all of this paperwork and process Ms. Danise states “People regularly settle for less than the total cost of their damages because they are exhausted. Especially near the end of a complicated claim such as a total home loss, homeowners just want the process to be over.”
Before you take on the insurance juggernaut and invest your time and efforts, give us a call for a free claim evaluation and remember “Your recovery is our Success!
read the full article here:
http://www.insure.com/home-insurance/secrets-of-insurance-adjusters.html
More reasons why not to try and settle your Property Damage Claim Yourself
Do you know if you have flood coverage?
In a recent article by Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, Insure.com, 8 items are listed in the “do’s and don’t’s” following filing your insurance claim. They are:
- Don’t be too quick to clean up – Insurance companies need to see the damages and the evidence of your claim. save everything that you may want to claim.
- Prevent further property damage – While not cleaning up too quickly, you also need to prevent more damage. Protect what is left while not getting rid of any of the damaged materials.
- Protect receipts and photos – these will be your proof of what you had and what you are asking for
- Find a witness to the cause – if there was a local wind or hail storm – having someone else to confirm this event may prove useful.
- Stick to the facts – don’t try and add items to “make up” for items you cannot remember. It’s better to submit a supplement later than to risk the whole claim by overstating any item.
- Don’t let your contractor negotiate your insurance claim – the contractor is most likely not looking out for your interests. And it’s ILLEGAL in some states.
- Don’t sign a release on your insurance claim – once you sign the release you may not have any rights.
- Be cautious when cashing insurance checks – Some checks may be labelled as “final payment”. This may or not be legal in your area. Ask before you sign and cash these checks.
Read the whole article.
http://www.insure.com/home-insurance/home-insurance-claims-mistakes.html
Can “hoarding” affect your insurance claim?
How much stuff is too much? In a recently published article* for claims adjusters, much is discussed regarding estimating damages for insurance claims in homes with excess personal property.
Some of the concerns adjusters are looking at (like all claims) are:
- Source of the loss
- Date of the loss (was it there before the policy was in effect?)
- Extent of the damages – some may not be readily visible
- Pre-existing damage – poor air quality and mold
- Did the homeowner mitigate the damages?
Do you need your own claims adjuster?
Excerpts from an Article By Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com
I found this article by Dana Dratch some time ago and found myself re-reading it to see if things have changed within our industry and how it is viewed by those looking at us from the outside since it was written back in 2008. Dana does a good job of explaining when and why you may want (or not want) a Public Adjuster to handle your property damage claim with your insurance carrier. Dana gives his, and other’s opinions of the times when it may be best to have someone on your side.
Dana writes:
Public adjusters assume all of the duties necessary to get your claim processed, including making an inventory of the loss and presenting your case to the insurance company. A good public adjuster has experience in the industry and will understand your contract and the company’s responsibilities right down to the fine print. In exchange, a public adjuster receives a percentage of your claim.
“For the most part, people like using (a public) adjuster because they like the idea that someone is working on their behalf versus someone working on behalf of the company,” says P.J. Crowley, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute.
There are also a few other instances when it could be practical to hire a public adjuster:
- You’ve sustained a partial loss. Half the house burned down. Now you’ve got to document which of your possessions survived the fire, which burned and which are damaged beyond repair.
- You don’t have the time to follow up on your claim. Whether you’re a two-income couple with kids or a busy professional who travels frequently, filing a claim and following it through will take time, especially if you don’t have a record of your possessions and their value.
- You had loved ones injured or killed in the incident. If you’re spending your days at the hospital or mourning a family member, you may not even want to think about the claims process.
- The loss is business-related. Rather than assign an employee to handle the claim, some companies will outsource the job.
Read more: Do you need your own claims adjuster? http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/do-you-need-your-own-claims-adjuster–1.aspx#ixzz1g2haTmE7
Understanding Personal Property Damage Claims
Personal Property Damage Claims
Filling Out your Property Claims Forms - Be complete
Personal property damage during an insurance claim can be a significant portion of the loss. This is one example of how hiring an experienced Public Adjuster can be the difference between getting back to your life as it was before your damage event, or keeping your fingers crossed and scrounging.
Most of the time, after an insurance claim is filed, the insurance claim adjuster will come out to your home and spend upwards of a few hours on the building damages; taking measurements and pictures, climbing in the attic and crawlspace, etc. Very rarely do your personal belongings get the same attention. Normally, you are handed a few sheets of paper and asked to fill them out and send them back.
These personal property damage claims pages have a few columns that look something like the following when you start filling it out:
|
Qty |
Item Description |
How much did it cost? |
Age |
Place Purchased |
Depreciation |
ACV |
|
5 |
Jeans |
$30.00 |
2 Years |
Belks -Raleigh |
||
|
3 |
T Shirt |
$20.00 |
1 Year |
Target – Knightdale |
||
|
10 |
Socks |
$12.00 |
1 Year |
Target – Knightdale |
||
|
2 |
Winter Jacket |
$75.00 |
4 Years |
Dick’s Sporting Goods |
||
|
1 |
Rain Coat |
$35.00 |
3 Years |
JC Penny – Raleigh |
Filling out your property damage claims forms is easy, isn’t it?
This seems like a very easy list to fill out, without any potentially harmful results, right? Let’s look a little closer.
Description: When listing the item’s description, it is easy to start lumping things together like “jeans” or “jackets” into one larger group that is “an average”. But, what if the 4 pair average $30, but the fifth pair is $100 designer jeans? You may have just cost yourself $70. It is important to list the items as accurately as possible to make sure that you are representing the correct values of the items that you own. It is too easy to group property loss items into convenient groups to save time. But, remember, you are not being paid for your time.
An American Property Loss Public Adjuster will spend the necessary time to make sure that these items are being identified and recorded as they were prior to the loss to maximize your recovery for your personal property damage claim.
Cost: The insurance company normally asks what the item cost when you bought it, and may even ask for the receipt. This is perfectly fine, if the items still costs that amount today. A great example is if you bought something on sale, or with a coupon, can you buy it for that same amount again? Is what you paid for it, what is truly costs for a new one? Many items go up significantly as time goes by. Would you list what you paid for that living room furniture 15 years ago as the cost of it today? Making sure that these amounts are correct can take many, many hours.
Hiring an American Property Loss Public Adjuster to handle this valuation of items makes it much easier for you, and lets you deal with getting your life back to normal as quickly as possible.
Age: Listing the ages as an average again has to be considered. If 4 pairs of the jean are less than 1 year old, but the fifth pair is 4 years old, what is the correct average age? This becomes important to you, because when you submit this list the insurance company now fills in the last 2 columns.
Depreciation: Depreciation is wear and tear on the things that you own. Every time you wear those jeans, they get a little dirtier around the pockets. You might get a small tear in the knee. This depreciation lowers the current value of the item (ACV – see below). Most items depreciate over time. There are many acceptable charts that show what items depreciate how much and how quickly. Those jeans we keep talking about average about 33% depreciation per year. Does that mean that fifth pair that is 4 years old has no value?
An American Property Loss Public Adjuster will review the ages and depreciation amounts applied by the insurance adjuster to make sure they are fair and appropriate.
ACV: Actual Cash Value. This is the amount your item is worth based on the age and condition. Think of it as the “blue book” value of the item. We all know that cars are worth less with every passing mile. Your personal property values are very similar. When the insurance adjuster determines the ACV of your items, this is the least amount they will pay you for your items. You may be entitled to recover the depreciation if you have an RCV, replacement cost value, policy, but that’s another discussion. This ACV is the amount you have to start replacing your personal property.
American Property Loss Gets You Fair Value for Your Property Damage Loss
As we can see now, it is tremendously important to make sure the item is described correctly, with the correct cost and age listed. Preparing the personal property damage claim with these points in mind will ensure that the bottom line ACV is the best possible valuation of your belongings. Making sure that the personal property claim is detailed can be the difference between replacing what you lost versus having to make do with what you can afford to replace.
At American Property Loss Services, Inc. we’ll spend the time needed to get this part of the claim right because “Your Recovery is Our Success!”
New forum open for Insurance Claims Questions!
American Property Loss Public Adjusters frequently get the same questions – and instead of emailing everyone the same answers, we decided it might be better to just answer them publicly. While you can still email us directly, you can post your property damage claims insurance questions in our forum for review by our Public Adjusters and other interested parties!
Join the Forum discussion on this post
Local Public Adjusters Ready Now!
If you’re dealing with property damage and need help with your insurance claim, don’t go through it alone. Contact us today for a detailed consultation.