Insurance Claim Problems : Attorney or Public Adjuster?

If you’re in a major dispute with your insurance company and at your limit over a claim, then it often comes down to two broad options: choosing to hire an attorney or a public adjuster.

A public adjuster and an attorney have a similar goal: they want to ensure fair treatment for clients throughout the claims process. They want to protect clients from insurance companies that may be operating in bad faith.

While a public adjuster and an attorney have similar goals, they approach the case in different ways.

A public adjuster, for example, is a full-service insurance claim specialist. A public adjuster can handle your claim from beginning to end, negotiating with your insurance company throughout the process to ensure everything is covered according to the terms of your contract. In exchange for their work on your claim, a public adjuster will usually charge a fee of 5% to 20% of the final settlement amount. Some see this as an investment in the claim, particularly for larger claims. Studies have shown that homeowners that hire a public adjuster usually receive substantial increases on the final settlement when compared to the initial payout offered by the insurance company.

On the other hand, insurance attorneys also play a crucial role in keeping insurance companies honest. Attorneys can step in when you believe an insurance company has violated the law. If the insurance company has completely denied your claim for fraudulent reasons, for example, and is blatantly operating in bad faith, then you may want to hire an attorney.

Ultimately, public adjusters do all of the dirty work for your insurance claim, handling it from beginning to end. An attorney is typically only brought in for particularly serious situations – like when an insurance company has blatantly violated the law.