Why some insurance company officials in Florida have denied changing adjusters?
Why Claims Still Not Paid?
Yes, Ian was a powerful storm and still storms like this can take place and we should be ready for future disasters and there should be proper transparency and claims should have to be paid.
What is silent in the reporting and the concerns raised about estimates are that field/independent adjuster write estimates of damages. It is then up to the carrier to decide whether the policy coverage or exclusions apply to the damages.
I’ve had claims where the field adjuster conceded the roof. When the check came, it was accompanied by an estimate that only included a small roof repair. That’s not a coverage issue. I just finished a claim where the carrier changed the date of loss from 12/13 to 9/27 so they could take a hurricane deductible.
Not sure who would thumbs down you, because I see carriers do this in my insurance agency, too. I proactively fight this kind of behavior in my agency.
Date of loss changes are not arbitrary. When a roofer provides a date of loss where forensic weather data shows 35 mph winds on the claimed DOL at the exact risk location, and that same weather data shows 90 mph winds on the hurricane date at the exact risk location, and the claim wasn’t reported until a roofer knocked on the door three months later and told them they had damage, are carriers supposed to just say “well OK, there was no wind on the date you claimed and you did have a hurricane three months ago, but if you say so.”? Requests for corrections are also not arbitrary when a field adjuster writes for something that is excluded by the policy, i.e. a screen enclosure when the insured opted not to insure the screen enclosure for hurricane damage; or when the field adjuster writes to replace a two year old roof with less than one square of damaged shingles.
Common sense is painfully uncommon.
Most if not all personal lines field adjusters are paid based on the amount of damage they write. The bigger the estimate, the bigger their fee for inspecting and writing the estimate. It is the desk adjuster’s job (who btw receive no financial consideration other than salary or a daily rate if they are contract) to review the estimate, review the policy, and ensure that homeowners are getting everything that is owed under the policy based on the terms and conditions of the policy…not one penny less but also not one penny more.
The field adjuster and the desk adjuster have the same adjuster’s license. The simple solution to this is to send the full policy to the field adjuster so they can, you know, adjust the claim and include covered losses on the estimate. What you describe as the field adjuster’s job sounds more like what a contractor does after the storm – just say what all the repairs cost. This problem is a self inflicted problem created by poor claim processes at these small insurance carriers.
Why some insurance company officials in Florida have denied changing adjusters?
Why Claims Still Not Paid?
Yes, Ian was a powerful storm and still storms like this can take place and we should be ready for future disasters and there should be proper transparency and claims should have to be paid.
What is silent in the reporting and the concerns raised about estimates are that field/independent adjuster write estimates of damages. It is then up to the carrier to decide whether the policy coverage or exclusions apply to the damages.
I’ve had claims where the field adjuster conceded the roof. When the check came, it was accompanied by an estimate that only included a small roof repair. That’s not a coverage issue. I just finished a claim where the carrier changed the date of loss from 12/13 to 9/27 so they could take a hurricane deductible.
Not sure who would thumbs down you, because I see carriers do this in my insurance agency, too. I proactively fight this kind of behavior in my agency.
Report that carrier to the OIR as that is 100% illegal!!!
Date of loss changes are not arbitrary. When a roofer provides a date of loss where forensic weather data shows 35 mph winds on the claimed DOL at the exact risk location, and that same weather data shows 90 mph winds on the hurricane date at the exact risk location, and the claim wasn’t reported until a roofer knocked on the door three months later and told them they had damage, are carriers supposed to just say “well OK, there was no wind on the date you claimed and you did have a hurricane three months ago, but if you say so.”? Requests for corrections are also not arbitrary when a field adjuster writes for something that is excluded by the policy, i.e. a screen enclosure when the insured opted not to insure the screen enclosure for hurricane damage; or when the field adjuster writes to replace a two year old roof with less than one square of damaged shingles.
Common sense is painfully uncommon.
Most if not all personal lines field adjusters are paid based on the amount of damage they write. The bigger the estimate, the bigger their fee for inspecting and writing the estimate. It is the desk adjuster’s job (who btw receive no financial consideration other than salary or a daily rate if they are contract) to review the estimate, review the policy, and ensure that homeowners are getting everything that is owed under the policy based on the terms and conditions of the policy…not one penny less but also not one penny more.
The field adjuster and the desk adjuster have the same adjuster’s license. The simple solution to this is to send the full policy to the field adjuster so they can, you know, adjust the claim and include covered losses on the estimate. What you describe as the field adjuster’s job sounds more like what a contractor does after the storm – just say what all the repairs cost. This problem is a self inflicted problem created by poor claim processes at these small insurance carriers.