It’s Not Too Late to Hire a Public Adjuster

It is not unusual for certain business owners to initially attempt to handle their property insurance claims on their own, especially if it is the first time they have filed one. Oftentimes, as the claims process proceeds, policyholders find themselves at a severe disadvantage without an insurance claims specialist on their loss recovery team. It is difficult for the policyholder to assemble their claim (e.g. know what to claim), and/or understand the insurance policy’s language/depth of coverage. This is where a public adjuster can help navigate the complexities inherent in the commercial insurance claims process.

Level the Playing Field

The insurance company typically arranges for an adjuster and/or other claims specialists to inspect the damage and adjust the claim on their behalf. MLA Claims provides business owners with critical property loss and business interruption expertise that levels the playing field between the policyholder and the insurance company’s specialists.

Even if you are in the middle of the insurance claims process or have received a partial payment, it is not necessarily too late to hire a public adjuster to help you make a full recovery. Claims with public adjuster representation typically result in larger payments to policyholders. Analysis from the Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA) found that policyholders in Florida, who filed catastrophe claims for damage due to hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, generally received higher settlements than those without public adjusters.

It’s Not Too Late

On a case by case basis, MLA Claims elects to work with organizations that initially elected to pursue their insurance claims without professional assistance and hired us later in the process. These clients felt overwhelmed and/or the settlement offer presented by their insurance carrier was deficient. Two examples of these types of clients/cases on which we assisted are below.

Condominium Community - Puerto Rico

In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated a high-end residential condominium association in Puerto Rico. After seven months of working directly with their insurance carrier’s representatives, the condominium association was presented with an offer that was insufficient to perform the warranted repairs. MLA Claims was hired to assist with negotiating a better settlement. Following numerous re-inspections and meetings with the insurance carrier, detailed presentations prepared by MLA Claims, and an intricate adjustment process, the insurance carrier agreed to a full settlement of nearly six times the original offer.

Shopping Mall Developer

A real estate development company sustained substantial building damage and loss of rents at three shopping malls following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After 13 months of working directly with the insurance carrier, the company had only received $495,000, which covered just a fraction of the damages incurred. Realizing it was not financially advantageous to continue on this path, they hired MLA Claims to provide professional assistance. MLA Claims negotiated a net (after deductible) loss payment of an additional $6,455,000 for this client. 

While MLA believes it is in policyholders’ best interests to consider the use of a public adjuster from the outset of a claim, it may not be too late to hire one to assist if you are without professional assistance and find yourself overwhelmed and/or under-compensated during the claims process.