About Claims Adjusters
Claims Adjusters Explained
Company Claims Adjusters
Company Claims Adjusters, as the name implies, are employed directly by an insurance company. They typically have authority to make decisions on behalf of the insurance company, but they must submit their work for approval, and that takes time.
Almost universally, insurance companies require their adjusters to complete an “estimate” of damages. This estimate usually results in the insurer presenting the insured with a dollar amount that is “undisputed”. This is money that they have decided is without dispute. From there, everything else must be addressed, and the undisputed amount is hardly ever the complete amount. Coast routinely sees our projects grow in scope by 30%-40%, so you should expect there to be things that simply aren’t included on the up front, first communication from your insurer.
Coast does not participate in any vendor programs because we don’t want to work under any of the rules put in place by insurers for such work. Coast analyzes the minute details of every loss in order to produce a proper, complete scope of work, and uses this to produce accurate estimates.
Independent Adjusters
Independent Adjusters are not the same as insurance company adjusters. Claims handling is essentially subcontracted to Independent Adjusters. They operate under their own adjusting licenses issued by the State of California, and generally work for many different insurance companies. The biggest difference between a company adjuster and an independent adjuster is that the independent adjuster does not usually have any authority to bind the insurance company to any action or position. The independent adjuster reports findings and suggestions to the insurance company and then proceeds according to directions received from the company. This typically means things move slower when an independent is involved. On the positive side, independent adjusters tend to be very experienced, and we find them easier to deal with than most company adjusters. Like company adjusters, they are expected to safeguard the interests of the insurance company.
Public Adjusters
A Public Insurance Adjuster is a person who, for compensation, acts on behalf of or aids in any manner, an insured in negotiating for or effecting the settlement of a claim or claims for loss or damage under any policy of insurance covering real or personal property or any person who advertises, solicits business, or holds himself or herself out to the public as an adjuster of those claims and any person who, for compensation, investigates, for those losses on behalf of any public insurance adjuster.