Get the Reserve you Deserve! A well kept insurance secret.

One of the most common statements we hear from victims of large losses is "let me first see what the insurance company offers, if I'm unhappy - I'll give you a call."

Although this may seem logical and prudent, it can cost you tens of thousands of dollars and here's why.

This concept is a well kept insurance industry insider secret. From the very start of any claim, the insurance company will make a preliminary evaluation of the loss. This is called setting a "reserve". This reserve value constitutes the approximate total value of loss to the insurance company. The insurance adjuster bases the "reserve" solely upon his or her best "guesstimate" with limited documentation of what they feel the claim should be settled for. The insurance company is then required to set aside that amount in reserves for your claim. It is crucial to your successful settlement that this figure be realistic for your specific loss. The insurance company expects this preliminary reserve to be as accurate as possible.

It naturally will become exceedingly difficult to negotiate a settlement which will exceed the amount set aside in reserve. I mean, this was the whole point of the reserve. Additionally, should the actual settlement prove to exceed the initial reserve, the adjuster's reputation as an expert is now on the line. So you now have two things working against you, the insurance company who won't pay over the amount reserved for this loss as well as the adjuster himself who wants to preserve his reputation.

Not a good thing.

When a Public Adjuster is involved from the start, he prepares an accurate estimate and hands it to the insurance company adjuster at their first meeting. The insurance adjuster will have an accurate number at which he will set his reserve and actually be thankful that this challenging step in the process has been taken care of by the Public Adjuster. It is a win-win situation.

We have witnessed many situations where the insurance company has acted unreasonably stubborn in paying a claim and upon further investigation realized that the reserve was yet again inadequately set.

Hire a Public Adjuster immediately. Don't let the reserve work against you.

Do you know what you own? NJ Public Adjuster helps fire victim.

Case file #3

A couple of months ago we received a call from a young woman in Asbury Park. Her house that she was renting burned down to the ground due to a massive fire at 2 am in the morning. This left her with absolutely nothing other than the shirt on her back. Thankfully, she had renters insurance that covered the contents of her house.

NJ Public Adjusters Tip: We have had many cases where a tenant lost everything due to a fire but did not have renters insurance. They assumed the owner's insurance covers them. BIG MISTAKE! The owner's insurance will only cover the structure but NOT the contents belonging to the tenant! They were left with absolutely nothing and we were unable to help them. Piece of advice: if you are currently renting - look into renters insurance. In case of the unthinkable - you will be covered.

So this woman comes to us, a single girl expecting a baby in a few months with no place to live and all her worldly possessions gone. She has no idea where to start. Her family all lived out of state and she felt truly alone. She needed at least some money quickly to buy the bare necessities.

New Jersey Public Adjusters took on the case. We of course got the insurance company to forward money to her to cover her immediate needs. The challenge facing us was, when a house is completely destroyed by the fire and razed the next day by the city due to safety concerns, you have nothing to work with at all. What type of furniture did she have? Clothing? Appliances? Electronics? Jewelry? DVDs? How many of each? The woman, in her distraught state after such a traumatic event could hardly think clearly enough to come up with an inventory list to present to the insurance company.

Think about it. If your house was completely destroyed, would you be able to come up with list of EVERYTHING you own? You have nothing to go by other than your own memory. Does your wife remember how many shoes she owns? Do you know exactly how many tools you have? DVDs? Pieces of jewelry? Socks?Can you mentally go through every drawer in your house and tell me what's in it? Do you know what's in your storage room or garage if you have to document what you lost? Difficult.

NJ Public Adjusters Tip:It is highly recommended that you take off 30 minutes on Sunday and run through your home with a camcorder. Open up all drawers and closets and just walk around the room talking about the various items you are capturing on camera. Keep the CD/Video/DVD off site. It will save you hours of heartache and grief in case of the unthinkable. It will save you thousands of dollars of unclaimed contents. Additionally, with photographs or videos the insurance company will give you a much easier time. There are a number of inventory services out there that will do this for you for approximately $350.00. If you have the money and don't have the time, you cannot afford NOT to do this.

In the end, we did manage to secure for her: $40,000 from her insurance company. We just had to mentally go through with her - room by room, jogging her memory about possible items she overlooked and we came up with the inventory. She was very appreciative that she had a NJ Public Adjuster there for her every step of the way, answering questions and helping her out.

I keep telling you. It pays to have a Public Adjuster on your side.

Henry

www.NewJerseyPublicAdjusters.net

Never use the "F" word, advises NJ Public Adjuster...

Case file #2

A fellow called up his insurance company claiming that he had a flood and can they take a look at it?
The response was "We're sorry but you have no coverage for flood".
A friend of his recently saw our flood ads (see ad) addressing this very point and advised him to immediately call a New Jersey Public Adjuster.

We went down there and upon entrance were greeted by a musty smell reminiscent of a nasty dark mildewy unfinished basement. You know, the type of smell that hits you when you open an ancient Bible that your grandmother inherited and kept it in an old bookcase in the attic. We discovered that his air conditioner's condensation pipe was clogged and as a result it overflowed with water that seeped under the carpets and tiled kitchen floors. The underlying plywood was soaked through and started emitting a musty smell. It tested positive for mold. Worse, the actual insulation of the unit became moldy and every time the air conditioner was blowing it pumped a mildewy smell throughout the home. Not exactly the aroma his tenants were searching for when hosting their daughter's graduation party. Needless to say, they left.

So this landlord is becoming frantic by the day. No tenants to cover his mortgage and no money to fix up this mess. Or so he thought.

New Jersey Public Adjusters took on this claim and presented it to the insurance company - not as a flood claim - but rather as a water overflow claim. It was quickly discovered that he did indeed have coverage for this type of loss. You see, while it is true that he had no flood coverage, this is not considered a flood. A flood from an insurance company's point of view, is only once water hits the ground before entering the property. In this case the water came from an overflow of a pipe within the property itself. He sure was covered.

Pretty sneaky of the insurance company wasn't it?

New Jersey Public Adjuster Tip:

Sadly, this is NOT an isolated incident. Who knows how many people were cheated out of their settlement to which they were rightfully entitiled by such tacticts. A piece of advice: Never use the "F" word with an insurance company.

In short, we negotiated a settlement of $18,671 to cover all the damage caused by this incident. This included removing the kitchen, taking up the tile & carpet, replacing the subfloor in the kitchen and the main area, replacing the carpet & ceramic tile, re-installing the kitchen, repairing the unit, cleaning the vents and ductwork etc. Our client was very grateful. He was able to repair the home and finally get a new tenant in there!

So let's see:
Insurance Company offered: $0.00
Frank Adjustments got: $18,671
Difference: $18,671

I keep telling you. It pays to use a New Jersey Public Adjuster!

Henry
http://www.newjerseypublicadjusters.net/

Helping Insured with a Sewer Backup. Blech!

Hi people!

Case file #1

About two months ago, we were called down to inspect this poor individual's basement. Apparently, early in the morning the main sewer pipe got clogged in the street and as a result, raw sewage and black water erupted out of his beautifully finished basement's toilets and bathtub/shower drains. Now we are talking about the real deal here. Goodness gracious, what have people been eating in this neighborhood?

Needless to say, his carpets were saturated with the stuff and ruined. The bottom of the kitchen cabinets were warped, his drywall areas were saturated with black water and needed to be replaced and a lovely odor could be detected which rivaled a herd of flatulent rhinos.

The insurance company adjuster came down, sniffed with flared nostrils and said, "ah, nothing a good cleaning crew can't remediate".

A good cleaning crew?

We are talking about piles of human feces littering the play area of this unfortunate's children, saturating the carpets and the underlying pad. This is DANGEROUS stuff! There have been known traces of E. Coli bacteria in raw sewage as well as Salmonella, Hepatitis and even Cholera!

The insurance company offered $3,600 toward cleanup and a few other items and that was it.

Frank Adjustments took the case and negotiated a much more reasonable settlement for the fellow. We got them $9,700 for the damage which took care of all his repair needs. He removed all the carpets and infected drywall, remediated the area with microbials and replaced the carpet and drywall to his and his family's satisfaction.

That's nearly 270% more than the original offer!

So let's see:

Insurance Company offered: $3,600
Frank Adjustments got: $9,700
Difference: $6,100

I keep telling everyone. It pays to hire a New Jersey Public Adjuster.

New Jersey Public Adjuster TIP:
One last note I'd like to offer if I may. Many people have called us down for sewer backup issues whom we were unable to help - DUE TO LACK OF COVERAGE! Make sure to read your policy or have your agent look it over. Determine whether sewer backup is excluded from your coverage. If it is - get it back on! It costs only an additional few dollars in premiums but it can really make a huge difference when something like this occurs.

Henry
http://www.newjerseypublicadjusters.net/

New Jersey Public Adjusters - Frank Adjustments new blog!

Hi people!
I decided to start documenting the ongoing help a public adjuster gives to insureds in order to educate the teeming masses out there of the help available to them should damage occur.

A Public Insurance Adjuster is a Licensed and Bonded expert on loss adjustment and the recovery process and is employed by the policyholder not the insurance company. The Public Adjuster assists you, the insured, with his intimate knowledge of insurance policies and negotiation techniques, in preparing, filing and managing the payment of insurance claims regarding property loss.

He works on your behalf.

Many people are simply unaware that the use of a New Jersey Public Adjuster can SUPERSIZE their settlement by 250% even after their fees are deducted.

The purpose of this blog is to document this fact and to show people how we help people maximize their claims on a daily basis and how you too can avail yourself of this service!

We'll start with the previous case studies and continue with the current ones as they come up!

Glad you can be with us!

Henry
NewJerseyPublicAdjusters.net