Insurance Agents:
When you have a disaster strike, most people will call their Insurance company first. This can be helpful if you do not know who to call first. Your Insurance company can help make the calls to the Insurance Provider (the company paying for the loss). In most case you will be assigned an ADJUSTOR. This person will schedule a time to view the loss, take notes and discuss policy limits with you.
It has been our experience with, most Adjustors, that they typically want to do everything allowable per the policy. They are a vital part of a smooth transaction to ensure all interested parties are taken care of.
ADVICE:
1. Never begin a meeting with an adjustor "Demanding" your rights! The adjuster knows or will find out what is covered or not covered.
2. Allow the adjustor to review and see what needs to be repaired or replaced. You don't want to keep talking and talking. Show them the areas of concern and allow them room for conclusions.
3. Do not inject your "opinions" as to what happened if you don't know for sure. Even then, you may want to keep discussions limited to just answering the questions from the adjustor. The more you talk, the greater the risk of not getting everything covered you thought would be covered. Once you disclose information, the adjustor is obligated to enforce policy requirements per your discussion. With this being said, we NEVER advocate being dishonest about your loss. This would be fraudulent and highly discouraged. It's never worth the penalty if caught trying to defraud your insurance company.
4. Sometimes you can negotiate your deductible with the adjustor. I never hurts to try. Most often adjustors have leeway in how the claim will be paid.
5. Most losses have 2 - 3 stages. First is the "Emergency " portion Second is the "Estimate for repairs" and third would be any "Supplements sent"