April, who like so many insureds fail to understand the importance of protecting themselves properly, not that they are to blame, but the adjuster in most cases fails to explain the process to them so they understand it. It is the homeowners job to be sure they don’t rely upon any person except themselves during a time of peril, even though it is a very difficult time. I suggest for them to seek outside help, which we will discuss later.
With that being said, April was in for a rude awakening and the experience was going to be something that she would never forget, even though she wanted to forget it.
Even though April had a fire and felt very fortunate that all four of her children escaped, along with their animals which were also a part of the family, she would soon learn that her insurance company was not going to take care of her like her agent had always told her they would if she ever needed them. She called her insurance agent immediately, and it was the next day that a contractor showed up at her door along with the insurance adjuster just a couple of minutes later. The contractor explained that he would help her and assist her on her claim and it was not long before he had her sign his contract that, unknowingly to her, the contract locked her into a position giving the contractor full control over the entire claim. She was comfortable at the time doing this, after all, her insurance adjuster assured her that he was a good contractor and would do a good job for her.
Her adjuster was kind, at least most of the time, but it was not long until he simply appeared not to care what was in the best interest of April, and more concerned about his company; and that scared April. It was not but after a few weeks of witnessing this type of tragedy taking place in front of her that she reached out to someone who she thought could at least give her some guidance. After talking to her friend, she realized she needed the help of an outside person who understood the insurance business just as good or better than the insurance adjuster did. Her friend told her to look for a public adjuster, someone who works for the homeowner only, so she did. It was not long until she found a local public adjusting firm who understood and had the knowledge that was needed to help her who was a claim expert working for homeowners.
After hiring her public adjuster, she really did begin to feel more at ease because she could see that what the insurance company adjuster told her that he would not cover, began to be covered and paid for. April did not need to worry about the little details from that point forward. She knew she had made the right decision and could see progress being made. Her claim was brought to a close with a quality job due to the public adjuster finding out during his investigation that the contractor whom she had hired in the beginning to be more concerned about the fear of asking the insurance company for more money to fix her property correctly, so the public adjuster helped her locate an honest contractor to get her job done. Customer satisfied and moved back into her home.
