How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Public Adjuster?

Should you hire a public adjuster?

This is a very serious decision to consider. A large sum of money could be at stake, as well as the livability of your home or the viability of your business.

Though the stakes are high, there are two pieces of good news.

1. A Public Adjuster can help you expedite and maximize your property damage claim recovery.

2. The policyholder hires a Public Adjuster on a contingency basis.

This means that the Public Adjuster can help you get paid more, faster, and the Public Adjuster only gets paid when you get paid – so there’s no out of pocket cost for the policyholder.

In New York State, the maximum that a Public Adjuster can charge is limited by law to 12.5% of the amount recovered.

The opportunity cost – the loss of potential gain – often far exceeds the cost of hiring a Public Adjuster. Also, it’s important to hire a public adjuster sooner in the claims process than later because there are many mistakes that can occur during the claims process that cannot be undone. Hiring a public adjuster from the beginning can help a policyholder avoid many costly misteps.

You can read some of our case studies here: Public Adjuster Case Studies

Do you need an engineer?

Hiring Experts

On the other hand, during the claims process, certain expenses may come up.

Property claims often necessitate the use of property claim experts to support a claim.

Most often this will include an engineer, or other experts.

If experts are needed, the insured would handle that cost out of pocket as a reimbursable expense.

The public adjuster would help you select an expert as they often have a wide network of resources available to call upon.

When Does The Public Adjuster Get Paid?

A public adjuster only gets paid when the policyholder gets paid.

For example, claims are seldom settled all at once. Many involve undisputed payments, supplements, and recoverable depreciation. You can learn more about those here: Payment Types

The public adjuster may get paid in the same way throughout the claims process as the policyholder. Whenever a payment is released by the insurer, the agreed upon percentage may be paid to the public adjuster until the claim is fully settled.