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 Generally speaking there are three types of adjusters actively involved in the claims business: staff, independent, and public.
The staff adjuster is a direct salaried employee of an insurance company and adjusts claims only for that company.
The independent adjuster is an individual or insurance company that adjusts claims for the intire insurance industry on a fee basis. The fee is an hourly charge plus direct costs and expenses.
A fire victim has an option of hiring his or her own claims representatives to help prepare their claim. A public adjuster is a professional claims representative licensed by the State to represent the policyholder's interest. The fire victim can utilize a public adjuster's service to substantiate and adjust on their behalf the claim with the insurance company.
The public adjuster knows and understands all of the policy terms, conditions, rights, and obligations that the policyholder has to deal with. There are many reasons to have your own public adjuster representing you, although there are some cases when the public adjuster's services are not necessary. A reputable public adjuster should be able to advise you of this.
Public adjusters are there to help the fire victims better understand and deal with all aspects of their insurance policy. This includes understanding the rights and duties following a property loss. Secondly, a public adjuster can relieve the insured from the many responsibilities of preparing, presenting and selling an insurance claim. This service can relieve the fire victim of many frustrating hours treading in unknown territory and to help get their lives back to normal as quickly and as easily as possible.
 The service offered by a public adjuster should include assisting with an inventory and documenting of personal property claim, determining the scope of loss of the dwelling damages, preparation and documentation of the additional living expense claim. The above items are submitted to the insurance company by the public adjuster and settlement talks are then held to bring the loss to an equitable conclusion.
A public adjuster is paid on a contingency fee basis of the amounts collected on behalf of the client. The range is usually between 5% and 15% of the settlement. A reputable public adjuster wil be happy to give you a free consultation to determine if their services are needed.
Public adjusters represent the interests of the insured whereas the staff or independent adjuster represents the interest of the insurer.
Legitimate public adjusters thoroughly know and understand insurance policy coverages. Often they are aware of obscure policy provisions that many staff adjusters are unaware of. These obscure provisions can and will add many dollars to the insured's claim settlements.
Most states require independent adjusters and public adjusters to be licensed, although California does not require the licensing of independent adjusters. Most states also require public adjusters to be bonded.
Adjusters are a subculture with a language and worldview unique to their profession. It's perhaps the only profession in which practitioners have no formal education in the skill required before entering their practice. They have limited formal training other than on-the-job training once they are in the industry
A recent study has found that insurance adjusters receive 54.9 new claim files per month with the mean monthly adjusters pending file load being at 120 files.
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