Underpaid Insurance Claim? JF Public Adjusters in New York Can Help.

When your property sustains damage, there are a multitude of things that you suddenly have to deal with. First, you need to stop whatever the source of the damage is. If it’s a burst pipe, for example, you need to shut off the water source, so water stops escaping from the pipe.

Then, you’ll have to arrange for emergency mitigation services – these are the contractors that come in to secure the property and perform the necessary repairs to prevent further damage. An example of mitigation services is putting a tarp over a damaged roof so that the property is watertight, and the property doesn’t sustain further damage from the elements such as rain. Another example is drying out wet areas using professional equipment to prevent the damp from spreading out and prevent mold growth.

At this stage, most policyholders would file an insurance claim.

When you submit a claim, it is reasonable to expect that your insurer will pay the costs covered by your policy so you can resume your life without experiencing financial hardship.

Unfortunately, it does not always work out that way. In an ideal world, every insurance provider would support you throughout your claim and would promptly and fully honor covered claims. The issue is that insurers are profit-driven to pay as little as possible for each incident. Over the years, insurers have been able to make enormous profits by underpaying insurance claims.

If you have a nagging feeling that your claim was underpaid, contact one of our public insurance adjusters in New York and New Jersey. We, at JF Public Adjusters, are dedicated to making sure that you receive a fair settlement.

Our public adjusters have the knowledge and skills required to support and protect your rights in these tricky situations.

To know whether you were underpaid, you have to first examine your contract thoroughly and be familiar with your maximum coverage amount.

Then you can ask for contractors for a quote to complete the repairs to your property. Once you have an amount to work with, compare this to the settlement that your insurance provider has paid you.

If there is a significant difference in the sums, then most likely your insurance claim was underpaid.

There are two main reasons that your claim was underpaid.

The first reason is that your insurer does not have the correct idea of the extent of the damage to your property. This happens especially if you are managing a claim on your own. When you see damage to a certain portion of your home, you’re likely to focus your attention only on those damages that are visible and obvious. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of the actual damage could be well hidden behind those walls, ceiling, or floorboard or have reached areas you didn’t even expect.

When the insurance company’s adjuster comes in to inspect the damage, you might show them the areas that you know are damaged. The inspector will document this damage and prepare repair estimates based on it.

Realty check: it is not in the interest of the insurance company or their adjuster to scope out your home and find any other damaged areas for you!

So if, by your inexperience, you have inadvertently shown them only the damage you were aware of, when the time comes to conduct repairs, you’ll realize you run the risk of paying out of pocket for a significant portion of the repairs.

This is why it is important to hire a public adjuster at the beginning of a claim. They have the knowledge, experience, and expertise to fully scope out your property and determine the actual extent of the damage.

However, even if you are at this stage in your claim and you have already been paid, it is not too late and there is still help available. Contact one of our public insurance adjusters in New York and New Jersey to review your claim. They will determine whether your claim can still be revisited.

The second reason for underpaid claims is bad faith actions from the insurer. Some strategies insurers use to underpay your legitimate claim include insurers employing unreasonable depreciation that has no basis for the item’s age and useful life, quoting unacceptable percentages of cost and profit, using outdated and inaccurate price lists, using an unreasonable basis for calculating your business losses, and incorrectly pricing valuable items.

The majority of policyholders who have been underpaid by their insurance provider don’t want to deal with the trouble of fighting with insurance companies for their fair settlement or are unaware that they are entitled to full compensation. Some people accept much less money than they are entitled to since they don’t know any better.

Insurance providers are aware that the majority of people may feel that the effort is not worth their time or money. Some insurance companies will deliberately delay your claim to force you into accepting a low settlement just to “get it over with”.

Insurance providers will keep underpaying claims until policyholders learn to recognize bad faith practices and hold insurance companies accountable for them.

If you feel that your insurer has underpaid your insurance claim for any one of the reasons we have outlined, contact JF Public Adjusters immediately. Our public insurance adjusters in New York and New Jersey will review your claim and advise you of what else can be done. If we feel that you still have a strong chance of recovering the correct settlement, we will gladly manage and appeal your claim settlement on your behalf.

It may sound frustrating to drag the claim a little further, however receiving a settlement that allows you to actually complete the required repairs and replacement will be well worth it.

Our public insurance adjusters in New York and New Jersey are your allies and we’ll do all that we can to help you receive the best possible insurance claim settlement. To contact JF Public Adjusters, call or text (917) 272-8793.