(WFSB) -For those whose homes have flooded, dealing with insurance can be a headache.
Our crews out in the field have been hearing from people frustrated with the insurance process.
Some people don’t know what is or isn’t covered, some say their insurance company doesn’t have any answers or has told them they can’t help.
One avenue you may want to look at, getting a public insurance adjuster to help.
A public adjuster has to be licensed through the state.
We talked to David Biller of Biller Associates who says going through a claims process can sometimes feel like a full time job and you may not know what is fully covered or where hidden money may be.
“We work for policyholders, not insurance companies. Our job is to do everything necessary to expedite the claims process, including preparing, documenting and presenting our clients’ claim,” says Biller, “We negotiate more often than not fight on behalf of our clients to make sure they are fully compensated for their losses.”
He says it’s best to call them in early, but they can join at any stage of the process, even if you’ve already made a claim.
“We can report the claim, help mitigate damages, take care of emergency services. We evaluate the coverage, we explain the coverage to our clients. We write the estimates, submit the inventories, we handle every aspect, building, contents, additional living expenses,” says Biller.
Even if the insurance company has already said no, we can’t help, call to ask.
”If they don’t have flood insurance, we can help them check their homeowner’s and commercial policies because oftentimes there are endorsements in homeowner policies and other commercial policies where we can find at least some limited coverages or places they may not know to look,” says Biller, “Sometimes exclusions are triggered by simply the wrong word or a word used in the wrong way or the wrong context. What we really want to make sure we do is make sure that our clients understand their obligations, make sure their claims are submitted the right way, documented the right way and so on.”
Biller says a public insurance adjuster does not get paid unless a client is paid.
He says under state regulations, adjusters are typically paid 10%.He says you want to look at experience when shopping for one, and make sure they are licensed.
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Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.