Surviving a Car Accident or House Fire is Hard Enough – Then the Solicitations Begin.

How to Fix a Car or Home After a Disaster, From An Insider Look at the Post-Loss Industry. An insider look into the insurance and legal industries after a loss to reveal the post-loss feeding frenzy, where high volume personal injury attorneys and their staff of marketers and data scrapers, utilize very aggressive marketing and third-party solicitations to attempt to help a victim of a disaster with their claim. But, in reality, they create a chaotic mess and tension, between a victim and their insurance company, to reap enormous profits from processing claims.

The Instant Solicitation Machine

Many people consider the day after an auto accident to be the worst part of the experience. The reason for this is that the day after an accident the phone rings. And rings. And rings some more. The calls are from people claiming to assist the injured driver with learning their rights. And from attorneys looking to represent the injured driver in a suit against another’s negligence. Often the calls are made to both the driver of the vehicle that was involved in the accident, as well as to their spouse. Often the spouse was not even a driver and was not a named insured on the auto policy.

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This is how the high-volume personal injury companies operate. Within minutes after an accident, they start to search for your information.

How Do They Get Your Information?

• Public Records Scrapers: These are individuals who pull public records off police department websites as well as other databases where reports are stored and posted online. Such reports can be scanned and or monitored by marketers within 24 hours after the occurrence of an accident and are often used as a lead in personal injury cases. Many police departments across the country now post accident reports online in the crash database where they are uploaded within 24-48 hours after the report was written. Such reports can be ‘purchased’ by marketing firms online that then solicit the parties involved in said accidents for potential personal injury cases.
• Digital Footprints: Once a name is pulled from a report, basic internet searches and data brokers easily link family members, landlines, and secondary cell phone numbers to the file.
• on scene runners or cappers: these are individuals that continuously monitor police scanner for reported accidents. Upon their arrival at the scene of the reported accident, they will distribute marketing materials to the injured parties and/or their family members. In some cases the on scene runners are paid on a commission basis to refer the injured party to said marketing firm(s).

There are many organizations that solicit the services of homeowners and business owners who have experienced property damage. While the majority of organizations that solicit personal injury clients are auto accident chasers, there are many organizations that aggressively solicit the services of property owners who have experienced damage to their homes or businesses. Often, these organizations are contracted by the restoration company that was contracted by the insurance company to mitigate the damage to the property. The representatives of these organizations will often go to the policyholder’s home to assist with the initial paperwork that is required to begin the claim process. Some of these organizations can be located by searching in the phone book. However, in many cases, a policyholder will not know to contact these organizations.

The Friction Between Adjusters and Consumers

This creates an immediate impression of distrust in the insurance industry. When a legitimate adjuster does try to make contact with a policyholder to process a claim, they are often met with hostility and anger. People have been ‘brainwashed’ by the many advertisements from ‘billboard attorneys’ who immediately jump on the scene of any accident.

“Most people believe that if they have been involved in an automobile accident that they should call a billboard attorney as soon as possible. However, as adjusters we try to assist and help people in needlessly fight with the insurance company who automatically is trying to screw them. It creates a lot of distrust with our company and our adjusters. And when our adjusters do try to contact the insured to assist them with their claim, they get defensive because of all of the solicitors that have been calling them. And that creates a lot of problems for the adjusters.”

Some of the damage that consumers sustain in personal injury cases is due to the high-volume, personal injury operations. The phone calls received by a consumer claiming that they can help understand their rights, or the consumer’s best interest by contacting a premier law firm, are strange. Even more strange are the phone calls received by the spouse, who did not incur damage in the auto accident, and who is not a party to the auto policy and for whom he or she is not a listed driver or additional driver on the auto title, for example. These high-volume, personal injury operations create a tremendous amount of distrust immediately upon the occurrence of an accident. Often, when the insurance adjuster for a consumer’s policy finally makes contact with the consumer in order to process the claim of the consumer, the consumer is already fully represented by an attorney, because of all of the solicitations received by the consumer from lawyers, who were advertising in billboards and other print media, for example, prior to the time that the consumer even had a chance to return a call to the insurance company of the consumer, in order to report the damage to the consumer’s vehicle for example.

Navigating Property Damage: The Role of Public Adjusters

The personal injury industry is a very aggressive space where “chasers” call numbers often days after an auto accident to market services of attorneys for soft-tissue injuries for thousands of dollars in unnecessary chiropractic damage. But when it comes to property damage the home owner suffers at the hands of nature (severe weather) or some catastrophic event (fire/ pipe burst) where the home owner is left to navigate through the complexities of their own policy to assess and negotiate to obtain the fair repair of damages to restore their home to its pre-loss condition.

It is also worth noting that not all public adjusters are created equal. There are certainly some ‘chasers’ who list themselves in directories that aggressively solicit their services after a major loss, but there are also many reputable firms in the Delray Beach area that employ licensed public adjusters to help homeowners get the fair compensation they deserve for damages to their property.

There is a huge difference between a public adjuster and an insurance adjuster. The insurance adjuster works for the insurance company to pay as little as possible for a claim. The public adjuster works only for the policyholder to get the policyholder the highest possible amount of money for their loss.

How Public Adjusters Help Homeowners Recover:

• Accurate Documentation of the Damage to your property: Most insurance companies’ field adjusters lack the ability to find hidden water damage or structural damage to building components. In addition, they are often unaware of the code upgrade requirements for repairs to building components. The public adjuster will document all damage to your property to ensure that all damage is covered by your policy.
• Policy Interpretation: Most property insurance policies are filled with complicated language, including various exclusions and coverage limitations called ‘caps’. As experts in-depth experts in insurance claims, public adjusters are able to help analyze the coverage in a policy and explain how the coverage will apply to the damages to a home or building to help pay 100% of the amount that you are entitled to under your policy.
• Level the playing field: Instead of the homeowner fighting with a huge corporation of adjusters and employees of an insurance company, the public adjuster will be able to negotiate on behalf of the homeowner and present an extremely detailed and documented estimate of damages to the property. The estimate will be so strong that the insurance company will be forced to pay the entire amount of coverage to the homeowner.

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A public adjuster is the homeowner’s best advocate for a number of reasons. First, the public adjuster can help the homeowner understand the terms and limits of the homeowner’s insurance policy. In many cases, insurance claims are delayed or denied because the policyholder does not have a thorough understanding of their policy terms and limits. Second, a public adjuster can help the homeowner get the maximum amount of compensation from the homeowner’s insurance carrier for damage to the homeowner’s property. The public adjuster can assist the policyholder with every aspect of the insurance claims process and will work to ensure that the policyholder receives the largest possible settlement for damages to their property.

The Bottom Line

Today’s insurance claims process is messy.

When dealing with a claim it is best to be an informed consumer and make wise decisions throughout the entire process. Make sure you take your time when signing a contract for repairs and choose the best service for your needs. Many times hiring a licensed public adjuster can be in your best interest.