There arent too many other things that go hand in hand so well as blizzards and insurance claims, except for maybe holiday food and weight gain. Today marked the pinnacle for one of the worst winter storms in the Eastern…
SugarLoaf Maine Ski Lift Failure Insurance Claim Legal Info
It was widely report that a Maine ski lift failed causing injury to three or more riders this morning, at the SugerLoaf Mountain resort near Carrabassett Valley, Maine. According to eye witness reports, the chairs were approximately 20 to 40…
The Appraisal Clause
The appraisal clause is designed to be a simple and low cost form of mediation in the event of a disagreement on the value of damages; generally limited to property claims. Much like mediation, there are few written rules governing…
No Multiple Estimates? Contractors trick insured saying they’ll work for the insurance claim amount
Late last week a contractor using the name Tim Arnold commented and and ultimately asked the ever important question, why?, with regard to our recommendation that insureds obtain three estimates from potential contractors. Maybe Tim will become the worlds most…
The Overnight Adjuster Dilemma: Insurance Claim Adjuster Training
Before I get to the dirt on insurance adjuster training, a short preface is necessary: Between late nights in the office, missing cargo claims and property appraisals, I can occasionally be found mudding through the piles of resumes that end…
What is an Independent Public Adjuster?
Public Adjuster: An independent person and/or company working to provide loss assessment and claim handling to an insurance carrier, attorney or self-employed entity; not working in a payroll but on an as needed basis. There really is no easy definition…
Unfair Claims Practices Act, Case Law Tree Injuries is it fair?
In a brief review, we noticed that nearly all states have passed legislation that refer to Unfair Claims Practices. Essentially, most states have set forth some bare bone guidelines that force insurers to fairly investigate and pay claims for damages…
Why Public Adjusters are enemies of Independent Agents
As if the insurance claim profession isnt plagued with enough problems, I came across an obscure article titled Why Public Adjusters are not enemies of Independent Agents, published in March of 2010 by Ronald Reitz, CPPA, on the Insurance Journals…
Neighboritis Independent Adjusting Professionals
We discussed and defined neighboritis in this post, in hopes to create awareness for a condition that should be alarming to all independent adjusting companies and adjusters alike. Neighboritis occurs when a roofing salesman convinces one property owner in a…
Neighboritis Defined
If you have worked with more than ten claims resulting from any kind of hail storm youve probably been exposed to what is commonly known as neighboritis. Neighboritis is practically like a bad case of the flu; it spreads easily….
Oil Spill Adjusters Damage Surveyors
Lately we’ve had quite a few requests for information about Oil Spill Adjusters and oil-spill related damage surveyors. We’ve even noticed that a few Underwriters at one particular Error and Omission Insurer have taken the time to briefly scout this…
Wind Driven Oil: The Gulf Coast and an Oil Spill in Hurricane Season
On any given day my office is prepared to remind inland residential property owners how much worse their $5,000 claim for water damage could have been. While we are sympathetic to the average homeowners property claim, one mention of Hurricane…
Roofing Hail Damage Contractors: Advertising as Insurance Adjusters
Our insurance claim services office has taken notice to the rapidly evolving concept that there has been an immense growth in the number of hail damage roofing and exterior structure component related businesses over the last few years. Unfortunately we…
Colorado House Bill 1012 Bill History
Colorado House Bill 10-1012 was introduced on January 13th, 2010 by freshman representative Sal Pace (email) of the House of Representatives in District 46 which serves Pueblo, Colorado, and by Morgan Carroll (email) who is a State Senator in District…
Foreign International Insurance Claim Adjusting and Investigation
A few weeks ago we posted a short article about the earthquake that occurred in Chile. Although we may briefly cross paths with catastrophe claims and catastrophic adjusting its really beyond the scope of our intended subject matter for this…
Workers Compensation Insurance Surveillance Laws Colorado
Currently there is virtually no regulation for Workers Compensation carriers, general carriers, or their independent professional surveillance crews to conduct investigation and surveillance with any regard a claimants interests, private or not in The State of Colorado. Synonymous laws for…
Colorado House Bill 1012 Workers Compensation Surveillance
Last week, Independent-Adjuster.com put out a request through social media to see what our viewers would be interested in reading. Before presenting our findings on Colorado House Bill 10-1012 , it should be noted that we wrote this article as…
Loss Notification Part II Writing an Insured
In this second part of Loss Notification for Independent Adjusters were going to discuss what you might consider when writing a loss notification letter to an insured. Well get to claimants in another post. Please read Part I if you…
Devestating 8.8 Magnitute Earthquake Rocks Chile
An unbelievably destructive and sobering force of nature caused by an 8.8 magnitude (Richter Scale) earthquake occurred this Saturday morning in South Central Chile near the city of Concepción in Region VIII. This is the largest quake to strike since…
Loss notification for Independent Adjusters Part 1
Most independent insurance adjusting offices utilize deploy common practices upon acceptance of an assignment. The adjusting firm is usually required to make contact with some combination of insured, claimant(s) and or witnesses, if any, within the same or next business day….