What Your Insurance Company Won t Tell You Hurricane Harvey Edition 1
Contents Introduction 3 1. Minimizing Your Claims Is In Their Best Interest 4 2. Your Insurance Adjuster is on Their Side 5 3. They Count on Your Ignorance About Everything You Lost 6 4. Most People Settle for Less Than the Maximum You Deserve 7 5. You Can Hire Third Parties to Help You 8 Conclusion 9 2
Introduction The recent landfall of Hurricane Harvey may have you thinking about your own insurance policy. Recent estimates place total damage from this hurricane at over $180 billion and it could potentially topple Hurricane Katrina as the costliest natural disaster in history. For some, this is the biggest financial loss that will happen in their lifetime. Most people go directly to their insurance company to solve the problem. But that is only half the battle. You may think that your insurance company is on your side but unfortunately, for most claims this is not the case. That s why people hire loss experts to maximize their claim returns and work with insurance on YOUR behalf. Think about it, when you have tax issues, you hire a CPA, legal issues are handled by a lawyer, but who do you hire for a disaster like this? A certified public adjuster. Doing so has netted policyholders much more than the insurance proposed to pay. In this short ebook, Strategic Claim Consultants will discuss the policies, strategies, and tactics that insurance companies don t want you to know. By employing these industry secrets, insurance companies often avoid paying out what they owe to their policyholders maximizing their profits while minimizing your settlement payout. So read on and learn how to use the secrets of the insurance companies to fight back! 3
1. Minimizing YOUR Claim Is In THEIR Best Interest Your insurance agency provides a contracted service. You pay the premium. They provide coverage. All insurance agencies attempt to be clear on what they do and do not cover. This has two problems. First, insurance policies contain many pages of information. Much of it is difficult to understand. Policies contain pitfalls and compliances that consumers need to be aware of. Yet due to the complexity, many policyholders do not read their policy completely. Insurance agencies are counting on the ignorance of the policyholder when it comes time to settle. This means the chips are often stacked against the consumer. This leads to the second caveat. Second, insurance agencies must protect their own interests while attempting to protect yours according to the contract. This is a challenging balance to maintain for any business, regardless of what they sell. For this reason, insurance agencies are affected by the same thing you are: personal bias. You are biased toward the perceived value of your property. You believe it is worth one value. Your insurance agent is biased toward the interests of the company which employs them. They believe your property is worth a different value. Therefore, minimizing the value of your claim is in the best interest of their company. This does not mean that insurance companies will always try to deny your claims. Figured into the valuation of your property are the risks associated with potential lawsuits, which your insurance agency wishes to avoid. Therefore, it behooves them to walk the fine line of settling your claim in a way that makes you happy, as well as their shareholders. Often times this means you feel pressured to settle for less. You may not be aware that you don t have to settle this way. 4
2. Your Insurance Company s Adjuster is on Their Side If your home or property is seriously damaged by a natural disaster, your insurance company will send an insurance adjuster to examine the damage, and determine what coverage you re entitled to. These adjusters are normal people just like you. They have a job, just like you. But their job is to assess your damage, put a value on it, and settle the claim quickly. All adjusters have a bias toward their company s interest. Their job is to assess and value the damage as they see it. Often, they are inexperienced, especially in natural disaster. Many insurance agency adjusters and independent adjusters are catastrophe adjusters. But they are not nearly as equipped to handle catastrophic losses as a public adjuster. All adjusters require one important thing to justify the settlement amount: data justification. Consumers must provide tangible, documented proof on what was lost. This documentation comes through an inventory, pictures, video, etc. Adjusters must vet the evidence in order to determine what they consider legitimate and what is not. The goal of this process is to determine the most accurate value of the property loss. At the end of the day, your insurance company s adjuster has the most influence in determining that value. This is why you need third-party representation through a public adjuster. They represent YOU. 5
3. They Count on Your Ignorance About Everything You Lost Do you remember every single item that was in your home? You remember those things that carry sentimental value. Or the things you paid a premium for. But how about the contents of your bathroom cabinets or kitchen drawers? Even paper clips and cotton balls carry a replacement value! Insurance agency adjusters capture all larger items, as well as items you can remember. But what if you can t remember everything? Insurance agencies are counting on your ignorance about the list of items you lost and the value you believe they had. If you don t know what you lost, and if you don t know the value, you have no choice but to allow the insurance agency s adjuster to determine that for you. Ultimately this means you will more than likely settle for less than the actual value. This is why it s absolutely critical to keep a log of every single possession in your home. If you have not yet been hit by a disaster, having such an inventory on-hand when something occurs will be incredibly helpful in maximizing your insurance payout. When you know the value of your property, and can provide proof as to the value of the damaged items, your insurance adjuster will have no choice but to submit a more accurate, well-documented claim. Hiring a third-party representative, such as a public adjuster, means helping you walk through the entire process, from start to finish, making sure to capture everything. Getting this kind of help is the difference between settling for less and settling for what you deserve. 6
4. Most People Settle For Less Than the Maximum They Deserve Here s another secret insurance companies don t want you to know: they know that you re human. In a time of disaster you are extremely vulnerable in many ways, including psychologically, emotionally, mentally, and financially. You are frustrated, anxious, angry, and scared. Reacting in these ways is what it means to feel like a human. Insurance agency adjusters have one mission when they connect with you after a disaster: help you get back to normal. As fast as possible. But here s an important question to consider: who defines the definition of normal? Consumers settle for a different definition of normal because, more often than not, they fell into a trap. The trap is believing by default that the insurance company will take care of everything with thoroughness. Yet here s the raw fact about adjusters and disasters: adjusters get overwhelmed and exhausted with the volume of claims. And what does this mean? Insurance adjusters are humans, too. When their volume of losses increases, so does their weariness. And so does their attention to detail. As a result, they will miss things. In fact, depending on where you were in in the queue of all the other customers, they may be completely exhausted by the time they reach you. Because they are human, you will receive less quality care and attention which will translate into a lesser settlement amount than you deserve. This is why you hire a strategic claim consultant to work FOR YOU! Public adjusters take the headache out of dealing with your insurance company. 7
5. You Can Hire Third Parties To Help You Your insurance company s adjuster is there to take care of you. But they also serve the interests of their employer. Hiring a third-party representative is a great idea to protect your interests. If you decide to investigate this route, you have options. Finding a good public adjuster may be hard, as we ve stated. And that s why we ve taken the time to explain what you have to lose as well as what you have to gain in the awful event of a disaster. A private, third-party firm like Strategic Claim Consultants will help YOU navigate the tricky, complex process of filing insurance claims. Services from third-party firms, like Strategic Claim Consultants, can include: One of your options is a public insurance adjuster. Public insurance adjusters work for your benefit. They do not work for your insurance company. Typically, these claims adjusters are administered and certified by the state. They can legally represent the rights of an insured party during the claims process. Hiring a public adjuster is not hard. Finding a good public adjuster can be challenging. How do we define good? Such a public adjuster is able to: Increase your claim amount by 40-60% of your insurance agency adjuster s amount. Take away the burden of time constraints. Offer expertise around the process for a thorough and quality claims experience. Expedite the claim settlement. Policy review and advisory of property values Assistance fulfilling policy requirements Proactive claim management for maximum insurance payout Careful, professional loss evaluation Itemized, comprehensive claim packages delivered to insurers Representation at all meeting with insurance companies. Clear, easy-to-understand communication throughout the process Essentially, a private firm like Strategic Claim Consultants can take over the claims process for you. With a deep understanding of how insurance companies operate, a private firm can help you maximize insurance payouts and speed up the payment process helping you quickly get the money you deserve. A public adjuster is paid when you are paid. Typical amounts fall within 5-15% of your overall settlement. When comparing the benefits above to that cost, and when comparing how much less you would be getting from your insurance company s adjuster, a public adjuster s services are a steal. That s what insurance companies don t want you to know that you don't have to go it alone! You can hire a public adjuster or a third-party consulting firm, and use their expertise to ensure that you get the money that you re owed! 8
Conclusion Insurance companies exist to offer policy coverages that assist you in your time of need, while simultaneously making them a profit. When that time of need arises, it s easy to trust that the insurance agency has your best interest in mind completely. This fact is why you need third-party representation. CPAs understand tax code. Lawyers understand law. Public adjusters understand insurance policy. Hiring a public adjuster helps ensure that you get the money you re entitled to without a long, arduous claims process. If you or a family member has recently experienced catastrophic loss due to a natural disaster like Hurricane Harvey or any other cause contact Strategic Claim Consultants today. Our team of insurance experts have decades of combined experience filing compliant claims and professionally analyzing damages and we ll work tirelessly with you to make sure that you get the money you deserve. Hurricane Harvey is our 26th natural disaster. So don t wait and don t fall victim to shady insurance practices. Get in touch with our team today to learn more about our rates, services, and more! Initiate Your Free Policy Review Today 9
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