FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Florida public adjuster: Property owners underestimate property insurance claims process
Tutwiler and Associates, a leading public adjuster firm with offices throughout Florida and licensed in nine other states as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, outlines the mistakes most property owners make after a property loss and how to avoid them.
September 15, 2010 / TAMPA, Fla. /
The logic is simple, and for countless property owners and condo associations, it can also be the key to saving thousands of dollars in out of pocket repair costs and time spent chasing down a property insurance claim. If insurance companies have people working for them, why shouldn’t property owners have someone on their side? Florida public adjuster Tutwiler and Associates puts its expertise and familiarity with the claims process to action on behalf of its clients to help handle their claims and shoulder the burden of proof regarding their property loss to ensure the most fair and speedy resolution possible.
“The average property owner needs to understand exactly why they shouldn’t attempt to handle the claims process themselves,” says Rick Tutwiler, one of Tutwiler and Associates’ licensed and certified public adjusters. “There are factors they just don’t consider like time, burden of proof, negotiating skills, construction expertise, building code familiarity, the time elements of how long they have to file a claim, and the time constraints on proving their losses are just a few that come to mind. A property owner shouldn’t be expected to know how to handle these things, while a public adjuster is a professional and an expert.”
The certified public adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates, with offices throughout Florida and licenses in nine other states along with the U.S. Virgin Islands, say in addition to helping property owners understand their duties and responsibilities both before and after a property loss, their role as public adjuster enables them to negotiate the claim settlement for their clients and handle any differences of opinion that may arise with an insurance company.
"Most of the people we work with tell us their insurance company is working on it for them so they don’t need any help," says Tutwiler. “But it’s just not that simple. After a claim, the insurance company sends out their engineer, their adjuster and the rest of their team to visit the property and represent their interest. The insurance company can’t represent the association or the policyholder, which is why they need someone to work for them. That’s where we come in."
The Florida public adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates say property owners generally don’t understand the amount of time that goes into a property insurance claim until they find themselves in the middle of a property loss. If the loss is especially large or complex, the claims process can drag on, which means the property owner has to wait even longer to begin to repair his/her home and begin the arduous process of getting their life back in order. Tutwiler cautions, however, that it’s not enough for a property owner to simply hire any public adjuster they find; instead, it’s important to hire the right public adjuster.
“If you get someone with bad experience or no experience, it can bog things down even more,” says Tutwiler. “Reputation and credibility are perhaps the most important characteristics for a property owner to consider when hiring a public adjuster. In reality, a property owner is actually better off not hiring anyone at all than they are if they hire a public adjuster with a negative reputation.”
Through its offices in nine states throughout the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard, Tutwiler and Associates has worked with countless property owners through claims of every scope and type. Tutwiler says if the property owner has done a pre-loss inspection with Tutwiler and Associates, the licensed and certified public adjusters can then handle any arguments or issues that may arise, including tricky paperwork that, if not handled properly, could cause thousands of dollars in loss repairs.
For more information, please visit www.PublicAdjuster.com.
CONTACT:
Tutwiler and Associates
Email:
Phone: (800) 321-4488
For more information, please visit www.PublicAdjuster.com
About Tutwiler and Associates: Tutwiler and Associates is a firm of public adjusters licensed in 10 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands specializing in commercial and residential property loss adjusting. With well in excess of $113 million in client success stories over a 27-year history, the Florida public adjusters work exclusively on behalf of policyholders to help them achieve the maximum settlement amounts they can fairly and honestly recover based on their loss and their policy provisions. Professional help from the adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates can help clients obtain a fair recovery under their policy. The Gulf Coast based public adjuster firm is committed to public service and strives to educate its clients about commercial and residential windstorm and hurricane losses, flood damage, fire, smoke and water damage, collapse, hidden decay and mold losses, sinkholes, loss of stock, and business interruption.