9 Most Annoying Parts of a Homeowners Insurance Claim – and How Public Adjusters Help

A complex insurance claim can leave you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.

Fortunately, public adjusters can help with complex claims, large claims, and other tricky insurance situations.

Today, we’re highlighting the 9 worst parts of an insurance claim for homeowners – and how public adjusters help you overcome those challenges.

As a homeowner, a single insurance claim can make or break your financial future. You might receive a full and fair payout from your insurance company. Or, you could be forced to cover costly repairs out of pocket.

Here are some of the biggest pain points for homeowners – and how public adjusters can help.

Annoyance #1: Confusing Policy Language

Most homeowners don’t realize how complicated insurance policies are until they need to use them.

Your policy can be dozens of pages long and filled with technical terms, exceptions, and exclusions.

What’s the difference between “actual cash value” and “replacement cost”? What counts as “sudden and accidental” damage?

Insurance companies often count on that confusion. When you don’t fully understand what’s covered, you might accept a denial or partial payment without realizing you’re entitled to more.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters know insurance policy language. They understand exactly what’s covered and how to maximize coverage under the terms of your policy. They’ll translate your policy into plain English, then use your policy to advocate for the maximum possible payout under your coverage.

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Annoyance #2: Emotional Stress

It’s natural to feel overwhelmed during an insurance claim. Most homeowners aren’t insurance experts. They don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know how to navigate the tricks used by insurance companies.

The stress of an insurance claim can take years off your life. A major claim could make or break your financial future. It could change your family’s future. It’s okay to be stressed.

Many don’t realize the emotional stress of a major insurance claim until after it’s done. Even a smooth and easy claim, however, can take an emotional toll.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters give you a trusted expert on your side. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, you can feel emboldened and confident that you’re moving in the right direction. It’s a weight off your shoulders that can save you enormous amounts of emotional stress.

Annoyance #3: Low Initial Settlement Offers

Homeowners are often disappointed with the initial settlement offer from their insurance company. You might receive a check that barely scratches the surface of repair costs, for example.

The reason is simple: your insurance company’s adjuster works for the insurance company and not for you. Their job is to evaluate and minimize claims, not make you whole again.

Sometimes, low offers result from overlooked damages. In other cases, it’s a pricing issue: the insurer is using outdated or incomplete repair cost estimates.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters work exclusively for the policyholder. They conduct an independent inspection of the property, create a detailed pricing estimate, and back it up with evidence. Because they use the same estimating software as insurance companies, public adjusters can challenge an insurer’s numbers line by line, often revealing thousands of dollars in missing value.

Annoyance #4: Denied Claims

Denied claims are more than an annoyance; they could derail your financial future.

If an insurer denies your legitimate claim, you could be forced to cover repairs out of pocket. Instead of getting a brand-new roof from your insurer, you could be forced to pay $25,000 yourself.

Denied claims are a frustrating problem for homeowners. You buy homeowners insurance to cover unexpected events. Then, when you actually need coverage, your insurer denies you.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters can overturn denied claims by presenting the evidence insurers need to see. They organize documentation, analyze the policy, and present irrefutable evidence. Instead of getting $0 for a claim, you could get $30,000, for example.

Annoyance #5: Delays & Overall Time Spent

Insurance claims take hours out of your life. You might spend hundreds of hours dealing with paperwork, negotiating with your insurance company, meeting contractors, and talking to company adjusters. All of these hassles take up time. It’s one of the biggest annoyances of an insurance claim.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters take over your claim at any part of the process – like the beginning or after a denial. They check the damage, review your insurance policy, and organize everything with your best interests in mind. They’re licensed professionals who know what insurers need to see. Instead of wasting your time tackling insurance tasks you don’t understand, you can trust a professional to represent your best interests, saving you hundreds of hours of frustrating labor.

Annoyance #6: Family Impact

Maybe you need to move out of your home after a covered loss. Maybe your family was emotionally attached to a house. Maybe a piece of property had been in your family for generations.

Whatever the situation, insurance claims have an enormous impact on your family. They disrupt your life – often for months or even years. They throw everything into disarray.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters work on the insurance claim while letting you focus on your family. Instead of spending hours dealing with insurance headaches you don’t understand, you can focus on looking after your family.

Annoyance #7: Moving Out of the House for an Uncertain Period

Sometimes, a covered loss forces you to move out of the house for an uncertain period of time.

Are you living with your in-laws for a week – or six months? Should you book a hotel for a few nights or book an Airbnb for a month?

Fortunately, insurance covers additional living expenses (ALE) when forced to move out of your property due to a covered loss. However, the uncertainty causes stress. It may take a week to restore your property to pre-loss condition – or it could take a year.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters hold insurers accountable. They keep claims moving in the right direction. They show insurers you mean business, forcing them to take your claim seriously. In many cases, public adjusters resolve claims faster – and with a higher payout.

Annoyance #8: Substandard Repairs & Contractor Headaches

Sometimes, you surmount all of the challenges above, only to encounter shoddy repairs at the end of the process.

A bad contractor, for example, could accept full payment from your insurer only to repair your property to substandard condition. You’ve dealt with all of the headaches of an insurance claim, only to not be made whole again after the loss.

How Public Adjusters Help: Public adjusters advise you on your rights as a policyholder. They’ll tell you to pick any contractor you like, for example, instead of the insurer’s recommended contractor. They’ll examine the entire property for damages to ensure nothing is missed, then hold insurers accountable until the property is restored to pre-loss condition.

Annoyance #9: Feeling Outnumbered, Overwhelmed, & Powerless

You’re not an insurance expert. Maybe you’ve never dealt with a claim before in your life. That’s okay. Most homeowners aren’t insurance experts.

Your insurance company and its adjusters, however, are experts. They know policy language. They know what’s covered and what isn’t. They know how to manipulate claims in their favor, limiting payout while still technically abiding by the terms of the policy.

How Public Adjusters Help: It’s easy to feel the deck is stacked against you. A public adjuster helps level the playing field. Many public adjusters used to work for insurers before switching to represent the public, giving them unique insight into the industry. Instead of being a frustrated and overwhelmed homeowner, you get an informed expert ready to competently handle the claim.

For help with any type of homeowners insurance claim or dispute, contact ClaimsMate for a no-cost claim review.

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ClaimsMate’s licensed public adjusters are available across the United States and can enter a claim at any point – start, middle, or end – to add value.