What Is a Public Insurance Claims Adjuster?

When a claim is filed, an adjuster shows up. Most policyholders assume that person is a neutral assessor. They are not neutral, and understanding why is the single most useful thing you can know about the claims process.

Three kinds of adjuster

Company adjusters are employees of your insurance company. They inspect the loss, write the scope and estimate, and make coverage recommendations. Their employer pays the claim they are estimating.

Independent adjusters are contractors hired by the insurance company, typically to handle volume after a catastrophe. They are not employed by the carrier, but the carrier is their client and their source of future work.

Public insurance adjusters are licensed to represent the policyholder. They are retained by you, paid by you, and owe their duty to you. They inspect the loss independently, prepare their own scope and estimate, interpret the policy on your behalf and negotiate the settlement with the carrier.

Only the third category works for you. The first two are not adversaries — most are decent people doing a job properly — but they are writing an estimate the insurance company will pay from, and the incentives run one direction.

What a public adjuster actually does

The job is more documentation than argument. In practice:

Reads the policy properly. Identifies every coverage that responds — dwelling, other structures, contents, loss of use, ordinance and law, business income — plus the endorsements, sub-limits, deductibles and exclusions that apply. Policyholders routinely under-claim because they do not know a coverage exists.

Inspects independently. A full scope of the loss, including the parts a fast inspection misses: cavity moisture, smoke migration, roof slopes that were not walked, detached structures, code upgrade requirements.

Builds the estimate. A line-by-line replacement cost estimate in the same industry-standard software carriers use, so the two documents can be compared directly rather than argued in generalities.

Prepares the contents inventory. On a large loss, this is the single most labour-intensive part of the claim and the most commonly underpaid.

Handles the correspondence. Every call, every request for documents, every recorded statement, every deadline.

Negotiates. Presents the documentation, responds to the carrier's position in writing, and works the gap between the two estimates.

Tracks the money. Actual cash value payment, recoverable depreciation holdback, supplemental claims and the deadlines attached to each.

Texas licensing

Public insurance adjusters in Texas are licensed and regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance. Licensing involves examination, a surety bond and continuing education, and licences can be verified through TDI directly.

Two rules worth knowing:

Contractors cannot adjust claims they are bidding on. It is unlawful in Texas for a roofing contractor or restoration company to act as a public adjuster on a property they are also contracting to repair. A contractor who offers to "handle your claim" or "negotiate with your insurer" is operating outside the law, and it puts your claim at risk.

The contract must be in writing. Texas requires a written contract specifying the services and the fee before any work begins, and it includes a right to cancel within a set period.

What it costs

Texas public adjusters work on contingency — an agreed percentage of what is actually recovered on the claim. Nothing is payable up front, and nothing is payable if there is no recovery.

The percentage is capped by Texas law and must be stated in the written contract you sign. Be cautious of anyone who wants money up front, will not put the fee in writing, or approaches you unsolicited immediately after a catastrophe — post-disaster solicitation is restricted in Texas for exactly that reason.

When it is worth it, and when it is not

Probably not worth it: a small, clear-cut claim comfortably above your deductible where the carrier's estimate matches what contractors are quoting. A four-thousand-dollar fence claim does not need representation.

Worth considering:

• A total or near-total loss
• A claim that was denied on a basis you believe is wrong
• A settlement offer materially below what repairs actually cost
• A large contents inventory
• Complex causation — wind versus flood, sudden versus gradual, seismic versus settlement
• Commercial claims involving business interruption
• A claim where you simply do not have the time or capacity to run it yourself

Because the fee is contingent, a review costs nothing. If the file is in good shape, an honest adjuster will tell you so.

Questions to ask before you hire one

1. What is your Texas Department of Insurance licence number?
2. How long have you handled this specific type of loss?
3. What is the fee, and is it in the written contract?
4. Who will actually inspect and handle my file day to day?
5. How will you keep me updated?
6. Can you provide references from claims like mine?

How we work

We are a Texas-licensed public adjusting firm based in Alvin, serving Houston and the surrounding Gulf Coast communities. We handle fire, flood, hail, water, storm, earthquake and coastal surge claims.

The initial policy and damage review is free, and there is no fee unless the claim recovers.