Ask the Pro's
-Too many policyholders still await some or all of their insurance settlement for damages inflicted by Hurricane IKE; the problem has drawn the attention of CNN “Ask the Pro’s”.
To better understand the process of claim adjusting and explain what and how public adjuster can do for the home and business owner, CNN Ask the Pro’s had Mr. Chuck Frogner of United States Public Adjusters to participate in what became a very successful show. Many people called in and hits on our corporate website sky rocketed. It is sad to see how many Texans continue suffer from the aftereffects of Hurricane Ike. Many have lost jobs others are in arrears on their mortgage and now on top of everything else, there is another battle "the insurance battle".
The array of questions brought to CNN and Mr. Frogner via phone was very interesting and of course after many years of experience nothing really surprises experienced PA’s how people are treated by their insurance company. However, with the recent turmoil in the U.S. financial markets it has become apparent that insurance companies are much more aggressive towards policyholders and a fair claim payment is more elusive than ever. An example from last month: Allstate paid $15,000 to their policyholder, after retaining our services our client received a check for $92,000. More egregious was a condo association case, the insurance company paid the condominium $0.0 in April 2009 we collected $1,200,000 for this association.
Matthew Bagdanovich a former Country Manager of Crawford and Company who came to USPA in order to assist our clients with obtaining fair and equitable settlements, "if you feel that you should be paid a larger settlement, you probably are right and should pursue it with professional help".
END
Josh Hall wrote on 06/01/09 4:09 AM
Texas insured's affected by Hurricane Ike and other perils can undeniably benefit from a Public Adjuster.As a Texas policyholder and veteran Texas insurance agent, even I have been unaware of my rights as a claimant and (more importantly) unaware of how I can fight for what is legally owed to me once I've filed a claim.
We all know the old saying, "Ignorance is bliss...", right???
Well, I'm here to tell you that until each claimant realizes just how much money the insurance company unjustly fails to pay, the insurance companies will continue to make record profits each hurricane season. Unfortunately, in this day and time, insureds are typically not paid the full amount for their claim unless they seek professional assistance.
Public Adjusters are licensed by the state to assist policyholders with their claims. Their job is to ensure that the insurance company obeys the law by fulfilling their contractual obligations and to put it bluntly, PA's are appointed to "fight" for every penny that the insured's policy entitles.
As consumers, we must create a "grassroots" type of effort to disseminate this information to everyone but especially to those affected by natural disasters and other perils as well.