October is National Fire Prevention Month!

Post date: Oct 8, 2014 6:31:39 PM

Working on fire claims as a Public Adjuster opens ones eyes to just how many dangers exist in our homes. Typically house fires are caught and extinguished before they result in extensive structural damages to a home. That doesn't mean these smaller fires aren't life changing experiences. In many cases the responding fire department will cause extensive damage to your home in an effort to prevent the spread of the fire and to preserve life. This damage in many cases will push what at first glance appears to be a small fire into a six figure loss. Your insurance company will in most cases immediately send out Mitigation & Restoration Contractors along with Housing and Contents specialists to "assist" them with your loss. The key point here is that this group of companies is brought in to assist your insurer with the loss. The insurers team of companies work for them on an ongoing basis and get lots of work from your insurer. These companies would like to keep that constant stream of work coming their way. The best way for them to guarantee that they will remain on the insurers preferred vendor list is to perform their tasks with the insurers best interests in mind. As a property owner it is important for you to remember that what is in the insurers best interest is not usually the same as what is in your best interest. Your homeowners policy most likely allows for you to be restored to a "pre-loss" condition which means the band-aid fixes suggested by your insurer and their preferred vendors are less than what you are entitled to. The insurer is confident that they will generally pay less than they owe on the vast majority of claims. The insurance policy is a "Contract of Adhesion" and it is written by your insurers team of lawyers to protect their best interests. In other words the insurer writes the terms of the policy (contract) and you have to agree to their terms in order to receive coverage from the insurer. Most homeowners have no idea that the the burden of proving a loss is their responsibility. This is exactly the way insurers like it. If you don't know that you are supposed to prove the amount of your loss you are very unlikely to be successful in obtaining what you are owed under the terms of your policy. In addition to the policy working against you the insurer stacks the deck by bringing in all of the previously mentioned "experts" who will tell you they are working for you when in fact that is not at all what they are doing. If these vendors attempted to represent your best interests their relationship with your insurer would quickly evaporate. Most homeowners have no idea how to level the playing field. Most homeowners have no idea what a Public Adjuster is or that they should hire their own Contractor and not use the insurers Contractor until it is too late. It is also important that when choosing a Contractor you hire someone who has experience with insurance claims and is capable of working well with your Public Adjuster. Common Google searches in fire losses often come days, weeks, or months after the insurer has begun to show its true colors. Terms such as: Insurer denied my claim, Insurer underpaying fire claim, insurance claim help/assistance, and should I hire a Public Adjuster?, are usually entered into the search box after issues arise. If you are thinking about filing an insurance claim the best thing you can do is have it handled from beginning to end by an expert. Call a Public Adjuster before you call your insurance company. Don't sign anything with the providers suggested by your insurer. Always keep in mind that while the insurance adjuster may be a nice person they have duties and performance expectations placed upon them by your insurer that conflict with your best interests.

In Maryland, unlike in many states, a licensed Public Adjuster can also be a licensed General Contractor. Dottrio is the first and only company in Maryland to hold both licenses. The advantage you receive as a Dottrio client with a Maryland fire loss is obvious. At Dottrio you get insurance policy and damage restoration expertise with a single phone call. Contact us today at 301-971-4040, admin@dottrio.com or click here: CONTACT US

We look forward to serving you.