Melbourne Water Damage Claims Adjuster

Water damage is a constant concern for property owners in Florida. It can happen suddenly due to flash floods or broken pipes, or it might occur despite your best efforts to prepare for an expected weather event like a hurricane.

In some situations, water damage may be subtle, and you might not recognize it immediately, but when you do notice it, you should take action right away. The longer you wait, the more difficult it may be to get compensation from your insurance company.

But sometimes, even when you make a claim quickly, the insurance adjuster may find an excuse to delay visiting the site, to deny your claim, or to undervalue your damage. Often, property owners wonder what they can do to protect their rights in these challenging situations.

How Can a Melbourne Flood Damage Claims Adjuster Help?

If you’ve just discovered water damage on your property, you may not know what to do next. The truth is that most water damage requires professional help, so you should resist the urge to attempt repairs on your own. However, you should do the following:

• Make reasonable efforts to stop the damage from worsening or at least slow it down. If there’s a leak, shut off the water and electricity. If there’s a hole in the roof, find a temporary solution, like covering it with a board or tarp.
• Take pictures of the damage from as many angles as possible—the insurance company adjuster will need to see these.
• Seek repair estimates from at least three different companies.
• Contact a Melbourne water damage claims adjuster to inspect the damage and review your insurance policy and claim. They will help you avoid potential pitfalls with filing your claim and will work to get you the settlement you deserve.

What About the Insurance Company’s Adjuster?

Ultimately, the insurance company adjuster will review and make a decision about your claim, but this is where many policyholders run into difficulties. The insurance adjuster’s job is to review claims and decide whether or not to pay them—in other words, the insurance company relies on this person to keep costs under control.

As a result, the adjuster is constantly looking for reasons to deny a claim, such as a lack of evidence that a covered incident caused the damage. In many cases, this lack of evidence can be corrected by submitting more documentation (usually photos or videos), but the policyholder may not know what to do (and the insurance adjuster probably isn’t going to volunteer that information).

This is only one potential problem. Another scenario we see frequently is the undervalued claim.

In this situation, the insurance company adjuster approves the claim but decides your damage can be repaired in a specific, inexpensive way that isn’t really the best solution. Then, they offer you enough money to cover that repair.

One example would be replacing a few ceiling tiles when the water damage has affected other areas, and only a complete ceiling replacement will solve the issue for good. If you go with the insurance company’s suggested repair, you may have more difficulties with your ceiling in a few months or years—at which point, the insurance company will probably say that the damage isn’t caused by a covered event and is not their problem.

These situations are further complicated because most people who aren’t home repair experts have no way of knowing they need a more extensive repair. And in some cases, a more minor repair might be sufficient.

It’s hard to know the difference, so you need help from an expert who works for you, not the insurance carrier.

What Does a Public Water Damage Claims Adjuster Do?

A public adjuster doesn’t work for an insurance company, but they are available to assist policyholders who need a second (or first) opinion about their damage. Your public adjuster can help you with a water damage claim by:

• Thoroughly inspecting your damage. The insurance company adjuster may give your damage a cursory inspection or only look at the area you identified as damaged. Unfortunately, this makes it easy for everyone to miss additional damage. Your public water damage claims adjuster knows how to look for the many, sometimes understated, signs of water damage. They will carefully inspect surrounding areas, not just the place where you spotted damage, and catalog all losses.
• Documenting the damage. While we encourage you to take your own photos as soon after the event as possible, a public adjuster will also photograph the issues they find. In many cases, they capture more signs of damage or indications of how the damage occurred—the latter can be crucial in arguing to get your claim approved.
• Reviewing your insurance policy. What’s covered and what isn’t, and how can you prove your damage should be covered? These questions are tough to answer when your insurance policy features run-on sentences and obscure language. A public adjuster can cut through the confusion because they are trained in reading and interpreting insurance policies. They will answer your questions and explain what you need to prove the damage was due to a covered event. Additionally, they can help you figure out if your policy covers other expenses you might have, such as the cost of a hotel or storage if you can’t stay in your home.
• Reviewing your insurance claim. If your claim has been denied, if you’ve prepared a claim but haven’t filed it, or if you don’t know where to start, we’re happy to review what you have. In many cases, we can help improve your odds by adding more photographs or advising you on how to describe the damage to better show the connection to the covered event.
• Negotiating with the insurance company. Is the offer fair? Can you make do with cheaper repairs? Should you accept what the insurance carrier has offered, and if not, how can you convince the insurance adjuster to pay more for your claim? These questions can be stressful and exhausting for a homeowner struggling with the aftereffects of a water damage problem. Your public adjuster is experienced in handling water damage claims and can negotiate with the insurance company for you, fighting to get the largest settlement possible so you can cover your many expenses.

What Kind of Help Do You Need to Deal With Water Damage?

Many people think only about repairing the immediate damage they see in front of them. However, there are a number of services you might not realize you need until later. These include:

• Water extraction. If you come home to a flood or standing water, you’re going to need the water removed before you can do anything else.
• Hauling away debris. First, we’ll again caution you not to throw anything away until you’ve had an adjuster inspect the damage and take pictures. But once that step is completed, you could have large pieces of debris, appliances that no longer work, moldy furniture, etc. The contractor who replaces your drywall may not be willing or able to provide removal services, so in many cases, hiring another contractor is necessary just to get rid of the trash.
• Cleaning and sanitizing the property. Flood water often contains raw sewage and other toxins. Additionally, even clean standing water is an ideal place for bacteria, viruses, and mold to propagate, so it’s essential to have all surfaces professionally cleaned and disinfected.
• Drying the building. Making sure all surfaces are thoroughly dried is crucial to preventing mold growth.
• Deodorizing. No one wants to live or work in a building with a “musty” smell, and unfortunately, these orders can linger for a long time after a flood or other water damage. A professional cleaning and deodorizing service can help.
• Checking for structural shifts or deficiencies. Sometimes, water damage can affect the foundation or support structures of a building, so it’s a good idea to have the foundation checked for structural issues after a flood.

Your water damage claims adjuster will review all these items and advise you about whether your insurance policy covers them. If so, the adjuster will work to ensure the insurance company covers these services as outlined in their contract.

Where Can You Get Help From a Flood Damage Claims Adjuster?

Pinnacle Claim Services is always available to assist policyholders who have suffered a flood, hurricane, or other water damage. Our public adjusters are trained in recognizing and assessing all types of water destruction.

We’ll ensure you have an accurate estimate of not only what was damaged but also what kind of work is needed to restore your home or office building. Additionally, we’ll document the damage and provide any further information or evidence the insurance company requests.

Our trained adjusters are highly knowledgeable about Florida insurance laws, various types of water damage, and what insurance company adjusters look for in a claim. They are also licensed, bonded, and happy to discuss their qualifications.

Please call (321) 384-9379 today so we can help you get your claim settled and your building repaired.