Anti-Public Adjuster Endorsements: What Policyholders Need to Know
Discover the hidden clauses in your insurance policy that could limit your rights. Our latest blog post shines a light on the anti-public adjuster endorsement. Learn how these endorsements work, their implications, and how we can help. Don't let complex language stand in the way of your protection. Read more about your rights and how to ensure you're fully covered.
In recent years, a subtle yet significant clause has been quietly making its way into more and more insurance policies: the anti-public adjuster endorsement. But what exactly does this mean for you, the policyholder? This provision effectively restricts your right to engage a public adjuster—professionals who advocate on your behalf to ensure fair claim settlements. As this trend grows, understanding the presence and impact of such endorsements in your policy has never been more important.
The Challenge of Understanding Insurance Policies
For many, an insurance policy is a safety net, yet it's often wrapped in complex terms and conditions that can be difficult for the unitiated to fully understand. This isn't a reflection on policyholders but is due to policies being written in dense legal language that almost appears to be intentionally overly complicated.
Often, it's not until the claims process begins that insureds get a crash course on what's covered or more importantly, what isn't. Amidst all of this confusion, the role and benefits of a Public Adjuster might not be clear to many. For more insights into this topic, don't miss our blog here where we explore it in detail.
The Impact of Anti-Public Adjuster Endorsements
When policyholders come across an anti-public adjuster endorsement in their policy, they might not understand what it means or the protections they're losing. These clauses benefit the insurance company by taking advantage of the insured's lack of knowledge, removing essential support when it's most needed.
Public Adjusters play a critical role in the claims process, offering expert guidance and advocacy to ensure policyholders receive the full benefits their policy entitles them to. They meticulously review your policy, assess your loss accurately, and negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf, aiming to secure a fair and just settlement.
This expertise is especially vital in complex or large-scale claims, where navigating the intricacies of policy language and claim documentation can be particularly challenging. Without the possibility to engage a Public Adjuster, policyholders may find themselves at a significant disadvantage, struggling to achieve the compensation they rightfully deserve.
The Legal Consequences for Policyholders
This restriction not only limits insured's options for professional claims representation but also leads to more disputes ending up in court. Without the option to hire a public adjuster, many policyholders have no choice but to seek legal representation, escalating their claim disputes into legal battles.
Our Commitment
At its core, the anti-public adjuster endorsement works against the consumer's interest. VIP Adjusting is committed to empowering our clients with the knowledge and support they need to navigate these complex situations. If you're concerned your policy might contain an anti-public adjuster endorsement or other similar restrictive provisions, don't hesitate to reach out. Contact us today for a complimentary policy review and consultation. We'll help you determine if such endorsements are part of your policy and discuss what steps you can take to ensure your rights and interests are fully protected.
LAST CALL: Hurricane Irma Claims
The deadline to file new and supplemental hurricane Irma claims is the three years from the date of the storm
Hurricane Irma made landfall in Cudjoe Key, Florida and then proceeded to run south to north while its huge wind field was causing damage across the entire state. Hurricane force winds were nearly the width of the entire state while tropical storm force winds extended hundreds of miles further.
The deadline for filing a new or supplemental claim for that damage is three years from the date of the storm, and at this point you’d almost certainly need the help of an experienced public adjuster. Here’s what you need to know:
Florida Law provides a three year period to report hurricane claims, but this is not the “statute of limitations”
Fla. Stat. 627.70132 says that insureds have three years after the storm first made landfall to make new, supplemental, or reopened claims for property damage. This means that if you have damage, you need to let the insurance company know by September 9th, 2020, or else you’ll be forever barred from making that claim.
This statute, though, is not the statute of limitations for storm claims. If your claim has been reported prior to September 9th, 2020, Fla. Stat. 95.11 provides you five years from the date of loss to file a lawsuit for breach of the insurance contract. Because of the first statute, though, it’s basically a two-step process, where the insurance company needs to be first notified, and that deadline is fast approaching.
What is “Late Notice”
Your insurance policy requires you to provide the insurance company with “prompt notice” following discovery of damage. If your insurance company can’t figure out what happened that caused the damage because you were slow to act, it can jeopardize coverage for your claim entirely.
Many insurance companies will say “Late Notice” while pointing a finger at you, simply referring to the time that has passed in order to set up a potential defense, even though that’s only half the story.
Often times, damage caused by a hurricane can be latent, or hidden from view, justifying the delays in reporting. After all, you can’t report damages you didn’t see and didn’t know existed. If the damages are consistent with wind damage and there have been no other storms, a forensic engineer can evaluate whether or not the damages you’ve discovered are likely to have been caused by hurricane Irma with a degree of certainty.
Check your roofs now (or have a professional check for you)
With the deadline to report claims approaching, if you don’t believe you had damage from the storm, and your roof hasn’t recently sprung a leak, it can still be to your advantage to put eyes on the roofs surface. If you' haven’t been on the roof in years, it might be time to take a look, or if that’s not in your wheelhouse, have a professional take a look for you. You can have a roofer or handyman, or you can call the public adjusters at VIP Adjusting to check it for you.
Any roof that isn’t brand new could have some wear or broken tiles from being exposed to the elements (and Florida sun) for years. A couple of chipped tiles or broken corners isn’t usually indicative of windstorm damage. Many broken tiles or tiles that are loose can be a sign that your roof suffered damage from our last hurricane.
Ridge caps may be loose, or a uplift test can tell is tiles are no longer properly attached to roofs, or significant signs of cracking and breaks could indicate damage from hurricane Irma. If you have a shingle roof, significant granule loss could have resulted from the storm, and in the time since, the asphalt shingles will have baked in the sun and become incredibly brittle.
In any event, time is running out. If you think your roof has been compromised, VIP Adjusting’s public adjusters would be happy to schedule a free inspection anywhere from the Treasure Coast to the Space Coast.
If your roof leaks two weeks from now and you discover storm damages, it may already be too late!
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More about property damage claims from windstorm or hurricane
How does selling your home affect your insurance claim?
In Florida, if you sell your home while the claim is pending, what happens to the insurance claim?
You may have suffered a loss while your home was already listed for sale, or you may have decided while battling your insurance company for a fair payment that you’d rather sell the home as-is. Or maybe you haven’t been paid enough to complete the repairs and can’t stand to live in a damaged home while you’re litigating your homeowners insurance claim.
What happens to your insurance claim if you sell your home before the claim has been fully paid? VIP Adjusting’s public adjusters have helped many homeowners in Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Stuart, and other parts of the Treasure Coast through just this type of situation.
Your insurance policy requires you be paid “at least the actual cash value” for your claim
Your homeowners insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company. The policy contains a number of terms and conditions and in the section usually titled “Loss Payment” it states that the insurance company will “pay you at least the actual cash value.”
We recently discussed the comparison between actual cash value payments and replacement cash value payments, but what this means is that an insurance company is required to make payment of at least the amount of repairs, minus any depreciation up front, whether or not you’ve done the repairs.
You typically are entitled to recover the depreciation, or be paid the full replacement cost value when you do complete the repairs, or sign a contract to start the repairs.
Sometimes, insurance companies are willing to pay the replacement cost value up front, usually for smaller claims, say for damage to a bathroom from a leaking pipe. Other times, the insurance company will pay the replacement cost value in exchange for a release, or as part of a settlement in litigation. In the latter instance, you may be giving up the right to recover other benefits under your policy, so the insurance company would be willing to pay the recoverable depreciation before you’ve started the repairs.
The ins and outs of these scenarios are one of many reasons you should have a public adjuster from VIP Adjusting looking out for your interests as you navigate your claim.
Selling your home waives the claim for recoverable depreciation
The rule of thumb for an insurance claim is that the claim is always evaluated as if it were frozen in time on the date of loss. What that means is that the damages, unless they get worse or are repairs are completed, are evaluated as they existed at the time of the loss and damage.
The property owner had an insurable interest at the time the property was damaged, so even though selling the property extinguishes the seller’s insurance interest moving forward, there was still insurable interest at the time the claim became ripe under the insurance contract.
What selling the property does achieve, though, is it guarantees that the seller/insured will not complete the repairs. Since the repairs can never be completed by the seller/insured because of the sale, that claim to recover depreciation would be extinguished
Who collects the insurance claim proceeds if the damaged home is sold?
Typically, the owner at the time of loss, the original insured would receive the insurance proceeds, on an actual cash value (depreciated) basis, but, real estate sales are contracts as well, and the insurance claim can become a point of negotiation between the parties.
Post-loss insurance claims are assignable in Florida, and can be included as part of the sale through a document known as an “Assignment of Benefits.” A higher price may be negotiated for the sale in exchange for the rights to the remainder of an insurance claim.
Your public adjuster or attorney can walk you and your realtor through this prior to the sale of the home, and that input may be invaluable since the value of the claim may still be unknown, or fall within a wide range.
Depreciation tactics by the insurance company
If you opt to keep the actual cash value portion of the claim while the property was sold, you’re partly fighting about the scope and value of the repairs, which is a common fight, but you’re also fighting about the appropriate depreciation.
VIP Adjusting’s public adjusters have years of experience in the insurance industry, law, and construction, and know what building materials can and should be depreciated. The big ticket items that have a definite useful life applicable to depreciation are roofing systems and cast iron plumbing. Still depreciable, but subject to more discussion are laminate floors, cabinetry, wood floors, vanities, and sometimes paint. These items have a useful life but are in a much wider range of acceptability. Questionable building materials when it comes to depreciation as part of your homeowners insurance claim are things like tile floors and drywall or plaster. Things that are not depreciable are labor for the repairs or prep work or cleaning, supplies used in construction like gloves, tape, or masks, or rental equipment like dumpsters for debris removal.
Sale of the dwelling eliminates a claim for Additional Living Expenses or Loss of Use
If you decide to sell your property while the insurance claim is still pending, you no longer have an insurable interest in the dwelling moving forward. That means, you no longer possess a property that is uninhabitable due to damage. Naturally, that means that even though repairs are still pending on the damaged property, you have put yourself in a situation where you can buy another property to be your primary residence, or in the case of a rental property, you have recouped your investment and can buy another rental property.
Because of this, it is highly likely that you have extinguished a claim for Additional Living Expenses or Loss of Use under your homeowners insurance policy and as part of your claim. For all practical purposes, though, most people sell their home as the claim tends to drag on which would likely stem uninsured losses or losses in excess of the policy’s limits.
If there is a potential for the sale of your home while your claim is still pending, it’s imperative you have someone in your corner to stand up to the insurance company’s nickel and dime tactics. If you find yourself in this situation, contact VIP Adjusting for a free claim evaluation today.
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Claims where a homeowner is likely to sell the home with the claim still pending:
In the aftermath of a hurricane and with extensive wind damage
More about claims for Additional Living Expenses and Loss of Use