How To Get Compensated Properly For Your Property Insurance Claim

Have you recently sustained major property damage to your home or business from a fire, water, or storm event?

In this post, you will learn how to receive the maximum settlement, so you can get the coverage you deserve and move on with your life!

You Can’t Receive The Maximum Settlement On Your Own

Experiencing major fire, water, or storm damage to your home or business can dramatically affect your life. Filing a property damage claim on top of that can be a stressful and time-consuming experience.

You’re suddenly forced into the unfamiliar situation of having to utilize your insurance. Naturally, you do what you think is right… you go to your insurance company with a fresh claim, hoping for a fair, fast, and full resolution.

However, going to your insurance company first is a critical mistake, which will be demonstrated in the example below.

Here’s a common story:

Soon after making a claim – one pain leads to another. From a lowball offer to an inexplicable delay, unanswered phone calls, or even a denial letter…the fresh claim starts to rot.

So, the policyholder re-reads their insurance policy. They Google.

They make phone calls, send emails, and leave messages with the adjuster.

They ask questions.

They take time to meet with contractors.

They seek advice from friends, family, and colleagues.

And they struggle through the claims process alone as their claim is left to sit and rot for weeks and months if not years.

Even after their best efforts at managing the claim themselves and the stress and time invested… when the claim is finally resolved, they’ll still get paid less than what the claim is worth.

Why?

Because, policyholders are not claims experts, nor are they policy experts. It’s not their fault that it’s nearly impossible to receive a maximum claim settlement on their own. They need help.

The claims process is too complex, and too time consuming. Policyholders need a highly trained professional to guide them through the claims process if they want to receive the maximum benefits from their policy.

You’re Not Alone

We’ve been there.

Our firm, Manhattan Public Adjustment, was founded to help people like you get compensated properly for their property damage claims, so you can get paid what you deserve and move on with your life without the stress and hassle of going through the claims process alone.

We are Public Adjusters, which means we are licensed insurance professionals who work for YOU, the policyholder – not your insurance company.

We understand the claims process requires specialized knowledge to navigate successfully, and we’ve developed a proven claim handling strategy that helps people do so with ease.

How It Works (From $10,000 to $475,200).

With our unique claim handling strategy, we helped one client increase their water damage claim settlement from $10,000 to more than $475,000. Yes, you read that correctly; a 47x INCREASE!

This family had sustained severe water damage to their historic home of 30 years, thereby changing life as they knew it. The house was originally built in the late 1880s, complete with plaster walls, chestnut doors, and chestnut moldings.

After the storm passed, the family called their insurance company… and those calls went unanswered.

Adjusters were assigned and reassigned. Deadlines came and went.

A few months after the loss, the family finally received an offer from their insurance company. A whopping $10,090. Shocked and understandably upset, the family began to research public adjusters. Still, calls were unanswered; emails were ignored.

And then they reached out to Manhattan Public Adjustment.

Within a few months of retaining our firm, the family received a settlement of over $326,789. A few months later, the total increased to over $475,000.

How?

We started with the facts. During our free consultation, we discussed the details of their claim and began to see the many pieces of the puzzle. For example:

• The insurance company’s claim team was non-responsive. They had switched the adjuster assigned to the claim several times, and the carrier was not responding to inquiries from the policyholder.
• The policyholders hired a popular restoration franchise to perform emergency water mitigation. However, the Project Manager was not communicating with the policyholders, and they did not know the status of the job.
• The original owner built the home in the late 1800s in a remote area of New York, and the estimation process for restoring the property would be challenging. For instance, the property had chestnut doors and moldings throughout. Chestnut trees have been extinct in the U.S. for nearly 100 years.
• The policyholders were in Florida for cancer treatment.

After gathering the facts, we explained we could help them successfully navigate the insurance claims process and receive maximum compensation for their claim.

Triage

The triage phase consists of deploying the proper professionals to the loss, to mitigate the loss, to document the situation, and to lay the foundation and build momentum for the remainder of the claims process.

Once hired, our team worked diligently behind the scenes, contacting the insurance company in an effort to assign a new adjuster to the claim. We also coordinated with our estimating team to make the six-hour trip to inspect the loss site where we met with the homeowners and the new carrier adjuster.

Documentation

We can’t overstate the importance of thoroughly documenting all damages sustained as quickly as possible.

Upon arrival at the property, we listened carefully to the policyholder as they guided us through their home. After observing all the damages, we meticulously detailed the loss as we took measurements, photographs, sketches, and inventories of all affected areas of the home.

Not only did the doors and moldings sustain damage but the horse-hair plaster walls, original hardwood flooring, and premium cabinets sustained damage as well.

Estimating

You can’t get paid properly for a claim without proper estimating. 

Accurate estimating is key for valuing the damage, and determining the cost of repair and/or replacement. 

One week after our site visit, our estimating team produced a detailed estimate of repair that placed the building loss at over $300,000 which we submitted to the carrier adjuster.

For property losses, one must have professional estimators that specialize in insurance restoration estimating. It is a subset of construction estimating that only a few truly know how to do well.

A month after submitting our estimate, we received the carrier’s new offer: $139,027.88

This was a significant improvement from the $10,009 initially offered, but still far from a fair loss settlement. One of the reasons for the discrepancy was that the insurance company relied on an estimating program called Xactimate; software that wasn’t designed to price historic homes, especially those located in remote or urban areas.

While Xactimate works reasonably well for more common construction types, building materials, and building techniques, it’s not preferred for unique cases such as this. You need a skilled estimator who knows the program’s limitations and who can account for variances with total accuracy.

There’s both an art and a science to loss estimating. Many carriers – especially the big ones – do not train their adjusters in the art of estimating.

We explained this to the insurance company and they were quick to switch the claim to yet another new adjuster, one who specialized in large losses; this is a tactic many large carriers utilize to destroy momentum in claims cases. Every time a new adjuster is assigned, they need to play ‘catch up’ to learn about the claim.

Follow-Up

This is where many claims go sideways. The insurance company has the luxury of time. You don’t. Therefore you must follow-up relentlessly to move the claim forward. 

This part alone is a full-time job.

Once our team had the new adjuster’s contact information, we followed up daily. In some cases, multiple times per day. Despite many delays, we were persistent and we finally received a new settlement for the family: $204,385.

Yes, this was better than the previous offer… and 18x more than the original offer. But still significantly lower than our loss estimate. We remained confident our estimate was accurate and, so, we pressed on.

At this point, the policyholders’ ALE was running out and due to those time constraints, they just wanted to end the claim here –

Settlement

Settling a claim is a balance between time, money, and the needs of the particular situation.

At this point, our best option was to invoke the Appraisal Clause which states a “property insurance provision allows either the insurer or the insured to demand a binding appraisal of damaged property in the event of a dispute as to its value.”

We knew extremely knowledgeable appraisers in this area of New York with knowledge of historic houses; this afforded us a huge advantage, giving us an additional boost of confidence.

Approximately one month after entering into appraisal, the award came: $326,000. That was which was 31x greater than their insurance company’s initial offer and a nearly 60% increase from their previous offer!

Combined with our contents claim, mold remediation, and water mitigation, the total claim was greater than $475,200.

Conclusion

Of course, the policyholders were elated. They finally had the necessary funds to rebuild their historic home to its original beauty.

And the best part for them? 

Never once did the family have to speak with the folks at their insurance company. Our team handled everything, always keeping the policyholders updated along the way.

And here’s the thing: if they had proceeded without our help, they would not have come close to what their ultimate settlement was.

Moreover, if they had hired us from the beginning, the process would not have taken nearly as long!

The Manhattan Method™

Our client participated in what we call The Manhattan Method, which is our proven 3-pillar claim handling strategy.

Manhattan Claim Concierge: The first pillar is the Manhattan Claim Concierge, in which our clients work 1-on-1 with our Executive Public Adjuster and Director of Claims Operations, who is their primary point of contact throughout the claims process. In the claim concierge service, we manage everything related to the claim including communication, inspections, estimation, negotiation, settlement, and any other claim-related matters that come up. 

Estimating Partnership: The second pillar is our Exclusive Estimating Partnership with Empire Estimators, which allows us to provide our clients with the fastest and most comprehensive property damage estimating services for their losses to ensure that they get paid what they need to restore their properties to pre-loss condition.

Company DNA and How We Work: The third pillar is our Company DNA and How We Work. We know how insurance companies think and operate, and we have infused that knowledge into how we handle claims at Manhattan Public Adjustment. We collaborate on each and every claim to develop a unique claim handling strategy tailored to our clients’ specific needs. With our approach, we have been able to score enormous victories for our clients against some of the largest insurers in the United States.

Ultimately, when you choose to work with Manhattan Public Adjustment, you get the peace of mind that comes from having a trusted claims partner who will help you achieve the maximum claim settlement for your property damages with ease.

What clients are saying

Now, You Have Three Options

Right now, if you have major property damage and you’re reading this, you realistically have three options.

#1 — Go It Alone

In this case, you are trusting your insurance company to lead you through the claims process. Depending on the complexity of your claim, this could be an option. If your claim is straightforward, and the damages are easily documented and quantified, you may be able to handle the claim on your own. However, you need to consider the damages and intricacies of your claim. 

And, remember, while your insurance company may assure you initially, when it’s time to pay, it’s their business to minimize payouts. By choosing this option, you may waste valuable time and it’s with almost absolute certainty that you won’t receive the maximum benefits you’re entitled to under your policy. 

#2 – Hire a Public Adjuster who is a “Claims Generalist”

A Public Adjuster who is a claims generalist is one who handles all types of claims, similar to a doctor who is a “General Practitioner.” While a generalist can be great for smaller claims, it’s not recommended to use this type of Public Adjuster for major claims.

Sure, they may know a little bit about every type of claim, but each claim type is extremely different. What works for theft claims doesn’t work for fire damage claims.

Further, generalists often work alone; they don’t have a team of experts backing them who can help to expedite your claim. They are answering the phone, negotiating claims, prepping inventories, writing estimates… 

They are typically stretched too thin to effectively handle a major loss that truly requires a team effort. And while they may tout their “experience” because they’ve been in the business for a long time, they likely use outdated and ineffective claim-handling methods that, quite frankly, just don’t work today.

A generalist simply doesn’t have time to dedicate to major property damage claims, which ultimately leads to poor customer support, poor follow-up, and slow claims handling. This means a longer claims process for you and, likely, smaller settlements overall. 

While hiring a Public Adjuster who is a claims generalist is likely better than going it alone, it is NOT the best choice when you have major property damage.

#3 – Retain a Public Adjuster firm that “Specializes” in your type of claim

Your third and best option, in this case, is to retain a Public Adjuster firm. Specifically, a firm that specializes in your type of property damage claim.

The firm should have a proven strategy, a streamlined process, and a proven track record of helping property owners with claims like yours.

They would also have a team consisting of Public Adjusters, Estimators, and other experts who specialize in helping people in your situation achieve maximum property claim outcomes.

As specialists, everyone on their team would have a great depth of knowledge, a dedication to customer service, and an ability to achieve results for residential fire/water damage claims that generalists simply can’t match. 

With a specialist, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your claim is being handled using a proven team and process that you can trust.

And that’s what we do.

We Are Specialists

We specialize in major residential fire and water damage claims.

If you have major fire or water damage, we can help you.

We’re here to help you.

We want to help you.

We’re here to implement the Manhattan Method to help you successfully navigate the insurance claims process, maximize your recovery, and expedite your claim, so you can restore your property and move on with your life.

Get help with a claim

To get help with a claim, this is what you need to do right now.

Click the button below to schedule a free claim consultation with a Public Adjuster from our team.

On the free 45-minute phone call, we’ll speak with you about the damages sustained, your claim, and your desired claim outcome. If we are a good fit for you situation, we’ll discuss working together and what that would look like.

We’ll answer any questions on your call.