Many shore town residents and business owners have recently learned the hard way that dealing with insurance companies can be quite a hassle, especially after a major natural disaster such as Superstorm Sandy.
According to Andy Anderson, an insurance agent and co-principal at Anderson Insurance Agency, located in Manahawkin and Haven Beach, nearly 85 percent of the area’s homeowners’ insurance claims have been settled. However, only about 30 percent of the area’s flood claims have been paid out. Although he expects the rest of the area’s flood claims to be settled within the next three to five weeks, he said residents are still understandably frustrated.
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| Photo by Ryan Morrill "I live on Long Beach Island; my family comes here," said James Wagner, a licensed public adjuster and owner of Alliance Adjustment Group. "I'm very much concerned about the welfare of the Island." |
When the storm first hit the area more than three months ago, Anderson said, insurance companies were so overwhelmed by claims that they simply did not have enough in-house insurance adjusters to take on the additional labor. Independent adjusters contracted by insurance companies to take on some of the extra work were few and far between, as well.
“Unfortunately, the number of adjusters that are certified in relation to the number of (recent) claims is quite small,” said Anderson. “We believe that there were only about 3,000 to 3,500 (certified) adjusters available to take care of all of the flood claims.”
Immediately after the storm, the state issued emergency licenses to public adjusters who are not currently licensed in New Jersey. James Wagner, a New Jersey-licensed public adjuster and owner of Alliance Adjustment Group, headquartered in Doylestown, Pa., with a satellite office in Ship Bottom, said the Island was inundated with public adjustment companies from out of the area, as far away as Florida.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of risk involved with dealing with unlicensed, out-of-state adjusters whom you do not know,” Wagner expressed.
Many of the on-call adjusters needed a place to stay, which was another major issue since housing itself was scarce. Residents in need of repairs often waited four to six weeks before they were able to meet with any type of adjuster. Some are still waiting.
Those in need of assistance in navigating their insurance claims have found extra help from local, licensed public adjusters. Their expertise has been highly recognized ever since the rigmarole of picking up the pieces after Sandy became too taxing a burden for some to endure.
Jennifer Calandra, owner of Sweet Scoops Ice Cream Shoppe in Beach Haven Crest, hired Wagner as a public adjuster to help her and her family manage the damages suffered to the infrastructure, where they also share their home.
“Trying to sort out three different insurance claims is like trying to do electrical work in your house if you’re not an electrician. We’ve paid our insurance for 25 years and have never had to file a claim. I don’t know anything about insurance,” said Calandra. “So many people are struggling with insurance companies right now. Once I gave Jim (Wagner) my insurance policies, I haven’t had to do a thing. He took it over from there, and honestly, it’s been going pretty well,” she added.
Calandra, who is also a real estate agent at BayShore Agency, said she is glad she chose a local public adjuster opposed to the many out-of-state adjusters who offered their business cards while she and her husband were working on their residence.
“I’m happy to say what a great job Alliance Adjustment is doing – one, because I’m a local; two, I’m a business owner; and three, I’m a Realtor on the Island. If Jim wasn’t doing a good job, I wouldn’t put my name behind his company,” Calandra noted. “If someone hasn’t had an adjuster and this is getting far above their head, I think they should reach out to Jim or some public adjuster to help them because they have a lot of answers that we just don’t know.”
Though Anderson said, “You shouldn’t need a public adjuster to get a fair settlement out of an insurance company,” he agreed they do relieve some stress.
Public adjusters are employed by insurance policyholders to help them appraise damages and negotiate their claims, thereby reducing the amount of hours and stress that often accompanies such a task.
“Simply put, my job is to attempt to get the maximum settlement possible for my clients so they can get their repairs completed in a timely manner.” said Stephen Fayer, a New Jersey-licensed public adjuster from Loss Adjustment Inc., located in Chalfont, Pa. “That’s the bottom line.”
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| Photo courtesy of Stephen Fayer New Jersey-licensed public adjuster Stephen Fayer said his role takes the personal bit out of dealing with insurance companies. |
“We are an advocate for the insured, and we fight on their behalf to ensure that they are paid everything that they are entitled to under the policy, and that quite often is significantly more than they are being offered by the insurance company,” added Wagner.
Wagner said he has been averaging 100 calls a week from LBI and surrounding community residents who are looking for help dealing with Sandy-related insurance claims. The calls have increased as some people have begun to encounter standstills with their respective insurance companies, he added.
As a resident of Haven Beach and an owner of a family-run business in Ship Bottom that suffered from 4 feet of floodwater damage from the storm, Wagner said he personally knows what kind of devastation Sandy’s victims have undergone.
“I never thought I’d have to drive over sand dunes normally to handle claims, but we’ve done that quite a bit during this storm event,” he said with a laugh, while leaning on the hood of his gigantic Hummer.
As experts in the insurance industry, Wagner said, licensed public adjusters know what kind of state-specific entitlements policyholders are warranted, such as continuous painting and matching materials.
Public adjusters help take the heartache out of the insurance claims process by meeting with the policyholders’ insurance agents to determine the cause of damages, which Wagner referred to as “the tricky part.” Oftentimes, the insurance adjusters disagree on the source of damages, such as cracks in drywall, and what party is responsible for them, he stated.
“We’re not going to have an agreement at all most of the time, so we have to keep pushing back,” said Fayer.
Hiring experts such as engineers, contractors, industrial hygienists and other specialists to assess the damages and support the claims can also be handled by a public adjuster.
“When they use us, it takes the personal bit out of it because I’m dealing with the other side as a negotiator, and I don’t have any emotional ties involved in the claim itself,” said Fayer. “A lot of the owners take it personal (and) get in arguments with these guys. I don’t do that,” he added.
“The adjuster that comes out for the insurance company, his interest is in the insurance company,” Wagner emphasized. “Insurance companies are in business to make a profit. That’s the reality; that’s what all businesses are in business for. So when they’re looking at the damage, while their client is the homeowner, that guy or girl is working for the insurance company. They’re driving the insurance company car, and talking on the insurance company phone, and they have the insurance company 401K. They’re clearly going to be protecting the interest of the carrier. I’m not saying that in a bad way. That’s just their obligation,” he explained.
Many public adjusters are paid on contingency, which means their clients are not required to pay them unless the homeowner receive funds from their insurance companies. Fees vary, but usually range between 5 percent and 15 percent.
Public adjusters cannot provide any compensation for repairs that are not covered under the clients’ policy. Managing client expectations, therefore, can be difficult, said Wagner.
Individuals who no longer have a mortgage on their home or business and have dropped their flood insurance policies, yet suffered from a significant amount of flood damage during the storm, are not entitled to any of the benefits of flood insurance policies. In such a case, public adjusters can only recommend other types of relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other financial aid programs.
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| Photo courtesy of Andy Anderson Andy Anderson works, an insurance agent and co-principal at AIA, said working with public adjusters can help relieve some stress. |
In some cases, people who do not think they have insurance actually do, as mortgage companies often force insurance policies on owners, sometimes unknown to the owners, and charge the fee through the mortgage payment. Public adjusters can help clients decipher whether or not that is the case.
Public adjusters can also help clients obtain an attorney in cases where a lawsuit against the insurance company is recommended.
“When an insured is told by their insurance company that they’re either not entitled to anything – and that happens a lot – or if they receive a very low payment, and they hire us, and we’re able to get them money sufficient enough to do their repairs, that’s a good feeling. That makes us happy; it makes the client happy. That’s what it’s all about,” said Wagner.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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