It has come to my attention that most people don’t understand just what it is that I do for a living. I’ll admit that the term “independent estimator” is fairly ambiguous. It’s not like I’m a plumber or mechanic. So here is a brief video explaining my role as insurance liaison, property damage claim expert and all-round referee.
Claim Clinic Podcast
I don’t know what state you are working in, but you are acting as a Public Adjuster and if you were in Ohio you would be in violation of the law by acting as a advocate for the insured. Unless you are licensed as a public adjuster you could not do what you are doing in Ohio and many other states.
I’ve got to respectfully disagree with you James. There is no law that prevents someone from educating consumers on the claims process, nor are there statutes that tell contractors how to arrive at their bid numbers.
If someone wishes to become the legal representative to an insurance carrier on behalf of an insured, that person would need to be licensed as an adjuster.
Believe me, I’ve researched this very hard. I even went so far as to sit down with the Oregon State Insurance Division and ask some very pointed questions.
The reality is, if I need a license to do what I’m doing, EVERY contractor would be required to get an adjuster’s license. That is simply not the case.
I work for an hourly rate (not a contingent percentage like you) to assist the contractor is arriving at a solid scope of repairs. If an adjuster has questions regarding that scope, I am naturally the best person to address them.
If/when there are coverage concerns, that is between the insured and the carrier.
Thank you for your concern. It is so nice to see professionals who look out for one another instead of leveling threats and propaganda.
I respect your business and I think it’s very viable to contractors that want to do restoration type work. I wish there was someone I could go to for many of my remodeling estimates too. Hard to find mentors in the field that are willing to give out their trade secrets. I still struggle after 18 years in coming up with detailed estimates that have no errors in them. May I suggest though that when you make a video you do it in your office and not while driving and use your legs for steering. Not a real safe concept and it distracted me while I was listening to you.
Thanks
Ha! That’s awesome. You’re not the first to point out that I might want to concentrate on the road. 😉
That being said, the advice I recieved via InfluenceOlogy (https://www.facebook.com/influenceOlogy) was to get video out there. Even if all you have is a phone camera. So I did. 🙂
As far as remodeling, I can whip out estimates based on square footage in a matter of minutes. If you want more detail, that takes a little more input. But Xactimate has a “new construction” efficiency mode as well.
If you’re serious, let’s talk.
I don’t see a video but I need an adjuster bad I live in a small town on the coast and have a $250,000 bus conversion I just finished it 2 years ago and after which I insured it for such.. October I had an accident and caused about 30,000 worth of damage I filed the claim and State farm tried to salvage my unit and give me $5,000 so they hired an outside appraisal which came back at 100,000 I thought was stupid but they backed off on the salvage title and still only wanted to offer me $5,000 they said that’s all the damage was worth but I can’t get anybody to give an estimate on it because it’s not an RV it’s not an automobile it’s not a house it’s all of the above and only custom fab shops can fix it it has a custom TV built into the outside wall which got broke and etc this is what you do and you can help me please reach out to me nobody else seems to not sure what to do next
Hi Darin,
I don’t know enough about RVs to be helpful. I can suggest you find an auto/RV appraiser in your area. There is likely a clause in your insurance policy called the Appraisal Clause. Get a full copy of your policy and check it out.
I am unsure if this is still active, but I have been in the insurance estimating world for about a decade at this point. My wife and I live in Oregon and we recently started an independent estimating business. We have a couple of active claims we are working at the moment. However, I am looking for advice on how to continuously receive claims from the various carriers.
The ones we are currently working we received through our local contractor community. We just don’t want to put all of our eggs in one basket and could really use some guidance.
Thank you and we hope to hear from you.