Insurance loss assessors are privately-hired people who usually were seasoned loss adjusters for insurance companies. Don't let the similar names fool you! The adjuster works for the insurance company, and spends his days looking for ways to pay you less. Your assessor, on the other hand, works for you and tries to find ways the insurance company must fairly pay you more. An adjuster will not tell you about additional coverage you may have; an assessor works overtime trying to get you everything you are entitled to.
To show you how this works, let's assume you had a terrible fire at your business that took out your showroom. Everything in the front is ruined, and your showroom needs to be renovated. An insurance loss adjuster will courteously put through your paperwork to pay your claim for structural damage, water damage, loss of merchandise, and time lost from business. He is not required to do more than that.
An insurance loss assessor, however, will come in and show you other things: how the water damage from your sprinklers and the fire trucks seeped into your back storage areas, ruining fixtures and merchandise you didn't think to check. How the smoke got into your upper floor offices, leaving them with an impossible-to-eliminate odour even after the downstairs damage is repaired. How high beams in the front half of your store were singed and weakened, and need to be replaced before heavy snow brings down your roof this winter. How you can rebuild in a different way to minimize future risk. They will even how to get the most out of your lost-business-time payment.
More than that, a loss assessor will go over your policy closely, looking for hidden coverage that the insurance company does not need to tell you about. He will also tell you about any coverage you are paying for that you don't need, so you can adjust your future policy with your insurers. And he will make sure that your claim is handled in the most expeditious manner possible, costing you the least possible amount of down time so that you can get back up and running before your customers become attached to your competition.
Loss assessors work for both businesses and private individuals. They can save domestic policy holders tons in case of flood by helping you assess current and future flood damage from mildewing, or by locating every speck of fire and smoke damage in your home. They save you not only money, but time and stress, becoming that courteous and knowledgeable friend who can help you through a difficult time. And their fees are always more than covered by the additional savings they locate for you.
Whether your loss is an individual tragedy or part of a more widespread natural disaster, your loss assessor is the insurance professional in your corner. Hiring one at the beginning of your claim ensures that you'll get all that is coming to you with the least amount of worry. There is no better investment at a time like this.
Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who represents a number of UK businesses. For Insurance Claim Services and Loss Assessor Consultants, he recommends Morgan Clark.
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