Insurance Loss Adjustors – what are they and why should I use one?
Published on in CommercialLarge commercial insurance claims are complex and time consuming. That’s why insurers appoint loss adjusters to assess the cause of the loss, investigate whether it’s covered by your policy and to suggest an appropriate settlement figure or basis of reinstatement.
While loss adjusters are independent, they’re paid by insurers to represent their interests. Appointing a loss assessor will mean you have an expert to represent yours, and to negotiate the most favourable interpretation of the policy and the best final settlement for your business.
They’ll drive the claim’s process, relieving you and your senior management of a lot of work. You can expect your loss assessor to:
- Attend your premises within 24 hours to quantify the damage
- Deal with meetings and correspondence
- Create itemised inventories of damaged stock/equipment
- Source valuations for replacement products
- Liaise with your accountants to ascertain and itemise accurate loss of trading profits
- Arrange building inspections
- Negotiate interim claim payments from the insurer
- Source temporary premise
- Typically this will cost between 6% and 8% of your total settlement, but you can buy insurance to cover the fees of a loss assessor in the event of a large loss – generally upwards of £5,000 in value.
Annual premiums for these policies are in the range of £175 to £500, making the insurance affordable. If you need it, you’ll recoup many years’ of premiums just from the saving you make in the amount of management time spent on dealing with the claim, let alone from the better settlement you’re likely to receive by submitting one that’s professionally prepared and negotiated.