A South Florida law firm is apparently looking for cases where a number of public adjusting firms have allegedly overcharged policyholders. I was forwarded an email over the weekend and was then provided a copy of the legal advertisement that literally named a number of public adjusting firms.
The ad stated:
"If You Hired A Public Insurance Adjuster, You May Have Been Overcharged
Have you or someone you know retained a public insurance adjuster to bring or settle an insurance claim and were charged more than 10% commission from 2005 to the present?
…
…If you have retained an insurance adjuster to bring or settle an insurance claim you may have been overcharged. The adjusters are required to limit the percentage they can charge consumers to 10% if your damage occurred during a disaster-related state of emergency, such as a Hurricane, Flood or Fire.
If you have paid more than 10% commission to an insurance adjuster and the claim arose from the disaster-related state of emergency, please contact our offices for a free consultation."
If public adjusters were overcharging, policyholders should be reimbursed. However, I am not privy to these allegations, so I cannot make a specific comment.
I noted in a previous post that a class action lawsuit against a public adjusting firm had been filed on this issue. I anticipate more, given this advertisement.
I plan to analyze what public adjusters can ethically charge based on the fee regulations since 2005 in my free ethics seminar for public adjusters this Thursday in Coral Gables. It is not too late to register; follow the link here or call Kendra Kenney at 813-229-1000.
