Alabama is one of a few states left in America that does not provide a license for an individual to be an Alabama Public Adjuster. Public Adjusters are insurance claim adjusters who work for the owner, not the insurance company. They adjust first party property damage claims for homes or businesses that suffer tornado or fire damage (and other such perils).
As it stands now if you want help with your property claim in Alabama you have basically two options: 1) hire an attorney to fight the insurance company, or 2) utilize a provision in your policy called "Appraisal" which does not require you to involve an attorney and is a process recommended by the Alabama Department of Insurance on their web site. (see page 5 of "A Guide to Homeowners Insurance", http://ema.alabama.gov/FileLibrary/homeownersguide.pdf )
It has been our experience for many years that in Alabama, appraisal actually produces better outcomes to the policyholder and often more quickly than the Public Adjusting process can.
Every policy issued within the state of Alabama to our knowledge provides for "Appraisal" as an option. It is a built in alternative dispute resolution provision much like mediation or arbitration. The Appraisal Process is the perfect vehicle for reaching an agreement with the insurance company when the policyholder is not satisfied with the estimate proposed by the adjuster. It answers the "how much" question and levels the playing field at the same time.
As stated in the policy, each party (the insurance company and the policyholder) has the responsibility to hire their own appraiser to produce their own independent valuation of the damages. The two appraisers then reach agreement on a neutral individual (called the "Umpire") to resolve any differences that the two appraisers can't. The two appraisers and the umpire make up the panel. The appraisers, as stipulated in the language of the policy, have to be "competent" and "impartial". These qualifications require that the insurance company hire someone not employed by them to put together a totally new estimate for them. The adjuster who originally wrote the estimate (and who can't be considered impartial) is no longer involved in the claim.
The two appraisers work to reach common ground based on accepted industry standards and the coverage as outlined in the policy. If any differences remain between the two appraisers (about half the time the two appraisers settle the matter) their differences are settled by the umpire. Any agreement between two of the three settles the matter and the insurance company quickly writes the checks based upon the appraisal award.
In the last twenty years we have been involved in over a thousand appraisals. It is the only remedy that really gives the policyholder any leverage and we have had great success in using the appraisal process. It yields infinitely better results than if you were "fighting it out" with the adjuster who created the problem in the first place (which is what an Alabama public adjuster would attempt to do if they were permitted). Call 1-800-647-2236 for more information.
