After you have notified your insurance company of a claim of loss, they will send out one of their insurance adjusters or an independent adjuster. Most insurers have a full-time staff of adjusters who are on the company payroll. It is common for nationwide companies to bring in company adjusters from all over the country to handle widespread damages.

In some cases insurance companies do, in fact, employ independent adjusters. While these independent adjusters are not on the official company payroll, they are under temporary contract by the insurance company.

Homeowners do have other options. Individual policyholders have the right to hire their own public adjuster. These adjusters have no ties to the insurance company and actually work for the client that hired them. Public adjusters can be hired at any point during the insurance claim's process, but the sooner the better.

Public adjusters have the experience and know-how to sort through all of the paper work and red tape to help you file your hurricane damage claim. Most public adjusters have years experience dealing with insurers and can help the homeowner maximize their settlement.

Public adjusters are usually paid a percentage of the amount that is recovered above the initial adjustment.

The decision to hire a public adjuster is an important one. Through the use of a public adjuster you may be able gain valuable leverage against your insurance company and recover significantly more for your claim than the original proposal.