Has Your Home Been Damaged By a Hurricane, Fire or Flood?
Roof gone, power out, house flooding? If so, you’re probably a nervous wreck. You’re busy trying to assess the damage while keeping your life together. You might need to file an insurance claim for any of the following reasons:
- Roof Damage
- Water or Flood Damage
- Structure or Property Damage
- Wet or Flooded Interior
- Mold
- Broken Windows or Doors
Access General Contractor is a private insurance & loss adjuster, representing insurance policyholders in Coral Springs, FL and all of Broward County. Access GC can assess the damage, negotiate with the insurance company for a maximum settlement and handle all necessary repairs.
Access GC is standing by to help with your insurance claim and start your construction project. Most public adjusters are NOT General Contractors and can only help with insurance claims. Access GC is both.
How do you start the insurance claims process and who is going to do the repairs?
Well, if you’re waiting for your insurer to step up and help you get back to normal you may be in for a big surprise. Because doing the right thing is the advertising campaign for insurers – not the underlying business model.
Fortunately, you live in Florida. Insurers here have been so naughty for so long that state lawmakers created a superhero for everyday people called the “public insurance adjuster.” That’s one of the hats we wear at Access General Contractor.
As a state certified public insurance adjuster (Also called a Claims Adjuster) we represent policy holders like you. Not insurance companies.
We’re also a licensed general contractor, based right here in Coral Springs.
What is a Public Insurance Adjuster?
A public claims adjuster or public insurance adjuster is an investigator who inspects damaged properties and evaluates the cost to repair the damage when an insurance claim is needed. A public claims adjuster works for you, the policyholder. A public adjuster will always work in your best interest and should always be considered when extensive damage has occurred to your home.
Access GC is a state-licensed claims adjuster and will help you receive as much money as possible from the insurance company.
But doesn’t my insurance company send over an adjuster? Why do I need to hire a private adjuster?
When your property is damaged from a hurricane, fire or flood, your insurance company will send an insurance adjuster over to assess the damage. This adjuster will report back to the insurance company on how extensive the damage is and will recommend a settlement based on the report.
This will never work in your favor.
Insurance companies use every dirty tactic to make sure they pay you as little as possible. You should never trust the insurance companies settlement without consulting with a private adjuster first.
Executives at insurance companies have a legal requirement – called their “fiduciary duty to stockholders” – to maximize shareholder value. Sometimes that means stonewalling policyholders after a big storm until they’re forced to pay up. It can also mean favoring tight-fisted insurance agents.
Every shady tactic represents another percentage of damage insurers don’t have to cover. For Hurricane Ian, a 1 percent reduction in damage payouts is equivalent to saving $570 million for them. That’s their financial incentive for not doing the right thing.
Because of this, you should always hire a Public Insurance Adjuster to work for you.
A public adjuster will make sure you get the money you deserve from the insurance company and will make the claims process much easier for you. You pay a lot for homeowner’s insurance and property insurance and you need to make sure you’re getting the service you’re paying for. That’s where we come in.
What happens After I Receive My Settlement? Who Will Handle the Repairs?
You need a general contractor.
A General Contractor or GC is who coordinates and assigns all the work done on a residential or commercial construction project – from permitting to framing to plumbing to electrical work.
All Florida General Contractors must be licensed and insured by the state of Florida.
Fortunately for you, Access GC is also a state licensed general contractor. This additional skill-set allows us to accurately and comprehensively evaluate the damage done to your home by a storm or fire, estimate the cost of repairs, deal with your insurer from a position of strength as a certified public insurance adjuster, and then bring in the specialists to do the work.
It is illegal to do construction in Florida without a GC license and proper insurance.
Access GC is a state licensed Claims Adjuster AND a state licensed General Contractor.
Most adjusters or general contractors are either one or the other. That means you need to work with 2 different companies to get things done. At Access GC, we can handle the insurance claims and do the repair/construction work.
Why Should I Choose Access General Contractor?
Right now, insurers like Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company – whose parent company trades under the UVE stock ticker – are facing up to $57 billion of insured onshore damage from Hurricane Ian, according to Verisk Extreme Event Solution. That’s a ton of money.
Ergo, doing the right thing for customers is not their only concern.
Hurricanes are a part of life in Florida. Today it’s Ian, in 2018 it was Michael, in 2017 it was Irma, in 2005 it was Wilma, in 2004 it was Charlie, and in 1992 it was Andrew.
You need someone to look out for you after a hurricane, flood or fire.
Our professionals live and work in South Florida all year long. This is their home and they’re going to see you out and about for years and years after they work for you.
The electricians, carpenters and other contractors we work with have a vested interest in keeping us happy at Access General Contractor, because they work with us all year round. Not just after a storm.
Beware of Scams
- Watch out for storm chasers:
Look out for shady individuals like roofers who drive down from other states after a hurricane and try and get you to sign over your insurance rights. - Watch out for shady General Contractors
You must be licensed and insured in the state of Florida to do any form of construction work. - Watch out for the claims adjuster sent over by the insurance company.
They will not have your best interest in mind. Don’t SIGN ANYTHING before consulting a professional.
Access GC is On Your Side
The public insurance adjusters at Access General Contractor will stand by your side through the entire recovery process. We’ll give you a helping hand and sharp elbows when you and your family need them most.
There’s an old courtroom adage that “a man who serves as his own lawyer has a fool for a client.” The same is true for a Florida homeowner who files a claim after a hurricane without a certified public adjuster in their corner.
If you want an insurer to do the right thing you need to properly incentivize them. In Florida, that means hiring a public insurance adjuster.
Why?
Because nothing says “I’m kind of a somebody” after a storm like having Access General Contractor in your corner.
How does the process work?
You file a claim and your insurer sends a claims adjuster of their choosing to evaluate and price the damage.
By contrast, a public claims adjuster is neither assigned work by insurers nor paid by them. Because we work for you, we’re under no pressure to produce a damage assessment that pleases your insurer.
You hire us and you pay us, with a portion of your future insurance settlement that cannot exceed 20 percent. The cap drops to 10 percent after a state of emergency is declared by the governor, as it usually is after a hurricane.
Those are the maximums – meaning you can negotiate a lesser amount, too.
Once you bring us on board we’ll hold your hand through the entire process and interact directly with the insurer on your behalf. As a general contractor we can also bring in the specialists to do the actual repairs.
Always hire a licensed public insurance adjuster. It is illegal to operate in this capacity without a state issued license.
Access General Contractor is a state licensed public insurance adjuster, state licensed mold remediation specialist, and state licensed general contractor with full workers compensation and general liability insurance. Founder Adam Hoffmann is a Coral Springs native.