What is the cost of a public adjuster?
What the percentage applies to
The fee is figured on money the insurer pays, so a few contract details decide what you really pay:
- Money already offered. If the insurer has already approved $9,000 and the adjuster gets it to $12,000, a percentage of the full $12,000 costs far more than a percentage of the $3,000 increase. Ask for this in writing.
- Recoverable depreciation. The second check on a replacement cost policy is part of the settlement, and most contracts include it in the fee.
- How checks are issued. Some contracts add the adjuster as a payee, which can slow the money down when your mortgage company is also on the check.
A simple example
Say the insurer pays $15,500 on a roof claim. At a 15 percent fee, the public adjuster takes $2,325, leaving $13,175 toward a roof whose full cost also includes your deductible. If the adjuster raised the claim from $9,000, you came out ahead. If the insurer would have paid $15,500 anyway once a roofer documented the missing line items, the fee came straight out of your roof budget.
Check before you sign
Look up the license on the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire website and read the contract's cancellation terms. A roofing contractor cannot serve as your public adjuster in Georgia. On many roof claims, the gap between the first estimate and the true cost is missing items such as drip edge, starter, or steep charges, which a supplement can address without a percentage fee. Our comparison of public adjusters and roofers in Georgia walks through when the fee is worth paying.