How Public Adjusters Fight For Homeowners

Insurance claims can feel like a simple form and a quick inspection until you’re staring at a check that won’t even cover the roof. We sit down with Thomas Plehn of ClaimResultsPro.com to talk about what a public adjuster actually does, why the insurance company’s adjuster represents the carrier, and how homeowners can protect themselves when wind damage, hurricane damage, water damage, fire damage, or a pipe burst turns life upside down.

Tom shares his personal turning point after Hurricane Irma: despite years inside a major insurer, his own claim came back far too low. That experience pushed him out of the corporate world and into public adjusting, where he now advocates for policyholders. We unpack the biggest misconception in the industry, the idea that your insurance company is your friend, and we explain the reality of the insurance policy as a contract with obligations on both sides.

We also get practical about the insurance claim process. Tom describes claim negotiation as a chess game where the rules are complex, coverage can be buried deep in the policy, and the process can be exhausting enough that people give up. If you’ve ever wondered when to call a public adjuster, how contractors like roofers and plumbers fit into referrals, or why “fair” has a wide range of interpretations, this conversation will give you a clearer playbook and better questions to ask.

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Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Virginia McConnell.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you in need of a public adjuster? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Tom Plen, with ClaimresultsPro.com. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 0:26

I'm doing great. How are you, Virginia?

SPEAKER_01 0:28

I'm doing really well. Thank you. Thank you. We're excited to learn about you and your business. Can you tell me more?

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Absolutely.

What A Public Adjuster Does

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah. So for those that don't know, I'm a public adjuster. And what that is, is when you have an insurance claim, you call your insurance company and they send out an adjuster. That adjuster works for them. I'm a public adjuster, so I work for the homeowner. So their adjuster's job is to uh pay you the lowest interpretation of fare. And what my job is, is the opposite. My job is to get you the highest interpretation of fare. So we both go out to the property and we handle everything wind, damage, fires, floods, pipe bursts, everything. We go out and uh we try to get you the most uh that you deserve out of your claim.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Well, we definitely like public adjusters then. How did you get into this business?

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Yeah,

From Insurance Manager To Advocate

SPEAKER_02 1:19

so I worked for uh one of the largest uh insurers in the in the country for about 10 years in uh management. And uh that was they were good to me, had a had a good uh career there during Hurricane Irma. My roof got ripped off in uh in the hurricane, and uh my insurance company didn't want to they they cut me a check for like 1200 bucks. So it's like the roof doesn't cost 1200 bucks even in 2017. Um but uh I hired a public adjuster and uh fast forward you know a few years, he's my business partner, and uh we uh you know I started this company and uh got into public adjusting and left the corporate world and and started this and it's been going really well.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Oh, that's great. I love that your story comes from a personal experience.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Yeah, yeah. I worked for the work for the big company, now I work against the big company. So it's uh I know I know all their tricks. So I've I've uh you know it helps in the claim negotiation to kind of know the the inside of uh of those companies and how they work.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah, for sure. Um and

The Biggest Insurance Claim Myth

SPEAKER_01 2:24

so what what are some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Uh the biggest thing is uh, you know, your insurance company is not your friend, right? Um their job is to protect their shareholders and their bottom line. And uh, you know, again, we say you know those adjusters that they send out, their job is to pay the lowest interpretation of fair, right? And uh what's fair is uh is a wide interpretation, right? Depending on what your interests are, right? So you have a policy with your insurance company, and that's a bilateral contract. So they have rights and responsibilities, you have rights and responsibilities. And uh if if sometimes they're not always uh upholding their end of the bargain, so to speak, right? And so we hold them accountable and make sure that they pay the money that that they're supposed to. They they also turn insurance claims into a little bit of a chess game. And if you're a lay person and don't you know know the the isoteric uh insurance claim stuff, they're not gonna show you how to move the chess pieces or the good strategy, or they're gonna teach you how to get money out of them, basically. And so that's what we do, right? We're good at playing that chess game in the other direction. So uh there's a lot of coverages that people have that they may not even be aware of buried deep in that policy, and we could tap into it and uh and help get them the maximum out of the policy.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, it can get a little confusing in that arena when especially if you're not in that industry, so for sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

And that's that's to the insurance company's advantage, right? So a lot of times the the process is such a pain and it's exhausting, and people give up, right? So if they do something a hundred times and 40, 50, 60 people give up, they save a whole bunch of money. So that's if they made the process convenient, they would have to pay more money.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

So that well, that makes sense. There you go.

Who Needs A Public Adjuster

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Uh okay, and we know marketing is the heart of every business. Who are your target customers and how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Yeah, so one of the challenges that a public adjuster has with marketing is nobody knows what we are, nobody knows what we do, right? And they they don't know they need us until they need us, right? So I mainly market to uh contractors, you know, roofers, plumbers, uh any any industry like that where you know someone has damage from a covered loss, a covered peril, and uh they're dealing with an insurance claim. Um, also, I mean, when there's a big event like a big storm, a hurricane, hail storm, uh, a lot of word of mouth. Um, you know, when when you do a great job and get someone a whole bunch of money, they they tend to tell people. So word of mouth is uh is good. But in terms of like my marketing initiatives, it's uh I like to meet plumbers, roofers, uh contractors, restoration companies, uh things like that.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. People who know disasters and things that are already going on.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Correct. Yeah, and like to for an example, you know, like your roof gets damaged in a storm. People's instinct isn't to call a public adjuster right away. It should be, right? But uh they call their roofer and uh then they call their insurance company, and then their insurance company writes them a check that's not enough, and then they're in a pickle. So uh that's I'm in a good position uh to be recommended at that point by uh a contractor to help them out.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Yeah, for sure. Have you ever thought about having your own podcast?

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Um, I have, but you you know, there's people out there like yourself that do it so well, I don't know if I could uh if I could uh hang, you know, hang with the big dogs. So I'll I'll stick to my uh I'll stick to hopping on roofs and going to uh house fires and and doing what I do.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Outside

Life Outside Work And Networking

SPEAKER_01 6:10

of work, what do you do for fun?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Uh I like to golf. I'm a big golfer. Um I have two daughters, uh, seven and four, so they keep me busy. Um, you know, that's really I pretty much just described 80% of my life right there. So I do a lot of networking too. It's I where I meet great people like yourself. Um, I'm in uh I live in Bradenton, but I I'm licensed in seven states, so I travel a little bit and try to meet, you know, the aforementioned uh trades people, you know, all over the place. Uh so uh that's that's what I do.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Nice.

Where ClaimResultsPro Can Help

SPEAKER_01 6:45

And you're just focused in um Florida, is that yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

So Florida's where I live, and that's that's my main uh state, my main business. But I'm licensed in a whole bunch of states. They're on my website, uh claimresultspro.com. But I'm in Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, Colorado. A very, a very random assortment of states. Uh a lot of what we do is legislation based. So when the legislation is in favor of the homeowner, uh, it gives us the ability to get them the money they deserve. Some states aren't as friendly as others, so they're more friendly to insurance companies then.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Oh, gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Um, all right. Can you

Three Things To Remember

SPEAKER_01 7:22

tell our listeners one thing they should remember about claimresultspro.com?

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yeah, just the three the three big things that I explain to everyone is uh, you know, number one, we do three things, right? Our our number one job is to get you the most money out of your insurance claim that you deserve, right? Number two, and that's it's real important for some people, we handle the entire process. So all the calls, emails, negotiations, strategies, like we deal with all the nonsense. So they just have to sit there and and get a check, right? Uh, and then the third thing is we don't get paid until we get them money. So they don't owe us money up front, they don't pay us any money. We're paid based on a percentage of whatever we get for them. So they're not coming out of pocket at any point to pay us. So those are the those are the three big things that we do.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Awesome. Okay, well, Tom, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Absolutely. Thank you very much for having me. This was great.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Thank

Nominate A Local Business

SPEAKER_00 8:19

you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpsarasota.com. That's gmpsarasota.com or call 941 949 1865.