What Does a Public Adjuster Do for a Roof Claim?
"Is the a certification or website I should look at when looking to hire a public adjuster?"
A commenter in a hail-damage roofing thread asked that. The answer starts with a state license, and it comes with a few other checks.
A public adjuster is an independent insurance professional you hire1 to help with a claim. Your insurer provides its own adjuster at no charge, while a public adjuster has no relationship with your insurer and charges a fee1, usually a percentage of the total claim amount2 under a signed contract.
Quick answer:
- Confirm the adjuster's license with your state insurance department; in Illinois, that means verifying it before signing any contract3.
- Ask which amount the percentage applies to: in Texas, up to 10% of the total the company will pay4.
- Ask how and by when you can cancel; in Texas the window is 72 hours after you sign4.
- Get the damage looked at and written down before you decide who to hire.
On this page
Every item here is a question you can ask before signing, and none of it needs a decision today.
Who does a public adjuster work for?
You hire and pay a public adjuster. The insurer's adjuster is the one your insurer sends. Neither changes what your policy pays for: a public adjuster cannot get you more money than your insurance policy provides for1, so what one adds is help with the claim, not a bigger policy.
Whether that help is worth the fee on your claim depends on the fee and on the amount it applies to.
What the fee is, and which amount it applies to
The first thing to pin down is the amount the percentage is taken from.
In Texas, a public adjuster can charge up to 10% of the total amount the company will pay for your claim4. In that state, if the company wants to pay $100,000 and you are disputing $20,000, the public adjuster could charge $10,0004, so there the fee follows the whole payment, not only the disputed part. Your numbers will differ.
In Florida, compensation is capped at 20 percent of claim payments or settlements for claims not based on a declared state of emergency5. There, if a state of emergency was declared for the event that damaged your roof, that 20 percent cap is not the one that applies5: ask which cap does and get it in writing. In Illinois, all fees can and should be negotiated3.
Anywhere else, ask your state's insurance regulator whether a cap applies to a public adjuster's fee.
How do you check that a public adjuster is licensed?
When you're looking to hire a public adjuster, start with your state insurance department. In Pennsylvania, all public adjusters must be licensed by the state2. In Illinois, you can call (866) 445-5364 to verify that the public adjuster is licensed and in good standing3.
What to get in writing before you sign
Ask for the fee as a percentage, the payment it is taken from, and the cancel deadline and method, all written in the contract.
The deadlines are short. In Texas you have 72 hours after you've signed to cancel4. In Florida you may cancel without penalty or obligation within 10 days5 after the contract is executed. In Illinois, the contract can only be canceled by certified mail within 5 business days3 after it was signed.
In California, watch for anyone attempting to rush you into signing a contract6. If someone pushes you to sign today or won't put these terms on paper, that is an answer too: compare them with adjusters who let you read first. You can send this:
Please put in the contract your fee as a percentage and the payment it is taken from, including anything my insurer has already offered. Please also tell me how and by when I can cancel, and send me the contract to read before I sign.
A roofer's role matters too. In Texas, a roofer or contractor can't act as a public insurance adjuster on insurance claims if they're also doing the work7. One commenter, in a thread about contractors acting as their own public adjusters, wrote: "I feel that it’s even a greater conflict of interest based on how a public adjuster charges." Elsewhere, ask your state insurance department whether a roofer may also act as your adjuster.
Checklist before you sign
- The license, confirmed.
- The fee and what it is taken from, in the contract you were given.
- The cancel deadline and method, noted with the signing date.
- Your photos of the damage and your insurer's estimate or letter, close at hand.
Get the damage looked at first
Whether or not you hire anyone, the claim rests on what the roof shows. A commenter answering a Texas tile-roof question wrote: "Maybe you should get a second or third opinion prior to paying a public adjuster". A second look needs no contract with a public adjuster. Ask for a photo of each problem found, so the paper matches the roof. A public adjuster is not the only route after an estimate you disagree with. Our guides to what a roof insurance adjuster does and what to do when a roof claim is denied cover the other options.
Quick questions
Does a roof claim raise your insurance?
In Tennessee, insurers report to the claims database files they set up for a possible claim8, so a claim file can exist even if nothing is paid. There, the company uses your claims history, or the history of claims at a specific property, to decide if it'll offer you coverage and how much you'll pay8. If you only want to ask about coverage or the deductible, say that is all you are asking. Our guide to whether a roof claim raises your rates has more on that question.
What if the insurer already offered me money before I hired anyone?
In Florida, the percentage is zero on a payment or written agreement to pay that happened before the contract was signed5. Elsewhere, ask the adjuster whether the fee covers that earlier offer.
Is a public adjuster worth it on a small claim?
Ask the adjuster for the fee in dollars on your own estimate, and for what you would owe if the insurer does not raise its offer. Then you can set that against the gap you think exists.
What not to say to a claim adjuster?
It's better to stick with the facts: what you saw and what your photos show. If you don't know an answer, say you will check and get back to them.
Sources
1. Triple-I (Insurance Information Institute), What is a public adjuster?
2. Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Learn About Homeowners Insurance: public adjuster
3. Illinois Department of Insurance, Public Adjusters (Homeowners and Renters)
5. The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes section 626.854 (2025)
6. California Department of Insurance, Helping You Recover After Wildfires
7. Texas Department of Insurance, Roofing and insurance: Know the law
8. Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange)
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