Do I Need To Be At My Home During An Inspection By An Adjuster?

Insurance adjusters will almost always visit your home during regular business hours. This means that if you have a job working during those hours, you may not be home when your insurance adjuster comes by. The home insurance company may tell you that the adjuster can inspect your damaged roof or exterior wall without you being there, but you are forfeiting some of your rights by doing so.

If you are not there when the insurance adjuster comes by, how will she know about a leaking pipe inside the home that was caused by the exterior damage? If your roof was damaged in a storm while you were out of town for the weekend, the adjuster has no way of allowing for the incidental damages inside your home unless she can see them for herself.

It is not strictly required for you to be home when an insurance adjuster visits. However, if you are not there, then no one is taking your side in the matter. The adjuster, after all, works for the insurance company, and the insurance company wants to settle the claim for the lowest amount possible. Unless you can make all of the damage related to the claim known to the adjuster, it is not going to be included in the settlement. Even worse, the adjuster may have questions about the damages that need to be answered to prevent the claim from being denied outright. Your insurance company does need to have you present, but you need to be there to look out for your own best interests.

It is not fair to say that it is you against the insurance company, but the fact is that you need to take an active role in protecting your property, along with them. If you are there to show the adjuster other damages and give them a look at the interior repairs that are needed, then the adjuster will add them to the claim. Adjusters do not assume that you have suffered any damages they cannot see, so it is your responsibility to make sure that they see the big picture.