public adjuster - Licensed and bonded in PA & NJ

Results That Matter

Using my experience and knowledge to obtain a more favorable adjustment for you, the insured.

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Mission Statement

About Us

My mission is to use my experience and knowledge to obtain a more favorable adjustment for you, the insured.

I care about my clients. I am a licensed and bonded public adjuster. I have been working in the homeowner’s insurance industry for more than twenty years. I am committed to representing clients with the highest level of integrity! Being properly licensed requires continuing education in the industry which insures the best representation for you.

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Tim Whelan

As a property owner there are many projects you can do yourself and save some money. Processing a home or business owner’s insurance claim is not one of them. If you try, you could leave a substantial sum of money on the table!

When your home or business is damaged, the burden of properly preparing a detailed claim can be intimidating. Insurance companies hire experienced adjusters, construction professionals, and other loss specialists to evaluate every aspect of your claim.

Most property owners find themselves at a severe disadvantage without a claims specialist working for them. Home and business owners who try to make sense of complicated insurance policies and estimate their own claims can be overwhelmed and under compensated.

Ivy Public Adjustment has been representing home and business owners in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for more than twenty-five years! We help you recover from fires, floods, storm damage, plumbing mishaps and more.

If your home or business suffers sudden and accidental damage, call me, Tim Whelan before you call your insurance company for a free damage assessment.

These are just some examples of possible damages that are covered losses.

  • Damage from heavy winds and rains
  • Storm damage/missing roof shingles or siding
  • Overflow of water
  • Plumbing fixture or washing machine leaks
  • Broken pipes
  • Smoke and fire damage

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frequently Asked Questions

A Public Insurance Adjuster is a licensed professional who is retained by you, the policyholder, to represent your interests and assist you in filing your insurance claim. The advantage of hiring a Public Adjuster is knowing that you have a professional on your side; someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in interpreting the policy provisions and requirements to properly prepare and negotiate your claim. Retaining our services will free you of this time consuming and emotional process and allow you to resume your life in a normal manner.

The adjuster from your insurance company is paid to protect their financial interests, not yours. A Public Adjuster works for the property owner, not the insurance company. You will have the advantage of expert assistance in the negotiation and settlement of your claim. You will be relieved of the time consuming and difficult technical matters involved in preparing, presenting, and negotiating your claim with the insurance company. Most importantly, a Public Adjuster will maximize your claim settlement.

A typical insurance policy contains hundreds of provisions and stipulations, as well as dozens of complex policy endorsements. Most policyholders do not realize that the burden of proof is theirs. Public Adjusters know the insurance business and are familiar with policies and procedures so they can work quickly to expedite loss settlement.
 
No. Public Insurance Adjusters work for a small percentage of your claim settlement and require no up front fees. The fee is payable after your claim is settled and you have been paid by your insurance company. Retaining the services of Ivy Public Adjusting will almost certainly increase your claim settlement, and usually the fee for those services will be more than offset by your larger settlement.
 
No.  An independent adjuster is a sub-contractor hired by the insurance company to do a job that might otherwise be handled by an in-house adjuster.  Just like the in-house adjuster, an independent adjuster represents the insurance company.  A public adjuster is your advocate, representing you, the policy-holder.
 
Preparing an insurance claim can be a complicated and complex task.  There are just too many details and variables which arise that can be easily overlooked. The decision to use a Public Adjuster has very little to do with whether or not you believe the insurance company will or will not try to be fair.  Public Adjusters will almost always obtain much greater settlements than individuals, not only due to their skill in evaluating, estimating, and appraising, but also because of their experience with the “ins and outs” of the insurance industry.  As is true in any profession, the more experience and training one has, the better the final results.  The State of Florida recently released the results of an extensive investigation, and found that public adjusters, on average, obtained more than 500% than what Citizens Property Insurance Corporation tried to settle their claims for.

Almost always.  The more thorough and complete your claim, the higher the settlement.  In fact, public adjusters can average more than 500% of what insurance companies try to settle their claims for.

No.  We are not paid until money is collected from the Insurance Company.  In fact, we spend our money and our time helping to document and process your claim before we are paid anything.

Public Adjusters are utilized by individuals and all types of businesses and professions, including banks, accountants, attorneys, and even insurance adjusters and agents on their own losses.  Once a person has experienced the benefits of our services, they will rarely attempt to settle a claim without our assistance.
You probably bought your insurance from your agent or broker because of his friendship and/or salesmanship.  While the agent’s expertise is in connection with the marketing of insurance policies, he or she does not have the experience nor the obligation to render adjusting services.  In fact, we have seen many times where the insurance company demanded that the agent stay out of the adjustment process.  They were told to mind their own business. When everything is said and done, agents cannot do much to help, and they are just wrong if they suggest otherwise.  Many people are shocked when they learn that most agents are paid an annual bonus if their claims are kept below a certain percent, known in the industry as the profit/loss ratio bonus.  This naturally creates an undisclosed conflict of interest.  With the agent having a personal financial interest in your claim, the more he or she helps you, the more he or she hurts himself or herself. However, agents who are aware of our professionalism and expertise, and who have the interest of the Insured at heart, will never discourage them from employing our services.  In fact, they often highly recommend us, as they, themselves, have utilized our services many times after being a victim of a loss.  Beware of anyone who advises you not to seek assistance from someone with our successful track record who works exclusively for you and your benefit.
The vast majority of our claims are conducted and concluded in the spirit of professionalism and mutual respect with the insurance company’s representative(s).  However, if the company does not want to be reasonable, we will never under any circumstances capitulate to any unreasonable demands or positions they take.  If there are any problems or delays in your claim, they are the same problems which would exist whether or not we are involved.  We, however, because of our experience would know the best way to minimize certain problems or delays, and often, just by our involvement, many problems are avoided before they develop.  While some unethical adjusters may discourage you from employing a Public Adjuster (who is licensed by the DFS), statistics are quite clear that Public Adjusters, almost without exception, assist in obtaining extremely higher settlements for the Insured, not to mention the time and turmoil the Insured is saved.  It is beyond dispute that if any adjuster or agent prefers that you do not hire a Public Adjuster, it cannot possibly be your interest they have in mind.
If you are substantially under-insured and it is likely that you will obtain the limits of your policy, then, of course, you should wait.  In situations like that, that is always our advice to you.  However, many people make a serious error by delaying the employment of professional assistance.  The earlier we are involved in a claim, the smoother the adjusting process generally proceeds.  The insurance company often will not take certain positions when we are involved that they may try to take when we are not.  In addition, it takes a great amount of work to determine exactly what is fair, and most people simply do not have the necessary expertise to determine whether or not a company’s offer is fair and accurate.  Sadly we see many people who handle their own claims accept what we know are clearly low offers (sometimes less that 50 cents on the dollar), and yet are still quite happy with the settlement.  We have also found quite often that the longer a person waits, the more stress and duress he or she is under.  Every day many people accept substandard offers just to get the bad experience over with.  This is not the best position to be in when you try to negotiate your claim.  Bad settlements need not happen.
 

No.  The public adjusting profession is mandated by the Legislature and regulated by the DFS.  It would be a serious violation if any Insurance Company would discriminate against you in any way for exercising a right given to you by the State Legislature.

When you hire a member firm of Mid-Atlantic Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (MAPIA), you are hiring a Public Adjusting Company that upholds the high ethical standards set by MAPIA. All member firms are dedicated to providing a high level of professional service to its clients.

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