Honest comparison

The Storm Claim File compared with hiring a public adjuster

A public adjuster is a licensed professional who handles the claim for you and takes 15 to 25 percent of the settlement. The Storm Claim File is a $249 educational product that teaches you to handle it yourself and takes nothing. On a $50,000 roof claim the adjuster's fee is $7,500 to $12,500. The honest answer is that public adjusters are frequently worth it on large or complex claims, and poor value on small straightforward ones.

	A public adjuster	The Storm Claim File
Cost	15 to 25% of settlement	$249 once
On a $50,000 claim	$7,500 to $12,500	$249
Who does the work	They do	You do
Can negotiate with your insurer	Yes, licensed to	No, and we never claim to
Represents you	Yes	No
Right for a total loss	Yes, clearly	No, hire a professional
Right for a $15,000 roof claim	Fee may exceed the benefit	Yes
Right for a coverage denial on causation	Sometimes, an attorney may be better	No, take advice
Available at 11pm the day of the storm	No	Yes

Our verdict, including when the answer is not us

Hire a public adjuster if the claim is large, complex, contested at scale, or if you are not in a position to run a months-long documentation project. Use this if the claim is ordinary, the numbers are four or five figures rather than six, and you are willing to spend a few hours reading and photographing. We would rather you hired a good public adjuster on a claim that needs one than bought this and handled it badly.