What is the difference between a carrier, independent and public adjuster?

Carrier adjuster

A salaried employee of your insurance company. They inspect the loss, write the scope, and apply the policy.

They are not your adversary, and treating them as one tends to go badly. They are, however, applying your carrier’s guidelines and their assessment is the carrier’s assessment. Their job is to determine what the policy covers, which is not the same job as getting you the most money.

Most claims are handled entirely by a carrier adjuster and most of those go fine.

Independent adjuster

A contractor engaged by your insurer, usually because a catastrophe produced more claims than staff could handle. After a large regional hail event, the person who inspects your roof is frequently independent.

They are paid by the carrier, work to the carrier’s guidelines, and represent the carrier’s interests — the “independent” refers to their employment status, not to neutrality. It is a common and understandable misreading of the word.

Quality varies more here than with staff adjusters, because catastrophe deployment scales up fast. If an inspection was cursory, that is a reasonable basis for requesting a re-inspection.

Public adjuster

Licensed, hired by you, and working for you. They inspect the loss, write their own scope, and negotiate the settlement on your behalf.

They are typically paid a percentage of the settlement. That aligns their interest with yours on amount, and it means the arrangement only makes sense on claims large enough to justify the fee.

Two things are state-regulated and vary widely:

Licensing. Public adjusters must be licensed in the state where the loss occurred. Verify the licence directly with your state department of insurance, by name, before signing. Some states do not license public adjusters at all.

Fee caps. Many states cap the percentage, and several impose a lower cap on claims arising from a declared catastrophe — precisely because that is when policyholders are most vulnerable. Some also require a cancellation window after signing.

Never take the fee or the licence on trust. Both are a lookup away and both are the kind of thing a bad actor relies on you not checking.

Can my roofer act as my adjuster?

Not unless they hold a public adjuster licence, and most do not.

A contractor may legitimately meet the adjuster on site, walk the roof, and point out damage or scope they believe was missed. That is normal and genuinely useful — your roofer knows what tear-off will reveal.

Negotiating your settlement for compensation is a licensed activity in most states. A roofer who offers to “handle the claim” or “deal with the insurance for you” is describing public adjusting. In several states doing that without a licence is an enforcement matter, and it is one of the markers of the storm-chaser pattern described on our scams page.

You can also not have it both ways: a person cannot be your public adjuster and the contractor bidding the work. Several states prohibit that combination outright for the obvious reason.

Should I be present at the inspection?

Yes, if you can.

You do not need to follow anyone onto the roof — and if the roof is steep, wet or damaged you should not. Being present on the ground means you can point out interior damage, hand over your dated photographs, mention the leak in the back bedroom, and hear what the adjuster says while they are saying it.

Having your own contractor present is also reasonable and common. Two people looking at the same roof and agreeing narrows the scope disagreement before it becomes one.

Take notes. Get names. Write down the claim number.

Common mistakes

• Reading “independent” as “neutral”. An independent adjuster is contracted by your carrier.
• Hiring a public adjuster on a small claim. The percentage fee can consume most of the benefit.
• Not verifying the licence and the fee cap. Both are state-regulated, both vary, and both are a phone call to your department of insurance.
• Letting an unlicensed contractor negotiate the claim. It is a licensed activity in most states, and it hands your settlement to someone with a stake in its size.
• Missing the inspection. It is the one moment when the person writing the scope is on your property and available.