Services

• Hurricanes

We provide a service that allows you to get back to your life quicker, for a small percentage of the insurance company payout. Call us if you have any damage from a hurricane. Hurricane claims are often complex and very time consuming when it comes to dealing with your insurance company. We can handle it all for you. We help level the playing field because we know how to document claims, interpret the policies and argue for a fair settlement.

• Sinkholes

  
  Was Your Sinkhole Repair Effective? If you’ve ever wondered about the safety and effectiveness of your repaired sinkhole, take the time to read Did Your Sinkhole Repair Work? for more helpful information. For most people, their home is their most expensive asset. When damage occurs to your home, it is important to figure out the cause, if your insurance covers the cost, and how best to repair it. At Smarto Public Adjusting Group we are experienced with helping people determine if their home has suffered sinkhole damage. Our firm can help you if your property has any of the following signs of potential sinkhole damage:
  • Cracks or leaks in your swimming pool
  • Cracks to your pool deck and lanai
  • Cracks in floor tile
  • Nailhead pops
  • Cracks in drywall
  • Cracks to driveways
  • Cracks to outside block walls (stair step and vertical cracks)
  • Cracks around doors and/or window frames
  • Doors or windows that don’t work properly
  • Depressions or holes in your yard
  • Walls that are separating from the floors or ceilings
  • Floors that are sloping or dipping
  • Loosening of soil around posts, trees or telephone poles

  If you have any of these types of damages please call us today for a FREE inspection.

  Be sure to check out our information regarding Sinkhole Repair Methods.

  Has your sinkhole claim been denied, we may be able to help. Give us a call today!

• Plumbing

Have you experience any of the following:
• Sinks, toilets, or tubs draining slowly
• Plumbing back ups in sinks, toilets, & showers
• Odd odors in your home
• Bugs, cockroaches, or other insects in your home
• Flooring issues
• Wet or water damage to cabinets, walls, baseboards, etc...

Over two million homes in Florida, were built before 1973. Why homes built before 1973? Because these homes were built with cast iron piping in the walls and most importantly underneath your concrete slab foundation.

Unfortunately the cast iron in your plumbing system was not designed to last this many years. What does this mean? Simple, these plumbing systems have ultimately failed. These pipes are either significantly cracked, completely rust out, clogged or have collapsed and MUST be replaced.

Now the good news! We are licensed by the State of Florida to represent qualifying homeowners to help them get these repairs paid for with NO cost to you. In fact, we are already representing homeowners in your immediate area right now.

Call us today to schedule a FREE in home inspection and consultation. It would be our honor to sit down with you, explain the entire process and to confirm if you qualify with NO obligation.

• Flooding

Standard property insurance policies do not cover flood. A separate policy must be obtained through a separate carrier. There are many complex issues involved in the NFIP program in terms of underwriting as well as the property claims process. One of many unique coverage issues relates to the definition of “flood” under the NFIP. As an example, in order to qualify as a “flood” there must be “a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more areas of normally dry land area or of two or more properties from an overflow of inland or tidal waters; unusual and rapid accumulation or run-off of surface waters from any source; mud flow.” In reality, a flood is an excess of water (or mud) on land that is normally dry. A flood can stem from heavy rains, overflowing rivers, thawing snow, flash flooding, and hurricane storms surges. The resulting damage from a flood event can include all types of complex issues, which will require expert analysis in order to prove the damages and support the claim.

A flood adjuster that is sent out by your insurance company has no real authority. They can only write up a claim and submit it for payment consideration. If you have a flood loss to your insured home or commercial property, you need to understand the 60 day provision for filing a flood proof of loss. This puts enormous pressure on you the insured to get all your damages documented in a very limited amount of time. This 60 day provision may be waived by an authorized government official but if not and you fail to submit your proof of loss within sixty days, it is likely your claim will not be paid!

If you suffer a flood loss Smarto Public Adjusting Group can most likey help you obtain a waiver of this time constraint as in most disasters much time will pass while emergency crews are on scene restoring order after a disaster. Many times it could take at least a month for the insurance company to even get an adjuster out to your property. This is no fault of your own but if even if a waiver can be secured we still need to move fast on the documenting and preparation of your claim for submission. Time for documenting a loss is always very critical as we need to see the property when things look their worse. Often times when the flood waters have receded and an insurance company adjusters steps onto the property, things don’t seem as bad as they truly were. Taking photos before, during and after a loss is crucial. Do yourself a favor and keep a camera charged and ready to go if a flood loss is imminent.

• Fire & Smoke Damage

Fire losses are devastating occurrences that can happen to a family or business. These events require important and immediate decisions from home and business owners that are understandably under a tremendous amount of stress, sadness and confusion, which can have devastating consequences on your insurance claim if not handled properly and promptly. Smarto Public Adjusting Group will make your insurance go to work for you right away by applying our over a decade of professional experience. We have the knowledge and expertise to help negotiate the seemingly impossible process required by your insurance company to get your fire claim paid in a fair and honest time period for the maximum amount.

Where there is smoke there is fire and the damage caused by the hydrochloric acid’s normally found in a typical structure fire are very corrosive. Furthermore the heat of a fire pressurizes the smoke and drives it into areas of the building and affects contents which are surprisingly remote from the source of the fire. Many items in a structure such as metal, drywall, glass, plastic and wood among many other items may seem OK at first sight but once these acids have a chance to set in they cause “pitting” which will leave the item useless. Usually your adjuster is “long gone” when the real damages assert themselves.

A fire loss includes damages caused by smoke, soot, heat, and the water used to extinguish the fire. Our first priority is to evaluate the scope of loss and damage and prepare the submission of loss to your insurance company. We also analyze your insurance policy to see how it applies to the specific situations of your loss.

We will determine to what degree the structure is damaged and how badly your personal or business property is affected. Are items and components repairable or are they a total loss? We always take the approach of totaling out an item versus being “restored” as it makes no economic sense to spend resources on repairs to items which will only be replaced in the end. Your insurance company has the initial right to try to salvage certain items and we will only allow it provided that the items of restoration come back 100% per your satisfaction. If not, we demand you be paid for full replacement value. This is one area where disputes commonly occur between the insured and the policyholder.

Be aware that policyholders make common and potentially costly mistakes when they sign authorization forms from “Disaster or Emergency restoration company’s” which YOU give FULL authorization to remove or attempt to repair items that may in fact be a total loss. This cost will be subtracted from your policy limits that may be needed to pay for items that are clearly a total loss. Our motto is “If in doubt, tear it out.” The truth is that once smoke, heat or water touches most items the odds are that it needs to be fully replaced. Don’t be a victim of your insurance companies protocol when they tell you to hire a “Emergency repair company.” Let us fight for YOU the insured!

• Toxic Mold

It used to be that mold damage claims were covered under most property insurance when it resulted from a covered peril, such as a sudden plumbing leak, fire control, storm or other cause covered by your property insurance policy.

The clean-up, removal and remediation techniques are costly and hazardous to the personnel completing them. In response to the public concerns, insurance carriers are removing such coverage from their policy forms regardless if it results from a covered peril.

Mold contamination should be taken very seriously as it can cause severe illness and considerable damage to property. Insurance company representatives often quote the policy exclusions for mold even when coverage may exist for your mold damage.

Mold damages usually require testing to identify the remediation protocol for the specific type of mold. Once a protocol is prepared, a remediation contractor will follow this protocol extracting the damage from the building. After this has been successfully done an test must be completed to assure that there is no further mold.

After investigating the loss, we advise you on the most effective and accurate way to assess and document your mold loss.