If your business needs to hire a commercial property adjuster to assist with a claim, you might think the process will be similar to dealing with a residential location. However, there are many notable differences when it comes to insurance claims for commercial operations. When you hire a commercial adjuster, you may encounter any of these four differences.
Market Comparisons
Much of the value of any insurance claim depends on the prevailing market. When someone files a claim for a house after a tree falls through the roof, for example, the insurance company's adjuster will compare the home's value against similar ones that recently sold. However, when you're dealing with a commercial insurance claim, it can be tough to find a comparable business in your area that has recently sold. Assessing the value of a business and its assets can be difficult without that sort of easily available reference.
Unusual Assets
Lots of businesses have unusual assets that also can be harder to assess. A commercial adjuster might need to help a claimant place value on a custom-fabricated steel building, for example. That isn't always simple, especially when you start factoring in depreciation. An adjuster will have to do lots of math to calculate the original and current value of the structure.
This only gets more painful as you start looking at other assets. Most businesses have depreciated equipment, for example. That equipment also has some market value, but what might it be? If you're dealing with a piece of equipment that rarely shows up in the used market, it can be difficult to support a valuation in a claim. Worse, an insurer might use that difficulty to say the equipment isn't worth much. A commercial adjuster can help you pin down a number for your filing purposes.
Claims Against Inventory
Inventory is another case where things get complicated. This is especially true when you're looking at the value of old inventories originating from a business. A manufacturer, for example, might point to previous sale prices from orders to support a claim. However, an insurer might decide that prolonged unsold inventory should have a lower valuation due to market disinterest.
Scale
Finally, the scale of many businesses simply exceeds anything you'll see in the residential insurance world. Companies often have millions of dollars worth of assets and properties. If a business is filing a large claim, such as one involving a natural disaster, a commercial property adjuster might spend weeks just cataloging the damage. This makes accurate accounting harder, and that goes for the numbers from both the claimant and the insurer.
For more information, reach out to a commercial adjuster near you.
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