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 As a contractor shouldn't you be more concerned with the "Bottom Line", can you do the repairs for the estimate total? It sounds like you disagree with the total, so you may wish to get in contact with the adjuster and try to get an agreed scope, then you can work on line items.  I will let others address the regs.

 

Well, the reason why im more concerned with this is because this is directly related to me with a personal claim for my sister, and from the looks of it , the insurance company is taking advantage and I had heard that there was a law stating this. I was just trying to confirm so that I have all my facts correct and not just go back and forth with estimates in trying to come to a resolution.

I don't know of any attorneys here so I don't believe you're going to get free legal advice here. I can't speak definitively to California but in Illinois and Indiana, it's the complete opposite. If you want to negotiate pricing with me, you need to give me a detailed estimate explaining why your figure exceeds mine. The burden of proof is on you to show that you're not high balling, rather than assuming the carrier is low balling.

While I know nothing about California law as it relates to the structure of estimates, insurance is a contract which indemnifies the insured for a covered loss. In states within my sphere of experience a contractor's bid trumps an adjuster's estimate. I expect that this is also true in California. Generally speaking there will be court decisions to this regard.

A suggestion would be to scope the job and put it out for bids. Ask that the bids be in line item format. Forward the scope and bids to the insurance company and invite inspection and discussion.

Posted By Dashing on 13 Jan 2011 07:01 PM
Well, the reason why im more concerned with this is because this is directly related to me with a personal claim for my sister, and from the looks of it , the insurance company is taking advantage and I had heard that there was a law stating this. I was just trying to confirm so that I have all my facts correct and not just go back and forth with estimates in trying to come to a resolution.

#1 my friend, you should state the facts from the onset, you are handling a smoke claim evolves into you are helping your sister out.
 

Are you a licensed Public Adjuster or a licensed Independent adjuster or are you just looking out for a member of your family?

Now, if you are a licensed Public Adjuster, GOD HELP US ALL if a PA is asking for clarity on a poignant issue from an adjuster site as opposed to scanning your sisters particular HO or DP policy or the CDOI website (which is where you will find the crystal clear answer to your query)

If your just a family member wanting to help, you can also find the answers your looking for in the above mentioned website.

Communication is key, I have worked quite a few reinspections due to smoke claims resulting from the recent California wildfires(2009) and some of those reinspections were due to the original adjuster based payment upon square footage of the home and it wasn't enough to bring the risk to a prefire condition.

It was sometimes the case where a line item estimate was able to remedy the situation and all parties were satisfied. (On a side note , I was floored at the cost to hand clean a crystal chandelier which can often run into the thousands of dollars!!)

Simply ask for a reinspection and your sister's insurer should have no issue with that. 

(One last thing, if in fact you ARE a PA , SHAME ON YOU for not knowing how to research a simple issue, If you are just a family member trying to help out your sister, BRAVO !)

*Everything discussed above is only from my particular experience and should NOT be construed or relied upon as legal advice.

 

CatAdjusterX