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If you knock on the door and say "your insurance company sent me out" you are an agent of the insurance company. You may have limited authority, BUT you have  authority to furnish SOMETHING of value only to your  principal, a report.

It seems like I have responded to this subject in another forum in the last year or two, but will give specific answers here.  Being both a general contractor primarily doing insurance renovation and also an adjuster, I have reached agreements with 2 or 3 carriers whom I signed up with for day claims in OK and Texas.  

1.As an adjuster, and especially on complex commercial claims, the carrier usually asks for an agreed repair price with both the insured and contractor.  The contractor is not negotiating a settlement for the insured, he is reaching an agreement to scope and price that he will do the job for and keeps the insured in the loop during the process. The insured has to agree to the scope, and has to agree to the price, deductible, any depreciation involved, etc., with the adjuster.  That is when the claim is negotiated and settled, not by the contractor. The contractor is not practicing law and is guarantying only his price which is not binding on any other adjuster should he not take the job.  I have to let the insured know that I can not recommend any contractor nor require them to do business with the contractor submitting the estimate for them, only that I can negotiate the scope and cost of the job with the contractor.

2. As a contractor, I have estimated and negotiated quite a few such jobs with the adjuster, then after the insured got their check failed to get the job.  That is part of the risk of doing such a bid, and more contractors now are requiring the homeowner to sign a contract for the job contingent on the contractor reaching an agreed scope and price with the insurance company and the homeowner before doing the estimate.

3.The agreement I reached where I was on direct as an adjuster was essentially the same as what some carriers refer to as "preferred contractor program".  If I get asked to do a renovation by an insured and find out that I would be the adjuster on the claim, I have to contact the staff adjuster and inform him of the situation who then contacts the insured and explains that if they want to hire me, then he/she will be the adjuster on the job and make all decisions and claim settlemet, but that I am qualified and will be the only person to write the estimate and scope of damage, and submit all of the photos as I would do as an adjuster.  I am prohibited from looking at their policy and from having any policy discussion. I can not charge the homeowner for writing the scope and estimate and can not charge the insurance company any adjusting fee.  My income has to come from the profit and overhead in the contract for this task, but if I do any design drawings, that can be included in the estimate.  All of that will be done by the adjuster who will also determine depreciation based on my estimate submitted.  I have discussed this with both the Texas and Oklahoma departments of insurance legal technicians and been told this is quite common practice and completely acceptable so long as the contractor does not get involved with the policy and have done contract jobs over the last 27 years where the staff adjuster relied soley on my scope and estimate to close the claim with the insured on both residential property damage and storm damage to computer and electronics in commercial properties.