Partnering With a Public Adjuster: A Guide for Texas Contractors & Roofers
Why Contractors Need to Understand Insurance Claims
If you're a roofing contractor, restoration company, or general contractor in Texas, insurance claims are a core part of your business. Most of your work — especially storm restoration — is funded by insurance proceeds.
But there's a problem: **Texas law prohibits contractors from negotiating insurance claims on behalf of their clients.** This restriction is frequently violated, often unknowingly, and it creates serious risk for your business.
At the same time, your clients desperately need help navigating the claims process. Insurance companies routinely underpay claims, which means your clients can't afford the full scope of work they need — and you don't get paid what the job is worth.
The solution: **a strategic partnership with a licensed public adjuster.**
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## What Contractors Are Legally Allowed to Do
In Texas, contractors can:
- Inspect damage and prepare repair estimates
- Submit repair estimates to the insurance company on behalf of your client (as a contractor, not as a claim negotiator)
- Provide expert testimony about the scope of damage
- Perform the work once a claim is settled
Contractors **cannot**:
- Negotiate the value of a claim with an insurance company
- Represent a homeowner in discussions about coverage or payment amounts
- Hire an adjuster to handle a client's claim
- Accept "assignment of benefits" on insurance claims (largely prohibited under Texas law)
Violating these rules can result in contractor license revocation, fines, and civil liability.
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## How a Public Adjuster Fills the Gap
A licensed public adjuster does what you can't do — advocate directly for the homeowner's claim. When you work alongside a public adjuster:
1. **You do what you're good at:** inspect damage, prepare accurate estimates, perform quality repairs
2. **The public adjuster does what they're good at:** fight for full claim funding, handle all negotiations with the insurer
The result: your clients get funded for the full scope of work. You get paid the full amount your estimate calls for. Everyone wins — except the insurance company trying to underpay.
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## The Business Case for Contractor-PA Partnerships
Consider this scenario: you inspect a roof after a hailstorm and write an estimate for $28,000. The insurance company's adjuster comes out and approves $14,000. Your client is stuck.
Without a public adjuster:
- The client either comes out of pocket for the difference (unlikely on a storm claim)
- Or you reduce the scope of work to match the insurance payment
- Or the job falls through entirely
With a public adjuster partner:
- We invoke the appraisal clause or negotiate a supplement
- The claim gets revised to $26,000–$30,000
- You complete the full scope of work, get paid fairly, and your client is made whole
**The public adjuster's fee comes from the increased settlement, not from your client's pocket.**
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## What a Good Partnership Looks Like
**What we expect from contractor partners:**
- Honest, accurate estimates (don't inflate — it creates legal problems for everyone)
- Willingness to let the public adjuster handle claim negotiations
- Prompt communication when your clients have claim issues
- Referring clients with disputed or underpaid claims to us
**What you can expect from First Call Public Adjusters:**
- Fast response — we can typically inspect within 24-48 hours of a referral
- Professional representation of your client's claim
- Regular status updates throughout the process
- A recovered claim that funds the full scope of your work
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## Getting Started
If you're a roofing contractor, restoration company, or general contractor in the DFW area (or Oklahoma/Colorado), we'd like to talk about a referral arrangement.
We don't pay referral fees (it's legally complicated in Texas), but we do build long-term relationships with contractors who consistently refer quality clients. When we recover a claim, your client can afford your full estimate. That's the value proposition.
📞 **(817) 618-9884**
🌐 **thepublicadjustertx.com**
Serving Southlake, Fort Worth, Dallas, and all of North Texas
