In May 2025, the United States Senate subcommittee on Disaster Management, District of Columbia, and Census held a hearing and learned from witnesses that insurance carriers are pressuring insurance adjusters to write lower estimates, regardless of what damages actually are.

Additional recent coverage from NPR and PBS News has shone a light on problematic insurance carrier practices, but many insured policyholders are still shocked when they experience firsthand the frustrations that come from a wrongfully delayed or denied claim. 

Whether your insurance adjuster is overwhelmed with claims, acting in bad faith, or simply inexperienced, you have a right to a timely and fair resolution of your claim. Hiring a licensed Public Adjuster is a great strategy to make sure your claim doesn’t stall out due to unfair tactics designed to force you into accepting less than you are rightfully owed. 

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Here are the four most common things insurance companies will do to create friction during the claim process, and how you can deal with them. 

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1. Slowplaying the claims process

Oftentimes, insurance carriers will try to drag out the claims process, knowing that the longer they take, the more likely you are to accept the first settlement offer that comes your way. For example, they might allow weeks to pass without answering emails or returning phone calls to provide updates on your claim.

They know that you are likely in a position of financial distress following major property damage, so they wait until you’re desperate enough to accept a low settlement offer. In a war of attrition against behemoth insurance companies, policyholders barely stand a chance.

Thankfully, most states have legal timelines that dictate how long an insurance company has to respond to your claim, inspect the damage, and provide claim decisions. A Public Adjuster can help you hold your carrier to relevant compliance timelines and move your claim through the process.

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2. Downplaying your property’s damage

You should always get a second opinion when it comes to an insurance adjuster’s property damage inspection. Insurance adjusters are known to underestimate the severity of your home’s damage, allowing the insurance company to pay you less than what you’re owed.

For example, they may not collect adequate evidence to document the extent of your damage in the claim file, or they may minimize the damages as needing only repair instead of replacement. Thankfully, an incomplete damage report from your insurance carrier doesn’t have to be the end of the story. 

Your best bet in a situation like this is to hire a Public Adjuster to conduct a separate inspection to reassess the severity of your property damage. Your Public Adjuster will capture a moisture meter reading and document other signs of damage that the insurance adjuster likely missed or intentionally left out.

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3. Disputing the cause of damage

If your home’s damage is too obvious to downplay, your insurance company may attempt to claim that your property damage was caused by a non-covered loss under your policy. One common example of this in the context of storm damage is the distinction between wind-driven rain and water damage from a wind-created opening.

Let’s say a storm did some damage to the inside of your home. Most insurance companies will only cover interior damage when the storm created the opening that exposed your interior. So, if hail or high winds broke a window, allowing rain to get in and damage your carpet, you’d be covered—but if the window was broken before the storm rolled into town, you’d be left footing the bill.

Insurance carriers often try to avoid coverage by claiming that damages must have happened before a storm—freeing them of the obligation to cover the damage done to your home’s interior. Situations like these are where having photos of your property’s condition before the storm can really come in handy. If you can show that your property was just fine before the storm, you can force the insurance company to reconsider its decision.

Even if the insurance adjuster knows that the damage should be covered, and ultimately extends coverage, issuing a denial disputing the origin of the damage right off the bat is a tactic to add more time to the process and exhaust you appealing the decision.

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4. Misplacing important information

Your insurance carrier may also try to run out the clock by “misplacing” important information or documents, or claiming that the information provided was insufficient. Insurance companies do this because they know that the longer the claims process takes and the more frustrating they make it for you, the more likely you are to accept a low settlement offer. Don’t fall for it.

Successful property insurance claims require relentless follow-ups and meticulous documentation to create a paper trail that the carrier cannot dispute. This is where hiring a Public Adjuster can help. A Public Adjuster’s job is to communicate with your insurance company on your behalf, and we have no problem sending as many emails or making as many phone calls as it takes to move things along. 

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Hire a trusted advocate

Part of what makes Tiger Adjusters so effective at securing higher settlements for our clients is that we know the insurance company’s playbook and can navigate the claims process upside-down and blindfolded. 

If you’re dealing with a delayed or denied storm claim, hire a licensed Public Adjuster to push back against your insurance company’s tactics and make sure you get the insurance settlement you rightfully deserve under your policy.