NU Online News Service, July 13, 2:02 p.m.EDT

The president of the Florida Association of Public InsuranceAdjusters says all public adjusters are trying to do is gethomeowners money that is rightfully theirs.

"We are basically consumer advocates," says FAPIA presidentHarvey Wolfman.

In recent years public adjusters have been criticized by theinsurance industry as conduits of fraud. The industry has accusedadjusters of inflating insurance claims for their ownself-interest, because a public adjuster's fees come from aninsurance settlement.

The insurance industry successfully pushed a bill through theLegislature in 2008 to ban public adjusters from solicitinghomeowners for 48 hours after an event like a hurricane, sinkholeor tornado.

Recently that ban—to the chagrin of the industry—was deemed bythe state Supreme Court to be unconstitutional.

"We are very happy about the ruling," says Wolfman, who addsthat public adjusters never supported the legislation, as some inthe industry have said. "That time right after an event is the mostimportant time."  

While Wolfman acknowledges some bad apples among publicadjusters, FAPIA has made it a point to make sure it is moredifficult to obtain and sustain a license, in order to reduce thenumber of public adjusters in the state—which climbed to nearly in3,000 in 2009.

After the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, publicadjusters and wannabe public adjusters flocked to the SunshineState, seeing an opportunity to make money. Then,the licensing process was much easier—a 3-daycourse.

"[Instructors] structured the course around the answersto the test—that's basically what it was," Wolfman says. "So, ofcourse, there were some who got into this business without the bestintentions. Everyone was taking the exam."

FAPIA has worked to change that in order to reduce the fodderfor critics and bring more respectability to honest publicadjusters.

Now, potential public adjusters must completea one-year apprenticeship, and continuing education is a must.After two years on the job, public adjusters have to complete 24hours of courses, including two hours on ethics, explains Wolfman,who says he worked for an insurer for many years.

The new process has discouraged some. There are currently 1,792public adjusters licensed by the state Department of FinancialServices (DFS) and 1,204 are licensed and appointed to do businessin Florida.

Of those, FAPIA estimates that about 700 are actually practicingand about 400 are members of FAPIA.

Public adjusters will likely never be accepted by insurers. "Ifyou're a cost-driver, they are going to look to step on you,"Wolfman says. And the fact is claims involving a public adjustertypically cost insurers more money.

The difference between an estimate from a public adjuster and aninsurer's adjuster can be eye-opening. Wolfman says he is workingon a claim right now in which the insurance adjuster came back withan estimate of $4,000. Wolfman's estimate is close to $180,000.

"Now, I don't have their policy; I don't know what's covered,"he explains. "And I can make mistakes too. 

"The point is we are around to try and get homeowners the moneythey need to make repairs and sometimes what they hear back fromtheir insurer doesn't come close to that," Wolfman says.

In the meantime, FAPIA will continue to get those publicadjusters giving the profession a bad name out of the business.FAPIA reports unethical public adjusters and contractors to DFS,says Wolfman, who adds that FAPIA sent a letter to every insurer inthe state asking them for help in policing the public adjusterindustry.

"We got one letter back and it said no," he says.