Adjusters International

Adjusters International.

Adjusters International, formed in 1985, is a public adjusting and disaster recovery company, who assists clients with financial recovery from insurance claims and U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants. The company's headquarters is in Utica, New York. It has more than 40 regional offices across the United States.^[1] The Adjusters International corporate office was designed by Charles Willard Moore, an American architect, educator, writer, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and winner of the AIA Gold Medal in 1991.^[2]

Public insurance adjusters represent clients for a small percentage of the resulting settlement money from the insurance claim. Adjusters mostly represent clients who have been victim to property damage or loss. Most cases involve natural disasters including: fires, floods, hurricanes, ice damage, and earthquakes.^[1]

Public adjusters are the only type of claims adjuster that can legally represent the rights of an insured during an insurance claim process.

Previous work

Hurricane Katrina

City of New Orleans - Nearly one year after Hurricane Katrina, Adjusters International was retained to assist the City of New Orleans in its recovery from Katrina. Total property damage was estimated at $108 billion (2005 USD).^[3] Adjusters International was asked to provide a comprehensive financial recovery strategy and to address the city’s gridlocked federal grant process and insurance claim. Adjusters International worked with the insurance adjuster to provide the city with advances on their claim. Adjusters International also helped reformulate the initial project worksheets written by FEMA officers.^[4]
On June 6, 2006, The Harrison County Board of Supervisors adopted an order authorizing Adjusters International to submit a proof of loss to Trident Insurance for wind resistive insurance claim on 15 county buildings.^[5]
On August 29, 2005, Moss Point, Mississippi, was hit by Hurricane Katrina, and much of Moss Point was flooded or destroyed in one day, by the strong hurricane-force winds which lasted several hours and a storm surge exceeding 20 feet (6 m) in some sections.^[6] The city of Moss Point, with the help of Adjusters International, reached a settlement for approximately $161,000 in damages to city vehicles during Hurricane Katrina.^[7]

Lee County, City of Fort Myers, City of Sanibel (Florida)

Adjusters International was contracted for disaster recovery consulting in August 2004 to assist Lee County, in addition to two of its component cities, Sanibel and Ft. Myers after four hurricanes ravaged Florida-Hurricanes Charley, Jeanne, Ivan, and Frances. The hurricanes damaged more than 400 buildings across the county, with net losses of $40 million and an additional $20 million in debris costs. Adjusters International developed and implemented a cohesive grant-management process for recovery from all four hurricanes. When Hurricane Wilma came in 2005, Adjusters International was asked to continue its operations, immediately beginning debris removal operations with a $10 million FEMA grant. The expedited grant was issued by FEMA without pause because of the county’s management of the FEMA Public Assistance Program in 2004.^[8]
Adjusters International was contracted again in 2014 to provide Lee County with FEMA Grant Management Services designed to help maximize FEMA funding, expedite the process and retain funds during project closeout and audit.^[9] Grant management tasks:
- Provide general grant management advice
- Assist in the development of a disaster-recovery team
- Assist in the development of a comprehensive recovery strategy
- Provide advice to disaster-recovery team as appropriate and participate in meetings
- Prepare draft correspondence to State and FEMA as necessary
- Assist in the development of mitigation proposals under Sections 404 and 406 of the Stafford Act
- Help coordinate Requests for Time Extensions

Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001

Following the events of 9-11, Adjusters International constructed a recovery plan totaling over $500 million in funding. For their contributions to the recovery and rebuilding at Ground Zero after the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, Adjusters International's President & CEO, Ronald Cuccaro and Vice President John Marini received the James G. Hellmuth Unit Citation "for invaluable contribution to the World Trade Center Loss Recovery Team" from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owners of the World Trade Center. In the history of the award, they are the only people from outside the Port Authority who were ever bestowed this honor.^[10]^[11]

Publications

Adjusters International publishes and distributes two publications – Disaster Recovery Today^[12] and Adjusting Today^[13] These publications are free of charge and provide detailed, technical information on disaster recovery topics and insurance claim issues.

Disaster Recovery Today^[12] covers FEMA grant management strategies, and offers comprehensive guides to acquiring and retaining federal funding clients may need to rebuild.
Adjusting Today^[13] provides insight into the property damage recovery process, focusing on case law and policy language to explain the intricacies of the claims process in various industries.

References

1 2 Adjustersinternational.com - Public Insurance Adjusting Services
↑ "The Charles W. Moore Archives: Project records, 1965-1992".
↑ Knabb, Richard D; Rhome, Jamie R; Brown, Daniel P; National Hurricane Center (December 20, 2005). Hurricane Katrina: August 23 – 30, 2005 (PDF) (Tropical Cyclone Report). United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
↑ Cohen, Ariella (26 August 2010). "Original list of 655 projects that need to be repaired after Hurricane Katrina" (PDF). The Lens.
↑ "Official Board Meeting Synopsis" (PDF). Harrison County, Mississippi. 5 June 2006.
↑ Gary Tuchman, Transcript of "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" (2006-08-29) 19:00 ET, CNN, CNN-ACooper082906 GARY TUCHMAN, CNN Correspondent: Responds to Anderson Cooper that it felt like it would never end, saying winds were at least 100 miles per hour in Gulfport for seven hours, between about 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. For another five or six hours, on each side of that, they had hurricane-force winds over 75 miles per hour.
↑ "Southern States Claims Services". LawyersandSettlements.com. 20 June 2007.
↑ "Board of Commissioners Agenda Minutes" (PDF). p. 11.
↑ "Executed copy of service provider agreement" (PDF). 2014-05-20.
↑ "Orange County, New York DRAFT Multi-Jurisdictional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan" (PDF). p. 293.
↑ Adjustersinternational.com - Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, New York, New York
1 2 Adjustersinternational.com - Disaster Recovery Today
1 2 Adjustersinternational.com - Adjusting Today

External links

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