Blog

Last week our office was confronted with a challenge that will become more prevalent in the future. That challenge involved technology being used by an insurance company vendor that wished to use the technology, Matterport.

As insurance adjusters on the forefront of the insurance industry, we are familiar with Matterport, Matterport allows for the complete survey of items in a home by using 3D technology. Matterport's 3D virtual tours enable users to remotely explore and interact with a...

This month a Texas Court of Appeals upheld an important ruling against a contractor who was involved in the Unauthorized Practice of Public Adjusting (UPPA).

Lon Smith Roofing & Construction entered in to a contract with Gerald and Beatriz Reyelts. In their  contract the roofer asserted that Lon Smith was being retained “to pursue homeowners’” best interest for all repairs, at a price agreeable to the insurance company” and to w...

It is common knowledge that dispute valuations in insurance claims leads to “appraisal.” Appraisal is a somewhat of a buzz word for arbitration where arbitrators (appraisers) determine values. Simply put then, an appraiser is an arbitrator and appraisal is an arbitration. This isn’t totally a fair equation of words. After all, a brown trout is different from a rainbow trout. Arbitration is not an appraisal, but an appraisal can be an arbitration, especially when the c...

To my client as well and my friend, Kim Dieska,

I never criticized you Kim. And you know I could have. After your house fire, you signed that stupid contract with that restoration contractor that gave ALL of your insurance proceeds to him and left you nothing. Many people make that mistake signing agreements with contractors after their fire and when they are under duress. But you also got yourself in trouble with the I.R.S., violating y...

What gives your humble correspondent the audacity to advise such an august body of professionals as Arizona Bar members of the perils of negotiating with contractors? Simply put, when contractors adjust insurance claims and/or act as advocates for the people with whom they have been retained to use their hammer and saw, it is a problem for all of us. Almost half of the cases in which I served as an expert witness in the past year involved contractors representing home...