To best serve policy-holding clients, contractors, attorneys, public adjusters, and property owners all should have strong property loss experts in their corner. Tom and Tim Simmons – from Mission Property Loss Consultants – have the insight you need to get the best claims possible for your clients.
The world of insurance is changing – and it’s getting more difficult for property owners (and the contractors, attorneys, and public adjusters who serve them) to claim the losses they need.
The devastation left by hurricane Ian shows just how unbalanced the playing field has gotten. One homeowner in Lee County – who incurred $100,000 in expenses to mitigate flood damage to her home and buy a trailer to live in, received a measly $107 check from her insurance. An investigative report from The Washington Post tells the story of a licensed adjuster having his calculated estimate erroneously and intentionally reduced down over 85% by the insurer (with his name still on the report).
Experiences like these reveal one thing: we have to reconsider our approach to claiming losses.
This isn’t about exposing the insurance companies of America – who are simply operating in their best interest and using the current landscape of the industry to their advantage. What’s needed is an advocate that can help contractors, attorneys, and public adjusters put their best foot forward when it comes time to file claims on behalf of their clients.
That’s where Mission Property Loss Consultants comes in. Led by Founder and Managing Member Tom Simmons and his father, Managing Member Tim Simmons, the team is bringing accuracy, transparency, and unbiased expertise into the complicated world of insurance claims.
“We strive to bring compassion and willingness to those who need a properly paid claim,” Tim Simmons says. “We’re motivated to provide expertise that we can leverage on behalf of others.”
This expertise is evident in the $3 billion in losses that the company has helped clients claim – in addition to the son-father duo’s extensive background in both the insurance space and the world of contracting and construction.
Their book, Secrets of Insurance Claims, is a comprehensive guide that demystifies the nuances of the insurance world – and has become an invaluable reference for contractors, attorneys, public adjusters, and policyholders alike. The co-authors have even recently added a chapter addressing the Unfair Claims Settlement Practice Act that many states have recently adopted – a testament to how the book can help you navigate this ever-changing field.
Why is the loss claims process so complicated and how have the industry’s biggest insurers used this to their advantage?
According to Tim Simmons, “It seems like an exodus of really good experience in the field. The people representing the insurance companies don’t have the expertise they used to have.”
Basically, the process has become segmented and bureaucratic, with first-level adjusters sent out into the field with little to no knowledge of either construction or policy. This allows for final decisions to be made up the ladder where policyholders and their representatives have little insight on the process.
The system is designed to be complicated – so that there is wiggle room for insurers to act in their best interest. If you’re a contractor, attorney, or a public adjuster, this makes it incredibly difficult to best serve your clients.
“A contractor may be very good at making repairs and doing restoration,” Tim Simmons explains, “but they may not be quite as adept at navigating the current state of the claims industry. You simply don’t know what you don’t know.”
“The value of a public adjuster,” he continues, “is sitting behind the desk negotiating with the insurance company. When they’re out in the field, they’re losing money – so we come in to take on that work for them.”
Mission allows professionals like these to focus on what they’re good at while the expert team, operating out of North Carolina and serving most of America, investigate the damages, document losses, and create bulletproof estimates.
To succeed in insurance loss consulting, a team needs a diverse range of experience that blends construction and policy knowledge. This combination of expertise is Mission’s wheelhouse – and has even allowed Tom and Tim Simmons to open up new services for their clients, namely in the commercial and industrial real estate investment and property management space.
“There’s a major issue surrounding commercial and industrial real estate: condo associations, homeowners associations, retail spaces, strip malls, and multifamily locations that don’t have regular documentation and capital improvement assessments completed prior to a loss,” Tom Simmons explains.
“Their maintenance staff are often overwhelmed and under-trained. They know how to do a lot of things, but often they don’t know how to assess the condition, age, material, type of roof, and other structural components that impact the property owner’s ability to claim losses.”
The solution is Mission’s new capital improvement assessment services. This leverages the expertise of the team into regular check-ins at large commercial properties.
Trained to evaluate the natural aging process of roofs and other materials, Mission helps property managers assess the optimal time to replace key facets of their building. This process also allows for careful documentation that proves invaluable should a storm create damages that must be claimed.
In all things, Mission fills in gaps of knowledge to help contractors, attorneys, public adjusters, and property owners focus on the bread-and-butter of their respective businesses.
Engaging Mission to inspect property, document damage, and put together an estimate helps these professionals offer the best possible service to their clients – many of whom are in the throes of devastating loss.
To gleam from the expertise of Tom and Tim Simmons, get a free copy of their book, Secrets of Insurance Claims. To see how the team at Mission Property Loss Consultants can bolster your ability to file claims on behalf of policy-holding clients, visit their website.
