I began my insurance career in Florida roughly ten years ago, working as an independent adjuster for nearly every major carrier you could name. If you had a claim in those years, there is a fair chance someone like me showed up in your driveway with a ladder, a tablet and a carrier's guidelines in my back pocket. I did not work for you. I worked for the company that hired me.

I want to tell you how I ended up on the other side of the table — as a licensed Tennessee public adjuster who now represents homeowners — because I think the story explains more about how claims really work than any brochure ever will.

On the carrier side of Florida's public-adjusting boom

I arrived on the carrier side during Florida's public-adjusting and claims-litigation boom. I spent a lot of days fighting estimates I believed were exaggerated — some from public adjusters, some from contractors — prepared in the hope that an inflated total would grow a percentage fee. I'll be honest: back then I believed public adjusters were mostly greedy. Those hard-fought disputes trained me in what I came to call "the art of insurance war": knowing the policy cold, measuring everything twice, and never conceding a line item I couldn't defend.

Some of what I saw gave honest public adjusters a bad name. But I've learned the Florida story is not as simple as "bad adjusters." Florida's market problems were multifactorial — heavy storm exposure, high litigation volume, assignment-of-benefits abuse, rising reinsurance and repair costs, and other market pressures all fed on each other.

The numbers on one piece of that puzzle are striking. According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, assignment-of-benefits (AOB) lawsuits rose from about 405 in 2006 to roughly 28,200 in 2016. In 2019 Florida enacted HB 7065 to reform how assignment agreements work. It is important to be precise here: an AOB is a contract that hands a policyholder's claim rights to a vendor, such as a water-mitigation or roofing company. AOB vendors and AOB litigation are not the same thing as public adjusters, and the abuse of one does not describe every licensed professional in the other.

Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation — Assignment of Benefits Resources

Source: Office of the Governor of Florida — Governor Signs HB 7065, Insurance Assignment Agreements (2019)

Tennessee, and the cuts I couldn't justify

When I moved to Tennessee I kept working for carriers. Over time I watched the review process change. I personally had replacement estimates returned to me with instructions to cut scope — even on roofs where, in my professional judgment, full replacement was warranted.

To give you a sense of scale from my own experience: a roof that would cost around $20,000 to replace was reduced to roughly $500 in allowed repairs for isolated shingles. On another hail-damaged roof, the approved scope was 150 individual shingles. Then I was expected to stand in front of the homeowner and explain those cuts as if they were my own conclusions.

I also watched engineering consultants retained to contest claims. I want to be careful and fair here: I am not saying engineers are biased, and I am not accusing any specific engineer or firm of wrongdoing. Many do careful, honest work. But I became concerned about the appearance of a conflict when a firm depends on repeat work from the same carriers whose claims it is evaluating. A homeowner deserves to know that an engineer's report is one opinion — and it can be examined, questioned and answered with evidence.

I refused to make concessions I couldn't professionally justify. I estimate that decision cost me around 90% of my carrier contracts. I became a Tennessee public adjuster because I could no longer reconcile those pressures with my professional judgment. Now I advocate for policyholders.

Independent adjuster vs. public adjuster: who works for whom

An independent adjuster is hired and paid by the insurance company to evaluate your claim. They may be skilled and fair, but their client is the carrier and they work within the carrier's guidelines. A public adjuster is licensed by the state to represent you, the policyholder — reading your policy, documenting the loss, building the estimate and negotiating the claim. In Tennessee, public adjusters must be licensed through the Department of Commerce & Insurance, and the contract and fee must be in writing before work begins.

Source: Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance — Public Adjuster Licensing

What actually decides a denied or underpaid claim

From the inside, I can tell you most claim disputes are not won by being loud. They're won on details. These are the things I look at on every Tennessee homeowners claim:

  • Policy language and exclusions. Wear and tear, long-term leakage, cosmetic-damage endorsements and roof-age schedules can change everything. Read the actual declarations and endorsements, not a summary.
  • Duties after loss. Prompt notice, protecting the property from further damage, keeping receipts and providing requested records. Missing these can hand the insurer an easy argument.
  • Depreciation and deductible. On a replacement-cost policy, depreciation held back up front is often recoverable after the work is done. Know your deductible type — flat or a percentage for wind and hail.
  • Matching. Tennessee has no general matching statute. Whether mismatched shingles, siding or flooring support broader replacement depends on your policy wording, the facts and how the repair would actually look and perform.
  • Building codes. Local code requirements and any ordinance-or-law coverage in your policy can affect what a proper repair includes.
  • Roofing construction and estimating. Whether a roof can truly be repaired — brittle shingles, discontinued products, underlayment, drip edge, ice-and-water shield — is a construction question, and it belongs in the estimate line by line.
  • Documented causation. Dated photos, storm data, test squares and collateral damage (gutters, vents, soft metals) tie the damage to a covered event.
  • Engineer reports. Ask for a copy. Check what was inspected, what was assumed and what was left out.
  • Appraisal vs. coverage disputes. Appraisal, where your policy includes it, generally resolves how much the loss is — not whether it's covered. Knowing which fight you're in matters.
  • Written denials and supplements. Ask for the coverage position in writing, citing the policy provisions. When hidden damage turns up during repairs, a documented insurance claim supplement is the normal way to request more.
  • Evidence and deadlines. Policies contain time limits for notice, proof of loss, suit and recoverable depreciation. Put the dates on your calendar.

If your claim has already been turned down, my denied and underpaid claims page walks through next steps, and the Tennessee claim law guide summarizes the state rules I reference most.

Why valid claims go unfiled — and why the first estimate isn't the last word

I've met many homeowners who didn't file at all because they were afraid their premiums would rise, or who accepted the first number because they didn't know what else to ask. I won't tell you every carrier sets out to exploit that. What I will tell you, from my experience on both sides, is that the imbalance of information favors the carrier. They handle thousands of claims; you might handle two in your life. That's exactly why you shouldn't accept the first estimate unquestioningly — whether it's a roof claim denied outright or an underpaid roof insurance claim that covers a fraction of the work.

Ask for an itemized estimate. Compare it to a contractor's scope. Look at the measurements, the waste factor, the line items for underlayment and flashing, and whether code items are included. An insurance estimate review by someone who has written thousands of them can show you quickly where the gaps are.

A necessary caveat

Coverage always depends on your individual policy, the specific facts of your loss and Tennessee law. Nothing in this article is legal advice, and no one — including me — can honestly guarantee a payout or a specific result. If your situation involves a legal question such as bad faith or a lawsuit deadline, talk to a Tennessee attorney.

If you're dealing with a denied or underpaid claim

I serve homeowners and businesses across Tennessee — including hail damage claims in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis and everywhere in between. I spent years learning how carriers build their side of a claim. Now I use that experience for you.

Send me what you have — the denial letter, the insurer's estimate, photos — and I'll personally review it. Request a claim review, call me at 954-649-8001, or learn more about working with a Tennessee public adjuster.

— Nicholas Edward Shank