The Insider’s Guide to Maximizing Insurance Claims With Andy Gurczak

In this episode of The Same Day Podcast, host Mat Zalk sits down with Andy Gurczak, Founder and CEO of AllCity Adjusting, to discuss strategies for maximizing insurance claims. They explore the critical role of public adjusters, the importance of thorough policy reviews, and the benefits of having expert guidance during the claims process.

The Insider’s Guide to Maximizing Insurance Claims With Andy Gurczak

Andy Gurczak is the Founder and CEO of AllCity Adjusting, a public adjusting firm dedicated to securing fair insurance claim settlements. With over a decade of experience, Andy has shielded thousands from insurance fraud and boosted their claims’ value. His family’s principle, “If you’re going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all,” flourishes through his firm’s advocacy for property owners. Specialized in complex claims like fire, water, and hurricane damage, Andy and his team work across over 35 states. AllCity Adjusting thrives under his guidance, ensuring clients are never underpaid by insurance companies.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [2:29] Andy Gurczak explains what public adjusters do and what kind of claims they handle
• [3:27] Why homeowners and investors should pair with a public adjuster without delay
• [5:31] Common insurance policy pitfalls that can affect your claim
• [6:19] How public adjusters advocate for fair settlements
• [8:24] The optimal timeframe to engage a public adjuster for your claim
• [10:36] Key insurance policy elements that impact claims
• [11:39] Why establishing a credible relationship with insurers is crucial
• [18:48] Insurance companies that are easy to work with and pay claims promptly
• [22:01] How adjusters can make life difficult for themselves and others by being conflictual

In this episode…

Understanding the complex world of insurance claims can be daunting, especially when facing significant losses. How can property owners ensure they receive the compensation they truly deserve? Is there a way to streamline the process and avoid common pitfalls?

According to Andy Gurczak, a seasoned expert in public adjusting, the key lies in understanding and leveraging the nuances of insurance policies. He highlights the importance of early involvement with a public adjuster to maximize claim outcomes and minimize delays. By reviewing policies proactively and establishing a relationship with an adjuster, property owners can avoid underinsurance and costly mistakes. This proactive approach can make the difference between a denied claim and a substantial payout, ensuring that the insured are adequately protected and compensated.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Mat Zalk on LinkedIn
• Yonatan Schmidt on LinkedIn
• Walter Bowser on LinkedIn
• Keyrenter Property Management
• Keyrenter Property Management in Tulsa | Oklahoma City | Arkansas
• Keyrenter Property Management email address: [email protected]
• Andy Gurczak: LinkedIn | Contact no.: 708-655-4186
• AllCity Adjusting

Special Mentions:

• State Farm Insurance
• Amica
• Farmers Insurance

Related Episodes:

• “Paving the Way for Affordable Housing in Urban Communities” with Devin Howland on The Same Day Podcast
• “Revitalizing Communities Through Multi-Concept Restaurant Development” with Elliot Nelson on The Same Day Podcast

Quotable Moments:

• “If you’re going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all.”
• “In the policy, the proof of the burden is on the insured.”
• “We represent the insured from start to finish, making sure they are not left in the dark.”
• “Having a good insurance agent is the key to safeguarding your investments.”
• “We’re not in the business of pulling shady stuff; our job is to prove the claim.”

Action Steps:

1. Engage with a public adjuster early: Connect with a firm before filing a claim to ensure proper preparation and guidance through the complex insurance claim process. This proactive step allows property owners to understand their policy details and set up the right coverages, helping to prevent detrimental claim errors.
2. Review your insurance policy regularly: Analyze your insurance policy with the help of a public adjuster to ensure you have the necessary coverage, such as law and ordinance endorsements. Regular review helps avoid potential uncovered expenses that could arise due to changes in insurance policy standards or property law.
3. Build relationships with reputable insurance carriers: Research and connect with insurance carriers known for fair and cooperative claims handling. Quality relationships can lead to smoother claim processes and better outcomes when a loss occurs.
4. Educate yourself on the claims process: Gain knowledge about the steps involved in the process and the role of a public adjuster. Understanding the process helps property owners make informed decisions and advocate for their rights effectively when facing property damage.
5. Create a response plan for claims: Develop an action plan for immediate measures upon property damage, including contact information for your public adjuster and insurance agent. A meticulous plan allows for a swift and precise response to damage, helping to secure the maximum claim benefits possible.

Sponsor for this episode…

Keyrenter Property Management:

This episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management.

Keyrenter Property Management is a full-service property management company that helps clients buy, renovate, and operate real estate assets.

The team helps clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management.

That’s why, no matter what rental you have — single-family homes, condos, townhomes, or apartments — they can give you the management solutions you need.

To learn more about their services, go to https://keyrenterpmc.com/ or send them an email at [email protected].

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:05

Welcome to The Same Day Podcast where we discuss driving incremental business growth and other topics related to real estate, property management and entrepreneurship. Now to the show at hand.

Mat Zalk 0:20

Mat Zalk here I’m the host of The Same Day Podcast where I connect the top business experts and real estate leaders. Past guests include Devin Howland talking about economic development in Fayetteville, Arkansas, very, very interesting market along the Northwest Arkansas corridor. We also had Elliot Nelson from McNellie’s Restaurant Group discussing community development through restaurants and bars in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Today’s episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management. At Keyrenter Property Management, we are a full service property management company, helping you, helping you our clients buy, renovate and operate real estate assets. We help our clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management doesn’t matter what rentals you have, single family homes, condos, townhomes, apartments, we have the management solutions that you need. Go to keyrenterpmc.com or email us at [email protected]. Today’s guest is Andy Gurczak. He’s the Founder of AllCity Adjusting, a licensed Public Adjusting firm with a focus on making sure that their clients get what they truly deserve from their insurance claims. Over the last decade, Andy has not only protected 1000s of people from being defrauded, but he also has helped them receive more money than what their insurance companies initially offered. And you grew up with a family motto, “if you’re getting to do something, do it right.” Sorry “if you’re going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all.” And he keeps that sentiment in his current business all city adjusting. You can find out more about Andy at allcityadjusting.com Andy, welcome to the show. We’re so happy that you’re here.

Andy Gurczak 1:46

Thank you so much for having me on.

Mat Zalk 1:48

Man, so in our world, in in property management, a huge portion of our clients are investors. Some of our clients have moved out of their house. They have one home. They didn’t intend to own real estate, but they do now because they like the interest rate. They maybe like the asset class. They heard a podcast where somebody said having real estate is a good way to build wealth over time. But many of our clients are people that own 1, 2, 5, 10, sorry, I shouldn’t say 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, houses. They don’t know how public claims adjusters works and what kind of claims a company like all city could help them navigate. Can you just give us a background on on what what public adjusters do and what sort of claims they work on?

Andy Gurczak 2:30

Yeah, so if you rewind a little bit back, you have to look at it back as like the insurance company. So the insurance company has their own adjusters, their own agents, their own vendors, contractors, so like everyone that works for them that’s getting paid for that, so they’re paid for them. So their interest is the is the insurance and their bottom dollar, right? Yeah. And then you have, you, you’re going up against billion dollar industry of you know, they have, again, their own attorneys. They’re in the money. They’re in the business to make money, not just collecting premiums. So if you take and accept an offer from them, and it’s low, you know, it’s a win for them. Listen, everyone benefits on their side. So then there’s a division called public public adjusters in each state, and majority of the states are some states that don’t license public justice. And then we represent the insured. We advocate for the insurer. We represent them on their claim from start to finish, basically, when it comes to any kind of coverage, anything in their policy, we can negotiate, we can settle it, we can work the entire claim.

Mat Zalk 3:27

And does that mean that the homeowner or the invested, the investor, the insured, kind of takes a step back, doesn’t need to be involved, and just knows that AllCity is going to work on their behalf and their best interest, and they’re going to collect a larger check, theoretically, at the end of the at the end of the process.

Andy Gurczak 3:46

Yeah, all of the above. They don’t. They don’t. Everything goes through us, all the discussions, all the negotiations, which helps, right? Because we’re calling on the claim. Now, if the insurance company wants to ask something that’s going to be maybe detrimental to the claim, right? We can filter through and say, Hey, man, they’re asking for this. Let’s make sure we answer it the right way, right because the wrong answer could end up getting your claim delayed and ultimately denied. So to avoid all that, hence why we’re taking over communication, some adjusters will go, Well, no, no, no, they could. I could still call your insured I can. No, no, you can’t. Once we’re hired, you know, you can’t be calling it, but they still try to behind our back, so we always prep our client and say you’ll still probably get a call from a jester or someone because they’ll want to talk like try to go behind our backs. It’s very normal. And standard.

Mat Zalk 4:28

Does it make sense then, for for example, our clients that have multiple properties to build a relationship with AllCity before a claim actually happens, so that they know inevitably, if you have 20 houses, there’s going to be a fire, there’s going to be a flood, there’s going to be some going to be something that that insurance needs to get involved in. Does it make sense for somebody to actually develop a relationship with you before the claim, or just call when it’s called when they have a claim?

Andy Gurczak 4:51

Inevitably, yeah. So you want it would be the perfect in the perfect world, everyone would call before, before any claim. Have us look. In their policies, make sure they have the right coverage, make sure they’re all set. And when that claim happens, they already have us that you don’t have us ready on speed dial so we can check it out. Because again, we might go in and say, Hey, man, we looked at your policy. This is a claim that’s probably, you know, you have a couple shingles missing, but because you have a high deductible or you have this kind of endorsement or exclusion, it’s not worth filing a claim. Don’t even call right, because it’s not going to be done through claims. So again, yes, we’re going to filter through and make sure that if we file a claim, it’s going to be, ultimately, it’s going to be a good decision and and you’re going to come out in the best scenario when it’s all said.

Mat Zalk 5:31

I mean, because even if, even if you file a claim and the insurance company denies it for an exclusion, that filing is still on your record, right? I mean, when they go to to review whether they want to reinsure you or not. Reinsurance, that’s an insurance term, but like, insure you again. Up Your policy again. They’re going to see that you have a claim filed, even if, if zero was paid out. Is that right?

Andy Gurczak 5:50

Yeah. And they’re going to go, they were your home, right? They were your property. They took photos. And now they’re going to say, hey, you know, everything is so outdated, or the roof is old. This is has to be updated. And now they’re going to drop you or no insurance is going to pick you up until you do all these things right now you might have or your premium might might be higher. So you have to be careful. There’s a lot of if you’re going to file a claim, you have to make sure that it’s a legit claim, that it’s going to be paid, that it’s worth that after your deductible, after everything, that you’re going to come up with a good settlement.

Mat Zalk 6:19

Yeah, on the side of the insurance you mentioned that the adjusters work for the insurance company, and they’re, they’re incentivized to to, you know, make profit for the insurance company. In the end, if an insurance adjuster gives out too much money, from the perspective of the insurance company, do they eventually get, you know, fired, repurposed, do something else. Do you have any sense of that. I mean, is it inherently unfair, and the people that are more fair don’t do the job very long?

Andy Gurczak 6:49

I don’t know. There’s ever been adjusted to pay too much on the claim. So I don’t know they have, they’ll ever have an issue with that. It’s, you know, they can’t train and now, now where it’s going is insurance company using third party vendors and using independent contractors, because, again, they can, they can push all the liability on those right? Not the insurance. That was our vendor, it was our independent contractor. That’s kind of the route that’s going. And then they’re telling them, Hey, we don’t pay for this. There’s all these guidelines, right? They’ll always say, Andy, we’re not paying for this damage. Why? Well, because we don’t pay for this. I don’t I’m looking at the policy. If you tell me what page, no problem. We’re in agreement, you know, in agreement, but we’re in a policy where it’s just the guidelines. Well, the guidelines don’t supersede the policy. So they’re trying to create all these guidelines. And, you know, and if you’re on your own as a homeowner or investor land on your dealing with this, you don’t know any better, you’re going to be okay. Well, if you’re not paying for this, it is what do I do?

Mat Zalk 7:41

Yeah, so let me ask you this. There’s, there are, I’ve heard of long and protracted claims happening where, let’s just give an example. It’s a loss happens in January. There’s, you know, a bunch of delays. You’re looking for police reports that, uh, that the police department won’t send. You got to get a fire to fire report from somebody, whatever else, and the claim ultimately pays out partly in, you know, call it April, and then by July, by the end of June, because we’re sitting here at the end of June, the policy still is not fully paid out. Is it too late? Or when is it too late for an investor to be reaching out to a claim, sorry, to a public adjuster to to help fight on their behalf.

Andy Gurczak 8:24

Most claims, you have two years from the date of loss. So most, most policies, depending on the state, you have a year to two year from date of loss. But it’s never again, even if you don’t know, hey, when this claim happened, it doesn’t hurt to call and ask, Hey, no, we had a claim. Can you look at this? Is it too late? Right? If it’s too late, we’ll tell you. We’ll take a look at it. But the better, the quicker you get in, the easier, right? Because the worst, you know, when we get involved and you call us and it’s six months after a fire or a claims happen, it’s been six months, well, now we have to play detective, right? What did you say for six months? Who got involved? Like, you know, we’re involved in this big, you know, big, this is like, what 30 units more. It’s a big complex in Iowa, and they, this happened in December, so June, about six, seven months. You know, it’s going into seven months now. You know, the first, when we got hired about two months ago, we’ve spent, like, most of the time dealing with adjuster and, you know, we’re trying to, you’re trying to figure out what happened before we got enough. Well, we’re trying to get more money. This is what we know. But he’s the adjusted insurance company is telling us, hey, well, we already had all these people out here. The insured already told us all this, this information we didn’t have, so now it makes it difficult for us to even get $1 more. Sure, right? Even though we have such a big Delta, they owed it to the insured, we would have got this, you know, there was a $600,000 Delta if we were involved in the beginning, we’re 90% getting that for the insured. Now we’re hoping we at least get 45 50% of that delta. Yeah, yeah. So has happened before us.

Mat Zalk 9:54

So, so it sounds like it’s important to get involved early with the public adjuster. Yeah. If somebody’s not going to get involved with the public adjuster early, I would say that it sounds like they the less they tell is better until they get an adjuster. But insurance companies want to see the site of the damage kind of from the start. It’d be hard. So sounds like they just need to get you.

Andy Gurczak 10:18

You have to, you have to allow them to see the site, right? Because for your policy, you have to allow them to inspect as many times with whoever they want, like, that’s in your policy. So you can’t say, Don’t come to my property or don’t like, you have to allow them to properly investigate the claim.

Mat Zalk 10:33

Yeah, yeah. Super interesting.

Andy Gurczak 10:36

So, I mean, remember the biggest thing, Mat, is in the policy, the proof of burden is on the insured, right? So it’s on you to prove the damage, not on them. So it’s not their job to come in and say, we owe you 100,000 No, it’s on you to prove to them that they owe you 100,000 so unless you’ve been, you know, in this industry for 1015, years, you know, doing adjusting claims, how do you know? How are you going to prove that?

Mat Zalk 11:02

I mean, realistically, I’ve been in the industry for 10 as in property management, and I don’t think I’ve spoken with a public adjuster before that has that has highlighted to me all this stuff. So we have 1000 clients that have 2600 rental properties, and I don’t think we’ve ever recommended to one of our clients that’s at a loss. You need to go talk to go talk to a public adjuster. So very powerful stuff, and it’s just not common knowledge that this industry exists, that somebody’s here to represent the interests of the insured, to ward off the predations of the insurance company, frankly. So really interesting. What’s the what’s the average?

Andy Gurczak 11:39

So we were just like you, Mat, basically it comes down to the to the client, right? They’re going to look back as I can manage my own property. What do I need? You know, Keyrenter for? I could do it on my own, or I can pay a fee, right? Pay whatever fee it is and whatever the compensation is, and I don’t have to worry about managing my buildings, collecting rent, getting like, there’s a million benefits, right? Yeah, for what? For a small fee. So you have to look at this, I can pay a small fee, and now I’m going to work out, not only get paid a lot more, where I’m going to pay conscious, I’m going to have money left over. No, I’m going to get my claim actually paid. These days. It’s Hey, most of the claims we’re seeing are getting denied. They’re getting delayed. There’s so many things that they’re doing to protect money that it’s gonna get, and it’s gonna only get worse for the insured.

Mat Zalk 12:25

Yeah, what’s the average size of the claim of public adjuster? Uh, like all city would would work on.

Andy Gurczak 12:32

Yeah, we work on claims, usually about 100,000 and up. We specialize in fire, water, hurricane, um, we don’t do much storm damage, and it’s like a commercial building. But any residential we don’t know, don’t say, because now we had, we actually have an investor who owns in Michigan City, Indiana. They were hit with a huge hail. Nine of their properties got hit single families at the Airbnb. Again, they’ve been our clients. We’re going to help them, and we’re going to work the claims for them.

Mat Zalk 12:59

Of course. Yeah, 100% Yeah. Is there anything you mentioned already, kind of getting a public adjuster to review your policies, but anything else that an investment property owner can do before a claim happens, to ensure that they get maximal coverage, when, when, when a claim inevitably does arise?

Andy Gurczak 13:17

Yeah. I mean, the one thing I could recommend is finding a good agent, you can find an agent that specializes in whatever you’re investing in, whether it’s multi units, commercial, you know, Airbnbs, you find a good agent that actually understands policies. We went to locate yesterday. We had a fire yesterday. It was it’s a gym owner. The gym burnt. He’s just the owner of the gym, not the building he’s got. He’s way underinsured by at least half, if not more than half. He’s got actual cash value policy, plus 80% a coinsurance clause. So out of that 400,000 because the loss is going to exceed what like over his value, he might get half. Like, I mean, he’s just screwed left and right. Yeah, it’s the worst policy I’ve ever seen.

Mat Zalk 13:58

So Actual Cash Value, just for people that don’t know, is what he if he paid $100,000 for a $400,000 building, he’s insured for 100,000 as opposed to replacement cost would be, I paid $100,000 but the building is worth 400 so the replacement cost of the building today, replacing it with the cost of lumber, correct, and contractors, is 400,000 is that right? 100 that’s 100% and what is the cost to replace right now? Yes. And what’s the, what is the 80% coinsurance?

Andy Gurczak 14:24

So coinsurance is a penalty that insurance company puts on you if you’re underinsured. So he should have been insured if he’s 400,000 he should have been insured for at least 800 to a million. So he’s going to get hit with the penalty. That means he needs to have 80% of the insured value. And if you do the math, he’s going to be he’s going to get hit with maybe a 50% penalty. Well, it’s 50% of 400,000 200,000 plus your deductible. So now we got to mess around with the numbers, make sure that that penalty, the coincidence penalty, we can no minimize that as much as possible. So it’s a tricky situation. So we. Looked at that policy, and I look back, I’m like, who’s your agent? How could an agent sell you this policy? Because probably $4,000 more in a premium a year you would have been you would have had every properly insurance.

Mat Zalk 15:09

Yeah, yeah. On that note, I mean, there, there are captive agents, like a Farmer’s Insurance or a State Farm Insurance, and then they’re, they’re freelance agents. I forget what they’re called, where they can sell a whole bunch of independent, independent Do you have a recommendation, in general, from what you’ve seen in your industry, whether to go with an independent or a captive agent?

Andy Gurczak 15:31

No, not really. You kind of, I mean, I again, I’m not going to say a story. We were insured with a for all our rentals with my wife with a captive engine, you know, local, uh, agent, uh, who’s been an agent for what, 20 something, 30 years, yeah, you know, I look at the rentals. Eventually, I look at the policies. They send out, the policies we got insured, we bind it, and a couple months later I’m looking at them, I’m like, Hey, what is law and ordinance coverage, which is a big coverage, there we have older buildings. So law and ordinance coverage, yeah, law and ordinance.

Mat Zalk 16:02

Law and ordinance, okay, wow, never heard of that.

Andy Gurczak 16:07

So, meaning, let’s say you have a you have a fire, and now the everything that’s all the insulation, electrical is not up to code. Well, you’re gonna have an endorsement that covers all that upgrades, but now these can be done, right? Yeah, huge. That’s a huge and it’s very cheap, but it’s a huge endorsement, right? So State Farm, I know was a year ago. They used to be standard on it is standard on homeowners, but now on their rentals. It’s so sorry, I just said name, but it’s not, it’s not standard. No more meaning, yeah, meaning that you have to buy it. So I look at policy, I’m like, why don’t I? Why don’t we have lawn horns? Like, reach out to agent. He goes, Well, it’s not standard, you know, it’s not included anymore. I said that’s fine, but like, were you gonna tell me that this is not included? Or were you gonna, well, yeah, do you want it? FBI, wanted, of course, I want it, yeah. What do you mean? How much is it? Well, it’s 20, $20 for this property a year, 19 for this. I’m just thinking. I’m like, when was he gonna tell me after we had a fire? Yeah? Why wouldn’t you offer this and then so this? So when you ask me that, do I can I do? I think one’s better than other. I don’t know anymore. I don’t know which agents you know, but it’s important to find one, hopefully that you think knows what he’s selling and understands policies, yeah? Because a lot of them are just sales people, honestly, man.

Mat Zalk 17:21

I mean, we had a situation recently where one of our company vehicles was was hit by a person you know didn’t have insurance, and we didn’t have uninsured motorists on that on that vehicle. I say, why? Well, because you, you know, declined it. Well, I only I’m doing exactly what you tell me to do. If you tell me to accept it, I’ll accept it. If you tell me to decline it, I’ll decline it, I’ll decline it. But I have no I’m not really, I don’t understand the risk of calculations here. If you just I will basically buy whatever you as my insurance person tells me. So in that case, I feel like, you know, there’s, there was some misguidance, but generally I feel like we do get pretty good guidance. I gotta ask about this long ordinance insurance, do you? So from your perspective, also, you don’t know much about the agents, because agents are very, very specific, whether captive or independent. Are there? Are there better insurance companies from your perspective, but that are easier to work with, that are that are more communicative, that are more likely to pay out the claim when, when you get involved?

Andy Gurczak 18:14

100% Oh, yeah, yeah. I can go down a list of, I don’t know if you want me names, but I mean.

Mat Zalk 18:20

Top five carriers that that are, if we’re if our clients are shopping insurance, who should they be looking at? And of course, the prices are going to difference, and some are going to be but from your perspective of like, easiest to work with, because somebody might say, well, I can go with x and they’re 1000 bucks. I can go with y and they’re 2000 bucks. Okay, that’s part of the equation, for sure, but in the event that you have a loss, if x at $1,000 is always going to deny. But why? At $2,000 is going to be much easier to work with and is going to pay? You probably want to make the decision go with, why.

Andy Gurczak 18:48

Yeah. So let me give you top five, and I don’t mean easiest, where they pay. When we do have claims with them, they their their premise, or their whole thing is they want to work with us. They work well. They come to agreement. Or adjusters, they don’t fight, they don’t like BS claims. So top five, I would say, openly, insurance. And again, a lot of these you probably might know openly, there’s Amica, it’s really good one openly. Amica, of the ones you might know Farmers, is a really good one. Okay, Farmers. They actually handle claims very well. Same thing. Who else got? Not many of our more friends. If you want to go really expensive, there’s obviously on the higher end for your for your insurance. Trying to think of anyone else that we work claims, that’s those four. I can’t think of anyone.

Mat Zalk 19:38

Interesting you say Amica. Amica is super exclusive in who they work with. I mean, they want their average credit. My parents had Amica for a long time, and they loved Amika, and they said that every, every person they worked with, which is rare for somebody and insured, to say, I love my insurance agent, they are great to work with, from top to bottom. But they had, they had Amica for a long, long time, and always, always we were claims and taxes.

Andy Gurczak 19:59

One more that a couple years ago they had that pipe with all the pipes flows in Texas. We dealt with so many claims. We just got in, like, I mean, it was influx of all these claims that came in, all the claims we had with Amika. It was the greatest claim work together. It was so great working with them. In terms of Andy, what are you thinking of the damage? This is what damage. This is what we see. You want to now. Just give us some documents. Let’s go through this together on the phone. We were selling claims in minutes. Yeah, it was, it was just super easy. It was enjoyable, and that’s how claim was supposed to be. It’s not, we’re not. Again, when we handle a claim, we’re not going to try to scheme or or pull some kind of shady stuff. It’s not just you. What’s in the policies we could go after, right? But our job is to prove the claim. So if prove the claim, and adjuster goes, Yeah, I agree with it and pay for it. That’s how it’s supposed to work, not, no, we don’t pay for this. We’re not going to do this. Hey, prove this. Hey, we’ll pay you this when this happens. Like, that’s how most insurance companies are going.

Mat Zalk 20:57

But that, that would be one of the benefits of our clients, or any other person, any other insurer, to work with somebody like AllCity where an adjuster knows, hey, we’re operating with a good faith Counterparty. We’re not AllCity has a good reputation. We know that they’re not trying to do anything shady. They’re not trying to pull the wool over ours. All they’re trying to do is get fair representation for their client, the insured. And we’re trying to get fair representation from for our client, the the insurance company. So if you two go into it to square off or battle, knowing that each of you has essentially the best interest of your clients in mind, but also are fair, you know, and of good integrity and character, it must be much easier to do, whereas they don’t know whether you’re, you know, Stefan looks at me and goes, I don’t know if Mat’s a shady guy. He’s trying to pull something over on this claim. And you know, he’s, he’s claiming that it was water damage from a storm. He went up to him with a hammer on the roof and actually punctured a hole. So it looks like it’s, you’re, you’re starting from a better place. Fundamentally, if they know AllCity is a good operator, and, you know, they just trust the ingoing, the ingoing, you know, assumptions when they start.

Andy Gurczak 22:00

Yeah, I like to believe we have a great reputation. We work in we’re in 35 over 35 states. We keep getting more. We’re in over 35 states. I like to think again. You know, adjusters or insurance companies have a good view on us. Again, we’re not pulling anything shady, but now every adjuster is different, right? Some adjusters go into and they’ll comment, they’ll call you and say, why’d you hire an adjuster? You don’t need one. You want. And usually those guys, that’s the claims we get paid the most, like, settled for the most honestly. And then you have adjustable call and say, Oh, sure, you got, you got all city. Oh, cool. This is going to be because most adjusters, if they’re smart, if I’m working on the insurance side, right, and I know they hired you as a public just like, Okay, awesome. So now Mat’s gonna get me all my estimates, everything I can, then discuss it with him, negotiate it. He’s gonna do 90% of my work. I just gotta go back and forth and just agree with him, disagree on some stuff, and come to an agreement. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Yeah. Dumb some like, we just said, like, I said, in Michigan City, close those nine rules. So six of them are with travelers, and three, six, yeah, and then three are with Erie. The travelers ones adjuster came smooth. Everything went well, right? The other adjuster again, and I’m not just saying it’s because he was working for that insurance company every adjuster, because you can have another adjuster from that same insurance and he’s good. The other adjuster comes out with other three roofs. And he were like, Hey, we already, we already measured the roof. We got the photos, we have everything. Like, your files done. You get paid, you know, per asking for so the quicker you get done, the quicker you get paid. You’re out of state, your cat, yeah, that’s what they that’s what happens. He goes, No, I do my own stuff. I’m gonna go in the car and and, you know, take me about three hours for each roof. I’m just like, why are you being so conflict? Like we’re here to help you. So again, just depends on the on the adjuster, right? That’s the guy that just just makes life difficult for himself and everyone else.

Mat Zalk 23:50

Yep, understood person to person. Let’s talk brass tax for a second. How does all city get paid? How do you guys get paid? Where does it come from?

Andy Gurczak 24:00

Yeah. So it’s content, so it’s contingency, so we don’t have any retainers or any other fees. Our fee starts at 10% and that’s contingent on what we recover. So whatever the final settlement is, it’s 10% of that, and that gets paid. Once the claim gets paid, that’s when we get a check issued from our client.

Mat Zalk 24:14

It’s so so essentially, the insurance company pays the insured. The insurance cuts you a check for for the for the 10% correct?

Andy Gurczak 24:22

So now let’s say you called us, you had a claim for six months. You know, you got denied, or, you know, you got really low balled, and now we got to come in and investigate for six months. We might charge a higher fee based on, you know, how much work or where the claim is, but if, from all our like clients that we start right from the beginning, it’s 10% with some of our big investors. What we do is we have a sliding scale. So as this claim goes up, actually our fee goes down. So interesting, it works out again, it’s there’s nothing for our clients lose. We could have charge, we could charge a lot more, but that’s kind of our a lot of states get pas I know Texas caps Public Adjusters at 10% on initial claims in some other states.

Mat Zalk 25:05

So yeah, how do people reach out to you directly if they want to, if they want to learn more about whether public adjusting is a reasonable fit for for their needs and in one of their claims?

Andy Gurczak 25:15

Yeah, so they can. They can look us up at allcityadjusting.com. For your listeners, I’ll leave them with my with my direct phone. It’s my cell phone. If they ever have question, want to reach out. No problem. It’s 708-655-4186, as direct cell so they have questions, they could text me, call me. I’m more happy to talk to people about public adjusting and what we do love.

Mat Zalk 25:36

And Andy Gurczak, the founder of AllCity Adjusting, a licensed Public Adjusting firm with a focus on making sure their clients get what they truly deserve from their insurance claims. Over the last decade, Andy has not only protected 1000s of people from being defrauded, but he’s also helped them receive more money than what their insurance companies initially offered. And he grew up with the family motto, if you’re going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all. And he carries that sentiment with him now in his business all city adjusting. Andy, thank you for being on the show. We really appreciate you educating our listeners on what a public adjuster does.

Andy Gurczak 26:08

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure. Appreciate it.

Outro 26:14

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