Public Adjuster, Company Adjuster, Contractor - Who Does What

By Taylor Grant, licensed public adjuster · Published February 11, 2020 · Updated September 24, 2026

Three people will tell you they are handling your claim. Only one of them is licensed to represent you, and only one of them is allowed to build the job. Mixing them up is how claims go wrong.

After a storm you will deal with several people who all use the word "adjuster," and at least one person who is not an adjuster at all but is doing the job of one. Here is the map.

The staff adjuster

An employee. They know the carrier's own products and authority limits, they have a file load, and their estimate is built in the carrier's software with the carrier's pricing database. On a normal claim this is the person you deal with start to finish.

They are not your enemy. They are also not permitted to advocate for you, and they will not go looking for coverages you did not raise.

The independent adjuster

A contractor the carrier surges in after a catastrophe, often from out of state, often carrying a heavy file load on a short deployment. Quality varies enormously. After a big Front Range hail event, a large share of inspections are done by independents who will never see the property again.

Two practical implications: local code requirements get missed by someone unfamiliar with the jurisdiction, and continuity suffers - the person who inspected is often not the person who later reviews your supplement.

The public adjuster

Licensed by the state to represent the policyholder, and only the policyholder. Paid a percentage of the recovery, so the incentive is aligned with yours. Reads the policy, builds an independent scope, handles the correspondence and deadlines, and escalates when it stalls.

Cannot give legal advice, cannot file suit, cannot make excluded coverage exist, and should not also be building your roof.

The contractor

Your roofer, restoration company or general contractor. They are essential, they will often spot damage first, and a good one produces documentation an adjuster respects.

What they cannot do is negotiate your claim. In Colorado that requires a public adjuster license. Phrases worth reacting to:

• "We handle the insurance company for you." - that is adjusting.
• "Just sign here and we will deal with the claim." - read exactly what you are assigning.
• "We will cover your deductible." - Colorado's roofing statute specifically prohibits a roofing contractor from paying, waiving, rebating or absorbing an insurance deductible. Anyone offering it is breaking a statute in front of you and pulling you into a false claim.

There is also a protection in that statute worth knowing: where an insurer denies all or part of a roofing claim, you generally have the right to rescind the roofing contract and get your deposit back within a defined window. Read your roofing contract for the rescission language before you sign it.

The attorney

Where the dispute is about coverage rather than amount, where there is a bad-faith exposure, or where suit needs filing, you need a lawyer. Colorado's unreasonable delay and denial statutes, C.R.S. sections 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116, allow a policyholder to recover two times the covered benefit plus reasonable attorney fees and costs in the right case - a real remedy that a public adjuster cannot pursue for you.

Public adjusters and attorneys work alongside each other routinely. The adjuster owns the scope and the valuation; the lawyer owns the legal claim.

The combination that works

On most contested claims: your contractor builds it, a public adjuster adjusts it, and a lawyer is there if it becomes a legal fight. Each stays in their lane and each is accountable for something different.

The combination that goes wrong is a contractor doing all three, with no license, no bond and no obligation to you beyond the job he wants to sell.

If you are not sure who you are currently dealing with, send us the paperwork you have signed and we will tell you what it actually says.

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