What to Do Before the Adjuster Comes
Photograph the damage, make temporary repairs to stop further harm, and keep receipts and a list of damaged items.
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Before the adjuster walks through your house
The adjuster works from what they can see and what you can show them. If a ceiling has dried out or a pile of damaged carpet was already hauled away, there's nothing left to measure. Walk every room yourself first, and write down what was damaged, not just what looks bad now. Open closets. Check under sinks. For big-ticket items, pull up the receipt, the model number, or a photo from before the loss if you have one. If part of the house is unsafe or unlivable, say so before the visit, since that can affect whether your policy owes you anything for staying elsewhere. The adjuster's estimate becomes the starting point for your payout, so anything missing from it is something you'll have to argue back in later.
Your estimate is where the payout starts
What the adjuster writes down becomes the number everyone works from. If your policy's payout looks low against what rebuilding or replacing actually costs, a quote shows you what else is out there.
What happens after the adjuster leaves
The adjuster's visit isn't the end of the process, it's the start of the paperwork. Within a few days to a couple of weeks, you should get a written estimate that breaks down what they're willing to pay for each item or repair. Read it against your own notes from before the visit. If something you pointed out isn't on there, or the cost they listed looks low for the work involved, that's the first thing to raise, and it's easier to raise before you sign anything or cash a check.
Most claims get paid in at least two parts if your policy pays replacement cost rather than actual cash value. You'll get an initial payment based on the depreciated value of what was damaged, and then a second payment once the repairs are done and you can show what they actually cost. That second check doesn't come automatically. You usually have to submit receipts or a contractor's final invoice to collect it, and there's often a deadline for doing so written into your policy or the claim paperwork.
If you disagree with the estimate, say so in writing and say why. A phone call can get lost. An email or letter that lists the specific items in dispute, with your photos, receipts, or a contractor's estimate attached, becomes part of the claim file and is harder to overlook. Many insurers allow you to ask for a second inspection or request that a supervisor review the file before you take it further. That step is worth taking before anything more formal, since it's faster and costs nothing.
If the gap doesn't close, your policy likely has an appraisal clause, a process where each side hires an appraiser and a neutral umpire settles the difference if the two appraisers don't agree. Your state's department of insurance can also take complaints about how a claim was handled, separate from whether the amount was fair. These are the two paths that don't require a lawyer. Whether it's worth hiring one depends mostly on how large the dispute is and how much the insurer has already offered, since legal fees can erase a small gain fast.
Getting ready for the adjuster to show up
Set the appointment for a time you can actually walk the house with them, room by room. If you're not there, or you're distracted, they measure what's easy to see and move on. Plan for an hour or more depending on the size of the loss, not fifteen minutes between other things.
Bring your own list and your own photos to the walkthrough, and don't rely on memory to fill in gaps once they've left. If you've made temporary repairs, like a tarp over a roof or boarded a window, keep the damaged materials or photograph them before they're hauled away, since the adjuster may ask to see what was actually ruined, not just hear about it. Separate what's structural, the roof, the walls, the flooring, from your personal belongings, since those are often figured differently and the adjuster may want to look at each category on its own.
Ask who the adjuster works for before they arrive. Some are employed directly by the insurer, others are independent contractors hired for the day, and a few are brought in by you separately as a public adjuster if you've chosen to hire one. It changes nothing about how the walkthrough goes, but it matters later if you're trying to figure out who to call with questions about the estimate. Get a name, a direct phone number, and a claim number before they leave, and write down anything they tell you verbally about next steps, since verbal estimates given on site are rarely the final number.
Think about access as much as damage. If part of the house is hard to reach, an attic, a crawl space, behind a built-in cabinet, say so ahead of time so they come prepared, or so a follow-up visit gets scheduled rather than that area getting skipped. The same goes for anything already repaired or removed. If you can show a before photo, a receipt, or point to where something used to be, it has a chance of making it into the estimate. If you can't, it's much harder to add back in later.
Before you sign anything
Check your policy's declarations page for the appraisal clause and any deadline for submitting final repair costs. Knowing both now means you won't lose ground if the payout falls short later.
