Claims Adjustment Process
The overall sequence a property insurance claim moves through, from [[concept-first-notice-of-loss|first notice of loss]] through investigation, scoping, negotiation, payment, and any later [[concept-supplement-claims|supplements]], that every insurance-side role on a restoration project touches at a different stage.
Why it matters
Understanding where a specific claim sits in this overall process is what lets everyone involved, the policyholder, the adjuster, the contractor, know what should happen next and who's actually responsible for making it happen, rather than each side guessing at the other's timeline.
On a real project
A water damage claim moves from first notice of loss, to an adjuster's inspection and scope of loss, through negotiation with a public adjuster over disputed items, to a settlement payment, and finally to a supplement once concealed damage is found during reconstruction, each stage handled by a different party with a different role.
Who this matters most to
An Insurance Adjuster manages the process end to end from the insurer's side, moving a claim through each stage. A Public Adjuster represents the policyholder through that same process, often pushing back at the stages where the two sides' scopes diverge.
Where this goes wrong
A claim stalls for weeks because nobody clearly owns the handoff between the emergency mitigation stage and the full scope-of-loss inspection, with the restoration company assuming the adjuster would schedule it and the adjuster assuming the contractor would request it. The delay itself lets damage get worse while the claim sits unassigned to either party's next step.
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