After a storm, most people assume the insurance company's job is to make them whole again — assess the damage fairly, pay what's owed, help them recover. That assumption is only half true, and the missing half costs people real money every hurricane season.

An insurance adjuster works for the insurance company, not for you. Their actual job is assessing the claim in a way that's fair to the company's obligations under the policy — which sometimes overlaps with what's fair to you, and sometimes doesn't. A low initial offer isn't necessarily fraud. It's often just the starting position of someone whose incentive is different from yours.

You have real options most people never use. You can get your own independent damage estimate, from your own contractor, rather than only accepting the adjuster's number. You can request, in writing, a full explanation of any denied or reduced portion of a claim. You can appeal an unsatisfactory settlement, and in many cases, hire a public adjuster who works specifically for you, not the insurance company, for a percentage of the claim.

None of this means every insurance company is acting in bad faith. It means understanding whose side someone is actually on before assuming their number is the final word, especially after a storm that's already stressful enough without also leaving real money on the table.