Working With Your Insurance Adjuster After a Wildfire: What to Fight For

The single biggest financial decision of your rebuild happens in the first 90 days — and it's not about the house. It's about how you handle your insurance claim.

After the Eaton and Palisades fires, most homeowners discovered their insurance adjuster's initial estimate came in 25–45% below actual LA rebuild cost. The difference is hundreds of thousands of dollars. How you negotiate determines whether you absorb that gap or recover it.

Your Policy Is a Budget Document

Before you talk to an adjuster, understand your policy:

Coverage A — Dwelling

The cost to rebuild the structure itself. This is your main rebuild budget. Most pre-fire policies are under-funded relative to 2026 LA construction costs. Check for:

• Extended Replacement Cost endorsement (typically 125–150% of Coverage A)
• Guaranteed Replacement Cost endorsement (rare, but pays full rebuild cost with no cap)
• Code upgrade / Ordinance or Law coverage (usually 10% of Coverage A by default, higher by endorsement)

The code upgrade coverage is critical — it's what pays for current Chapter 7A fire-hardening that wasn't in your original house.

Coverage B — Other Structures

Detached garages, fences, pools, retaining walls, outbuildings. Usually 10% of Coverage A by default. In Pacific Palisades and Altadena, this is routinely insufficient — hillside retaining walls alone can exceed Coverage B limits.

Coverage C — Personal Property

Contents. Typically 50–75% of Coverage A. The most under-claimed coverage in every fire claim we've seen. Most homeowners settle for 30–40% of what they could have claimed.

Coverage D — Loss of Use (Additional Living Expenses / ALE)

Hotel, temporary rental, meals in excess of normal, pet boarding, storage. California requires minimum 24 months of ALE after declared disaster (36 months for total loss with diligent rebuild). Push back if your carrier tries to cap at 12.

Inflation Guard

An automatic annual coverage increase. Older policies without inflation guard are the most under-funded.

Request Your Full Policy Immediately

Your insurer will send you a Declarations page. That's not the policy — it's the summary. Request the full policy document including all endorsements. This is your right. You need the actual policy language to know what you can claim.

The Three Documents That Change Everything

Your negotiating leverage comes from three documents, which you control:

1. A Detailed Contractor Scope-and-Cost Estimate

Not a napkin number. A line-item estimate produced by a licensed contractor, broken into CSI divisions or equivalent detail, showing:

• Demolition and site prep
• Foundation work (including hillside complexity)
• Framing and structural
• Exterior envelope (roof, siding, windows, doors) — with Chapter 7A spec
• MEP (plumbing, electrical, HVAC)
• Interior (drywall, flooring, tile, cabinets, countertops)
• Finishes (paint, lighting, plumbing fixtures)
• Exterior (hardscape, landscape)
• Soft costs (architecture, engineering, permits, Title 24)

Adjusters argue with lump sums. They don't argue with line items.

Amerbuild produces these estimates as part of our free on-site consultation. Homeowners routinely use them to recover $100k–$400k+ beyond the initial adjuster offer.

2. Personal Property Inventory

For Coverage C. Room by room, item by item, with:

• Description (brand, model, size if known)
• Estimated age
• Estimated replacement cost
• Photos if you have them

Sources:

• Credit card and Amazon purchase history
• Bank statements
• Photos from phones (every family photo has furniture and décor in the background)
• Videos of pre-fire walk-throughs (birthdays, holidays, tours)
• Home insurance inventory apps (Encircle, StuffDone, etc.)

The IRS allows reconstructing personal property inventories through reasonable inference. Insurance adjusters do too, if you push.

3. Policy Language Extract

Pull the specific clauses that support your claim position. For example, the Ordinance or Law clause language that supports paying for Chapter 7A upgrades. Cite the clause number when responding to the adjuster.

The Negotiation Sequence

Week 1–4: Immediate Actions

• File the claim immediately (most policies require prompt notice)
• Request full policy including all endorsements
• Start ALE receipts (save everything: hotel, meals over normal, pet boarding)
• Take photos of the lot condition (even just a burned slab)
• Don't accept any "quick settlement" offer — these are routinely 40–60% below actual loss

Week 4–12: Build Your Case

• Get a contractor scope-and-cost estimate
• Build personal property inventory
• Request your adjuster's detailed estimate (not their summary)
• Compare line-by-line
• Identify line items where their estimate is below market

Week 12 Onward: Push Back

• Submit written disagreement with specific line items
• Request re-estimate or different adjuster if the carrier's numbers stay out of line
• Invoke Extended Replacement Cost or Code Upgrade coverage explicitly
• Escalate to supervisor if front-line adjuster won't move
• File a complaint with California Department of Insurance (CDI) if the carrier is acting in bad faith

When to Hire a Public Adjuster

A public adjuster is a licensed professional who negotiates your claim on your behalf, for a percentage fee (typically 7–12% of additional recovery).

Consider hiring one if:

• Your claim exceeds $500k
• Your carrier's estimate is more than 20% below what you believe is fair
• You're out of your depth on policy interpretation
• Initial negotiation isn't moving after 60+ days

Their fee is only justified if they recover at least their fee in additional settlement. For most Palisades and Altadena total-loss claims, they routinely do.

When to Hire an Insurance Attorney

Consider an insurance-coverage attorney (usually on contingency or hourly) if:

• Your carrier denies the claim or disputes coverage
• You suspect bad-faith handling (unreasonable delays, lowball offers, misrepresentation of policy)
• Your claim exceeds $1M and negotiation has stalled
• You're being offered a settlement release that waives future claims for latent damage

Public adjuster + attorney is a common combo for high-value Palisades hillside losses.

The California Protections You Should Know

Post-2017 wildfire legislation gave California homeowners significant protections:

• Extended Replacement Cost: your carrier must offer it at point of policy renewal
• 24+ month ALE for declared disasters
• 36-month rebuild window with diligent effort
• Inventory submission standards — carriers cannot demand unreasonable documentation
• Disaster extension of Statute of Limitations — you have extra time to file suit
• Prohibition on non-renewal during rebuild — your carrier can't drop you while you rebuild
• CDI regulatory oversight — California's insurance regulator actively enforces

Your adjuster may or may not volunteer these. Know them.

Things to Never Do

• Sign a release before you've received payment for all coverages (A, B, C, D)
• Accept a verbal settlement — always written
• Throw away receipts — save every dollar of ALE spend
• Discuss the claim on recorded lines without thinking through your answers
• Admit uncertainty about what was in the house — "I'm not sure" becomes "claimant admitted no evidence"
• Let the carrier pick your contractor — they're the claimant; you're the owner
• Wait past the statute of limitations to pursue litigation (varies — consult attorney)

Things to Always Do

• Document everything in writing (email trails beat phone logs)
• Read every policy endorsement
• Keep a claim timeline (dates, call summaries, names of adjusters)
• Get multiple written contractor estimates for negotiation leverage
• Separate contents (C) claim from dwelling (A) claim — they settle differently
• Claim ordinance or law / code upgrade on every eligible line item
• Push on extended replacement cost if your policy has the endorsement

The Bottom Line

Your adjuster isn't your enemy — but they're also not your advocate. They're a claims professional with a budget incentive to settle efficiently. Your job is to bring enough documentation, enough market-rate estimates, and enough policy literacy to move their number toward your actual loss.

The homeowners who come out whole from these fires are the ones who negotiate. The ones who accept the first offer typically absorb $200k–$800k in uncompensated loss.

Amerbuild provides detailed fire-rebuild scope-and-cost estimates that homeowners use in insurance negotiations. Our estimates are line-item, market-accurate, and written in adjuster-friendly format. Contact us for a free on-site consultation for your Pacific Palisades or Altadena rebuild. See our fire rebuild services for the full process.