FOR
RELEASE:
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CONTACT:
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December
10, 2015
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Majority Press Office
609-847-3500
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Assembly Panel OKs Green & Stender Bill to Prevent
Public Adjusters in N.J. from Overcharging Homeowners Following Claims of Price
Gouging During Sandy
(TRENTON ) – Legislation sponsored by Assembly
Speaker Pro Tempore Jerry Green and Assemblywoman Linda Stender to cap how much
a public adjuster can charge a homeowner for insurance claim assistance for
certain emergencies was advanced Thursday by an Assembly panel.
Green decided to
pursue the bill after hearing complaints during a meeting in Union County
last year from homeowners affected by Sandy
who were overcharged by public adjusters hired to appraise their insurance
claims. Public adjusters are experts on property loss adjustment who are
retained exclusively by policyholders to assist in preparing, filing and
adjusting insurance claims.
“Public adjusters
are supposed to look out for the best interests of the homeowner, but according
to these residents, some of these adjusters were charging up to 40 to 50
percent of what the insurance company was to pay eventually. This is a crime. A
loan shark doesn’t even charge that much,” said Green
(D-Union/Middlesex/Somerset). “There is nothing currently in the books to prevent
these individuals from taking advantage of these homeowners. This bill changes
that.”
“The damage caused
by a natural disaster can be devastating. Navigating the system as you try to
rebuild can be equally consuming. The last thing a homeowner affected by Sandy or any other natural
disaster needs is a public adjuster who is more interested in making money than
helping,” said Stender (D-Middlesex/Somerset/Union). “This bill will limit the
amount that a public adjuster can charge a homeowner when settling insurance
claims following a catastrophic loss occurrence.”
The bill (A-476)
would prohibit an individual, firm, association or corporation licensed under
the “Public Adjusters’ Licensing Act” from charging, agreeing to or accepting
any compensation in excess of 10 percent of the amount paid out by the insurer
for claims based on events that are the result of a catastrophic loss
occurrence. As defined in the bill, “catastrophic loss occurrence” means an
occurrence designated by the President of the United States or the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, or the Governor or the State Office of Emergency
Management in the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public
Safety, or any other authorized federal, state or local agency, as an emergency
or a disaster and includes, but is not limited to, a flood, hurricane, storm or
earthquake. The compensation level established by the bill would apply
to such claims made for a period of one year from the occasion of the
declaration of the catastrophic loss occurrence.
The bill was
released by the Assembly Financial Institution and Insurance Committee.
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