The Minnesota Department of Commerce licenses public insurance adjusters who, for a fee offer their services to insureds who may be entitled to benefits under an insurance policy.

Public adjusters normally assist you in documenting losses and represent the insured in negotiations with the insurance company adjuster. Their fees are typically a percentage of the final insurance settlement. Although public adjusters may be able to provide valuable services, you are not required to hire one in order to obtain policy benefits.

Before you hire a public adjuster...

• Call us at 1-800-657-3602 (outside of the metro area) or 651-296-2488 to find out if the public adjuster is licensed and/or has a disciplinary action. You can also check our website to see if a public adjuster is properly licensed and see if a public adjuster has been the subect of an enforcement action.

• Ask about the fee.

• Ask for a written contract clearly identifying all fees.

• Decide whether any additional recovery that you might get based on the public adjuster's services will be enough to offset the fee.