The Difference WE Make

Starting from the date of our fire, your office gave us comfort and support and guided us through some problems which developed early and which at the time seemed insurmountable. Your office could not possibly have been more cooperative and understanding especially in the early days after the fire. Certainly our ability to become operational within a short period of time was due in part to your invaluable assistance.

Not only were you thorough and knowledgeable about the asset listing and the prices, but you were kind, patient, and understanding…I particularly want to point out that you seem to know when Kathy was getting exhausted by the process and called a ‘break’ at that point. Your timing was excellent, and it enabled Kathy to get through a very emotional process without collapsing. I am impressed and amazed at your tenacity and your understanding.

...Although I am a retired attorney having practiced in San Francisco for forty years, started several businesses, and thought I was a pretty smart guy, I was overwhelmed! I came with a water pistol, and the adjuster had a fire house. I was lost. I had no idea of the cost of labor, materials or how these things are calculated. The insurance adjuster was in complete control, and I was representing myself. Within minutes I knew I had a fool for a client....Making a long story short, The Greenspan Co./Adjusters International brought in their own experts, and after several months of negotiations I reached a settlement of almost $600,000…THREE TIMES the amount of the first offer..Based on my experience I have to advise to anyone who has suffered a property loss through fire or flood: 1. Immediately call your insurance company to report the loss. 2. Then, immediately call The Greenspan Co./Adjusters International so you can fight fire with fire. Don’t wait!

I told him that I was an attorney and I initially had the idea that I could just handle all of this by myself. After all, I had been the general contractor on building my own house – surely I could handle a fire loss…Then I told him that we had a meeting in my attorney’s office in Seattle with Gordon and KC and they explained what they could do to help me. My attorney and I looked at each other and both said “no way could we do all of this ourselves.” For one thing, my attorney didn’t have the time to work on all the fire loss issues and if I tackled it alone, I told “Richard”, it would have taken me 5 years to do all that Adjusters International did for me…I explained that just the PROCESS and getting your loss claims in a format that the insurance company will accept is daunting. Then, I told him that AI fights for you – when the insurance company wants to use “national tables” and depreciate everything – even a lot of your new stuff…it’s maddening, and without AI and namely, Drew Lucurell, to go to bat for me, I would have been sunk. I told him that he would more than recover any fee paid to AI just by having them work for him vis-à-vis the insurance company, who basically wants to settle early, settle cheap and SCREW YOU!

I am the executive director of the Historic Core Business Improvement District; an elected property based organization representing 150 properties in a 12-block area of downtown Los Angeles. Handling this matter myself was not a difficult task for me, since I am a former in-house trial attorney for Hartford Insurance Company and my present job requires the oversight of major development projects. My experience in business and law, however, gave me the wisdom to hire a professional to handle this loss. The most amazing aspect of the settlement is that even with my knowledge of the insurance and construction industry, the settlement amount was 100% above my estimate of my loss. Further, The Greenspan Co./Adjusters International also handled my tenants' losses, and instead of creating a conflict of interest as I expected, it created more harmony and a better working relationship with my tenants. My tenants did not have the feeling I was doing anything behind their backs since we all had the same adjusting company. In conclusion, The Greenspan Co./Adjusters International was professional and delivered beyond my expectations.

...We will now have the means to rebuild and reopen our restaurant to the relief and satisfaction to all of our employees and our loyal customers who have stayed in contact with us over these months.

As an attorney and real estate broker, I am familiar with real property contracts and law. Therefore, I thought I would be able to successfully negotiate a fair settlement with my insurance company without any assistance. After speaking with you, I decided that it would be worth my while to hire you, if only to avoid the tremendous drain on my time it would take for me to personally handle the negotiation. What I did not realize was just how valuable your services would be. You were thoroughly versed in the intricacies of the laws that deal with insurance loss. But just as importantly, you knew the people involved, both in the insurance and in the building industries, and had worked with them in the past. You were, therefore, able to offer invaluable suggestions when it came to negotiations strategies. I was more than happy to pay the fee approximately $45,000.00 and there is no question in my mind that your expertise, diligence and hard work resulted in a settlement that netted me a far greater amount that I could have negotiated on my own.

...you were extremely helpful in handling the claims on behalf of the Client, from reviewing the policies, attending site inspections with the insurer's experts, attending meetings with the Client and assisting in quantifying the actual and potential losses. Your team conducted themselves with extreme diligence, integrity and absolute professionalism. With the assistance and guidance of these professionals, Mauna Kea Resorts reached an amicable resolution with the insurer.

As a lawyer, a career labor negotiator and an author of a text on that subject, I thought I was up to the task of working out a settlement with the insurance company that would provide me enough money to do the job. Wow, was I wrong!...I soon realized that the complexity of ascertaining the true cost of construction, putting it in the form that insurance companies were used to looking at (Xactimate), and cajoling the insurance company to open the purse was well beyond my competency and experience… The Greenspan Co. / Adjusters International was able to achieve a settlement with the insurance company that was approximately 75% more than we would have received had we accepted what the insurer originally was willing to pay. We were happy to pay the commission…I learned, after the fact, that the process would have gone even better had we brought The Greenspan Co. / Adjusters International on board from the very beginning rather than after the insurer had made its initial determination of the amount it would pay…When a homeowner or a business owner has to face off with an insurance company without the help of experts, it’s not a fair fight. One needs to have an expert speaking for him or her. These folks are pros. What was particularly interesting to me was that Ken and his team didn’t approach the insurance company in an adversarial way. It was always in a conciliatory and cooperative manner, and it was clear to me that such an approach yielded much better results than a combative or adversarial posture. Moreover, they spoke the same language and understood the same rules as the insurer’s adjuster…We couldn’t have done this without them.

Macerich Property Management Company recently sustained a loss of over $1.5 million resulting from a fire at one of its shopping centers. We retained the services of The Greenspan Co./Adjusters International, and specifically Paul M. Migdal as its representative adjuster, to represent us in the presentation and negotiation of our insurance claims. Mr. Migdal and The Greenspan Co./ Adjusters International represented us with great professionalism and we are extremely satisfied with the results obtained.

I also would like to take this opportunity to once again express my appreciation for the fine job you and your firm did in helping us achieve such a successful settlement with Atlantic Mutual/Centennial on behalf of First United Methodist Church of San Jose. Your insight, knowledge and experience were invaluable to our better understanding of industry practices, policy coverages, the standard of care, and even the personality traits of the major players on the other side…We were better prepared, better equipped, and more committed than Atlantic, and that is why we obtained such a great result.

The quality of service led to the most expeditious resolution I have ever experienced and a phenomenal result…This personal experience of mine and you and your firm's services demonstrated the reality of expertise, rather than that of so-called 'experts' that I regularly see in my law practice…Obviously your customer service is consistent no matter the size of the claim. I will conclude by saying that the fee charged was so reasonable that I feel I took advantage of AI, always a good feeling for any attorney.