Sources

The adjuster who inspects your roof is hired and paid by the insurance company.

They stand in the driveway, look up at the slope, and ask a question you have no reason to know the answer to: this looks like wear and tear to me — which of these marks is hail?

That question is the whole claim. Knowing which mark is hail, documenting it, and defending it when the answer is challenged is what a licensed public adjuster does.

Two things worth knowing before you call. Your deductible is yours to pay on any claim, whether or not you have help with it. And the fee for that help is set in writing before any work begins.

Every page on this site states that the adjuster an insurance company sends is hired and paid by that company. That is the load-bearing claim behind everything else here, so this page shows the primary sources it rests on — quoted verbatim, with the date each was checked. None of them uses the exact phrase; each covers part of it, and the claim rests on them together.

Prefer not to call? Text 847-208-8380 or email tom.jtpa@gmail.com

Start here: Hail damage: start here

The adjuster an insurance company sends is employed or contracted by that company and paid by it; a public adjuster works for the policyholder. https://idoi.illinois.gov/consumers/consumerinsurance/commercial/commercial-property-public-adjusters.html (checked 2026-07-27)

Independent and staff adjusters represent the insurer; public adjusters represent the insured. https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Chapter%2018.pdf (checked 2026-07-29)

A claims adjuster works for the insurance company; a public adjuster works for, and is paid by, the policyholder. https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/legal_bulletin_pub_adjuster_consumer_outreach_notice.pdf (checked 2026-07-29)

Illinois' own required Consumer Rights Notice defines all three adjuster types by employer and payer. https://idoi.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/insurance/producers/documents/pa-consumer-rights-notice.pdf (checked 2026-07-29)