Public Adjusters - DBusiness Magazine (2024)

Sometimes the value of an insurance claim can come down to an elusive distinction such as whether a damaged piano remains good enough to play at home but is no longer up to a Brahms concerto in Orchestra Hall. So the Detroit Symphony Orchestra discovered after a flood in June of 2021 affected the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube performance space, offices, dressing rooms, a warm-up area, and instrument storage space.

“We knew right away how complicated the claim was going to be,” Linda Lutz, vice president and chief financial and administrative officer of the DSO, said in a statement. “It would be a building claim, an instrument claim, and a lost-income claim.”

The DSO consulted Globe Midwest Adjusters International in Southfield, a public adjuster that works with claimants to establish a more favorable settlement with the insurer. The company was founded by Abe Mackey as Midwest Fire Adjusters Co. in Detroit in 1924.

Mackey’s daughter, Shirley, married David Gross in the late 1930s, and Gross joined the business. After World War II, Mackey teamed up with Morrie Levin until Levin started his own company, Globe Fire Adjusters. Mackey and Levin worked out a merger to form Globe Midwest. Meanwhile, David Gross’ son, Allen, had joined the business, as had Levin’s son, Bobby. The company grew and prospered through these family lines, which retain ownership and manage operations today.

Today, GMAI, as its known, has offices in Southfield, Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Appleton, Wis. The staff of about 60 people includes adjusters who specialize in content evaluation and building estimating, as well as a forensic accounting team that works on loss-of-income claims. There’s also a back-office staff, and 10 people who work in sales and marketing. Compensation for the company’s services comes from a fee that’s capped at 10 percent of the settlement.

“For us, we’re not a volume shop. We’re not trying to handle as many claims as we can,” explains Ethan A. Gross, CEO of GMAI and the son of the late Allen Gross. “We typically only handle large claims.”

An industrial or commercial facility that’s hit by a fire or a storm is a typical case. Besides damage to structures, the adjusters look at losses in equipment and stock. With financial livelihoods at stake and impactful negotiations ahead, clients welcome a personal touch.

“We talk to our clients about what their recovery looks like,” Gross says. “Examining a number of questions is part of the process. For example: What’s best for the business now? Would rebuilding be done here or elsewhere? How about changing the plant’s layout?”

Changes to the playing field have favored the insurers, Gross says. Deals used to be worked out on co*cktail napkins, but those days are gone. The additional technology involved in making assessments can be a double-edged sword. “If I’m not experienced in construction, I could miss a lot of items that add up to millions of dollars,” he notes. “The computer can’t turn a wrench; you need a real plumber.”

In addition to insurers’ diffidence and an unwillingness to look at the big picture, Gross says, “They don’t train adjusters like they used to.” Consultants play a bigger part and may be more obsequious to their employers’ expectations.

GMAI is one of 8 regional members of Adjusters International Ltd., a collaboration that covers all 50 states as well as territories like Puerto Rico. The member companies operate under guidelines established by the Public Adjuster Licensing Model Act of 2005. The act deals with basic licensing and contract items, but does not have much to do with operations.

One way or other, GMAI has provided its services after most every disaster in the past 100 years. They represented an Embassy Suites hotel that was adjacent to the World Trade Center in 2001. The “Big Four” hurricanes of 2004 became an epic source of cases. Still, being engrossed with the large claims, GMAI still finds a way to give back.

“In most of the hurricanes and tornadoes, I’ll put on a free seminar on how to handle your own claims. (The seminars are) designed for homeowners and small business owners, because we can’t handle all those claims,” Gross says. “We don’t have the capacity.”

He addresses real estate professionals, accountants, insurance agents, and attorneys. The seminars provide continuing education credits for the professionals while also executing a marketing function for GMAI. “Most people haven’t heard of our business. It takes a minute for them to understand what our business does.”

With a fifth generation now represented in the company, GMAI is poised for the future. “You’re either growing or going backward,” Gross says, invoking the precept of adhering to a steady pace. “We strive to provide best-in-class service, which is what got us here.”