Can a Contractor Hire a Public Adjuster on Your Behalf?
This question comes up more often than you might expect — and it arrives from both directions. Building contractors want to know if they can bring in a public adjuster as part of their service offering to clients. Policyholders want to know if they can simply let their contractor handle it. In Missouri, the answer to both versions of the question is the same: no. A contractor cannot hire a public adjuster to represent a policyholder’s insurance claim. Understanding why requires a closer look at who owns the claim, what the law says, and where the money goes.
Your Insurance Policy Is Your Contract — Not Your Contractor’s
When you purchase a homeowner’s or commercial property insurance policy, you enter into a legal contract directly with your insurance company. That agreement defines your rights, your obligations, and the process for resolving a claim when something goes wrong. Your contractor — no matter how long you’ve worked together or how much you trust them — is not a party to that contract. They have no rights under it.
This matters because the right to file a claim, negotiate a settlement, and hire someone to represent you in that process flows directly from the policy itself. Since the contractor isn’t named in the policy and has no standing under it, they have no authority to hire anyone on your behalf in connection with that claim. That authority belongs to you, and only you.
It’s a simple concept, but it gets overlooked when contractors present themselves as full-service partners in the insurance restoration process. Being skilled at the repair work doesn’t translate into legal standing in the claims process.
Missouri Law Is Explicit on This Point
Beyond the contractual issue, Missouri law independently prohibits building contractors from representing policyholders in insurance claims. This isn’t a gray area or a matter of interpretation — it’s a clear statutory boundary designed to protect consumers.
Public adjusters in Missouri are licensed professionals regulated by the state. Their authority to represent policyholders comes from their license and from a signed contract with the policyholder they represent. A public adjuster hired by a contractor would have neither. They would not be acting under a valid representation agreement with the policyholder, and the arrangement itself would conflict with the statutory framework that governs both professions.
This is not an obscure technicality. Missouri’s legislature drew this boundary deliberately, and for good reason.
The Money Problem — and the Conflict of Interest It Creates
Even if the legal barriers didn’t exist, the financial structure of this arrangement would create an unworkable conflict of interest.
Here’s how insurance claims work: when a claim is settled, the insurance company pays the policyholder. Public adjusters typically earn a percentage of that settlement, and that fee is the responsibility of the person who hired them — again, the policyholder. Insurance companies do not include public adjuster fees as a reimbursable line item in a claim. The cost comes out of the policyholder’s settlement.
Now apply that to a contractor-hired public adjuster scenario. The contractor hired the adjuster. Logic would suggest the contractor is responsible for the fee. But the settlement money flows to the policyholder, not the contractor. So who actually pays? And if the contractor is footing the bill, does anyone seriously believe the public adjuster’s loyalty would lie with the policyholder rather than the person cutting their check?
This is precisely the kind of conflict of interest Missouri’s statutes are designed to prevent. Missouri Revised Statutes intentionally separate the roles of contractors and public adjusters so that every party in the process has a clear, unambiguous obligation to one client and one client only.
What You Should Do Instead
If you’re dealing with a property insurance claim and you believe a public adjuster could help you — whether because the damage is extensive, the claim is complex, or you simply don’t feel equipped to negotiate with your insurance company on your own — hire one yourself. Don’t delegate that decision to your contractor, and don’t assume your contractor’s recommendation of a public adjuster means that adjuster is working for you.
When you hire a public adjuster directly, you sign a representation agreement that legally establishes your relationship. The adjuster’s fee comes from your settlement, and their obligation runs to you. There is no ambiguity about who they serve.
Your Contractor Can Still Be a Useful Resource
None of this means your contractor is without value in the process. Their expertise and input is essential to establishing the scope of work and establishing the cost to restore your property.
Ask your contractor if they can refer you to a public adjuster they are familiar with. Then do your own homework. Look up the adjuster’s license status with the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance, read reviews, and — most importantly — have a direct conversation with them before signing anything. Make sure you understand how they’re compensated, how they communicate, and what their process looks like.
When you’re confident in your choice, hire that public adjuster to represent you. Not your contractor. Not your mortgage company. You.
The insurance claim is yours. The policy is yours. The settlement belongs to you. The person representing you in that process should answer to you — and only you.
James H. Bushart, Licensed Missouri Public Adjuster
MO License #8207067 | SCLA | NAPIA
314-803-2167 | missouripublicadjuster.org
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