Free tool · Fee math
PA fee calculator
See your net recovery with vs. without a public adjuster — including the California disaster fee cap — so the math is in front of you before you sign any engagement letter.
What this calculator answers
The recurring question on every PA engagement is whether the fee is "worth it." The honest answer is mathematical: a public adjuster is worth it whenever the uplift they produce on the settlement, after their contingency, is larger than the carrier's pre-PA offer. This calculator runs that math.
California public adjusters work on contingency, typically 10–20% of the recovery, with a statutory fee cap on losses caused by a declared disaster (California Insurance Code §15027). The calculator below lets you set the percentage anywhere in the 10–20% range and toggle the disaster cap on or off.
Fee math
Public adjuster fee calculator
See net to you with vs. without a PA. California-specific fee cap toggle.
How to read the result
The three bars compare three numbers: the carrier's pre-PA offer, the PA-projected settlement, and the net to you after the PA's fee. The PA "pays for themselves" whenever the third bar (your net with a PA) is taller than the first (the carrier's offer with no PA). On most contested California claims, that bar is meaningfully taller — but not always, and the fee math is the right way to check.
Two structural notes the calculator does not capture but you should know about. First, engagement letters vary on whether the contingency applies to the total recovery or to the uplift over the carrier's pre-PA offer. The first structure is more common; the second is more policyholder-friendly on cases where the carrier has already extended a real offer. Read your engagement letter. Second, expert costs (industrial hygienist for smoke, structural engineer for partial-loss disputes, forensic accountant for business interruption) are typically passed through to the policyholder. The engagement letter specifies how those costs are fronted and recovered.
About the California disaster fee cap
California Insurance Code §15027 caps public adjuster contingency fees at 10% of the insurance settlement on losses caused by an event for which a state of emergency has been declared. The cap applies during the post-declaration window defined by the statute. The legislative intent is to prevent fee-gouging during catastrophe windows when policyholders are most distressed. When the disaster toggle is on, the calculator caps the fee percentage at the statutory maximum.