Who we work with
- Plaintiff first-party insurance attorneys: the primary client base
- Structural engineers and forensic engineers: collaborating on scope + cause analysis
- Commercial policyholders represented by counsel
- Association boards with represented HOA / condo claims
What we provide
- Forensic scope documentation: full property inspection with photography, measurements, moisture, thermal, drone, and Matterport capture as appropriate
- Xactimate estimate: line-item scope with Florida-current pricing, matched to the litigation record
- Carrier-estimate rebuttal: side-by-side comparison documenting every scope gap, pricing gap, depreciation issue, and missed coverage
- Policy analysis: coverages, endorsements, exclusions, and sublimits relevant to the disputed loss
- Statute application: how Fla. Stat. 626.9744 (matching), 627.70131 (deadlines), 627.70132 (time limits), 624.155 (bad faith), and 626.9541 (unfair practices) apply to the case facts
- Expert witness testimony: deposition and trial, when required
The advantage: former-carrier perspective
Many of our public adjusters spent years as independent adjusters handling claims for carriers before switching to policyholder representation. That means we know:
- What the carrier's field adjuster was looking for
- Which scope items they typically omit and why
- How their desk supervisors review files
- Which defenses they rely on
- Which pieces of documentation they actually respond to
That insider knowledge translates directly into documentation that anticipates and counters carrier arguments.
Typical engagement pattern
- Initial case review: attorney sends claim file, correspondence, carrier estimate
- On-site inspection: scope documentation visit
- Estimate and rebuttal: Xactimate + side-by-side + narrative
- Deposition prep: as needed
- Trial testimony: when the case doesn't settle
When attorneys bring us in
Loss consulting is most effective the earlier it starts, but we engage at any stage of the dispute:
- Pre-suit evaluation: before you take the case, a scope-and-coverage read tells you whether the claimed shortfall is real and how large it is.
- After a Civil Remedy Notice: documenting the loss while the carrier's cure window runs, so the file is litigation-ready if it does not pay.
- In active litigation: building the affirmative damages model the carrier's estimate will be measured against.
- Pre-trial and rebuttal: countering the carrier's retained estimator or engineer with an independent, documented opinion.
- Appraisal support: scope and pricing evidence for your appraiser when the policy's appraisal clause is invoked.
What a carrier-estimate rebuttal contains
The rebuttal is the core deliverable, and it is built to survive cross-examination:
- A line-item comparison of the carrier's Xactimate against ours, with every omission, quantity reduction, and unit-price gap flagged and explained.
- A depreciation and recoverable-depreciation analysis, separating what the carrier withheld from what it is actually entitled to withhold.
- A coverage map tying each disputed scope item to the specific policy provision, endorsement, or exclusion the carrier relied on.
- A narrative that translates the technical findings into the claim story a judge or jury can follow.
- A statute application showing where the carrier's handling departed from Fla. Stat. 627.70131, 626.9744, or 626.9541.
Coordinating with your other experts
Complex first-party cases rarely turn on one discipline. We work alongside the structural and forensic engineers, roofing consultants, industrial hygienists, and accountants your case needs, aligning the scope documentation with their causation and BI opinions so the damages model and the liability theory tell one consistent story rather than competing ones.
Specialty claim types
- Hurricane and storm claims
- Complex water / plumbing losses
- Fire and smoke with commercial BI
- Roof and matching-statute claims
- HOA / condo / association common-element losses
- Cast iron and legacy-plumbing claims
- Commercial business interruption
Common questions from counsel
Can your consultant testify as an expert witness? Yes. Our consultants document the loss with testimony in mind from the first inspection, and they handle deposition and trial testimony when a case does not settle.
Do we have to use you for the whole case? No. Engagements are scoped to what you need, whether that is a single rebuttal report, full pre-trial support, or expert testimony only.
How is loss consulting different from a public adjuster on the claim? A public adjuster represents the policyholder in negotiating the claim directly with the carrier. Loss consulting supports represented clients and their attorneys with the same forensic scope work, structured for the litigation record rather than for carrier negotiation.
Who leads loss consulting
Eli Goins (FL DFS #P159790) leads complex litigation-support matters. Specialty consultants assigned per claim type.
Cost structure
Loss consulting for attorneys is priced per engagement: flat fee, hourly, or combined, depending on scope. Expert-witness work is typically hourly.