I assume the public adjuster costs $$. Can you get a couple of estimates yourself and if they are more, contact the adjuster and try to negotiate? I work in insurance and I think a lot of times people hire a 3rd party representative when they could just deal with the adjuster themselves and it doesn't cost them anything!

Get a bid from a couple of cabinet companies for what you had not what you want. The insurance company is only going to pay for what you had. You can then change it once you settle on the amount for what was was in place. Also the bid needs to include removal and installation.

The adjuster is simply writing an estimate out his estimating program which is most likely Xactimate. Usually the estimate will get adjusted once you get bids or have a contractor in to write an estimate.

Don't bother with a public adjuster, keep the 10% fee and just call your adjuster and discuss it with them. Most are flexible and will make adjustments as needed. Very rarely can a job be done without some kind of supplement. If you don't get anywhere call the supervisor.

Is the bid for all of the upper cabinets to match or just the lowers? Usually if the lowers are pulled and cant't be matched then they all get replaced. Avergae prices in Xactimate run about $130 per lf for lowers and $100 per lf for uppers for removal and replacement. For premium grade they get over $200 per lf. This doesn't include countertops, knobs, sub top, pull out drawers etc.

We had exactly the same issue and got about $4000 to replace just a couple of cabinets and the floor. I agree that it is impossible to replace just part of the kitchen but that part is out of our pocket.

For what it is worth, several years ago we had a hail storm damage our roof to the extent that the entire roof had to be replaced. It was cedar shakes which were required by the covenants in our neighborhood. The adjusters estimate was very very low, 1/3 of what it cost to replace. We got estimates from several roofers, I sent those to the insurance company and they agreed to the lowest estimate less the deductible.

The point of the story is get estimates and show the insurance company what it will actually cost to replace the cabinets.

bungalowsteve, Thanks for your input. :) I know they will only replace what we had, which was the generic builder's cabinets. My problem is that there is no way to match 24 year old cabinets, so we do have to replace all of the cabinets, and that is what the estimate covers. The adjuster did state that the countertops would have to be replaced as well.

mcps, The public adjuster does cost money, between 20 and 30% are the estimates I've received. I wondered if it would be more cost-effective to go the 3 estimate route first. Everything I've found hits about $8k just to replace the cabinets, even with us doing the majority of the demo work ourselves.

bbstx, That's what I figured. We have our deductible put back already and are more than willing to do what we can to shave money off the total bill. I just don't want the insurance company to say "Oh no, that's our final offer".

Thanks for all of your input. It's scary dealing with the insurance company, especially as we're in Florida, where insurers are dropping like flies. We wouldn't have made the claim if the kitchen weren't literally falling apart.

Earlier this summer my town went through a tornado and luckily it skipped over us but we received an incredible amount of hail damage. We were very satisfied with the estimates we received (heard that insurance rates are going up next year nationwide and that the insurance company wanted to make us "happy").

Among other things three exteriror windows were broken and we decided to upgrade to all entirely brand new windows throughout the house. Even adding one window where none was before.

My point is that you can upgrade, if you are willing to pay for that yourself. Just like a car accident. If you had an older car and the insurance company gave you a certain amount to settle your claim you don't have to get the same car (or builders grade cabinets). You take the check and add some money of your own to upgrade.

BTW, the adjuster our insurance company sent was independant, not employed by the insurance company. Same for the one that totalled our vehicles.

I just spent two hours in Lowe*s talking to their KD to get an estimate that is similar to the one the insurance adjuster gave us. Even for bottom of the line cabiniets, demo, installation, and formica countertops, the total is nearly $10k. I have another appointment with a GC who specifically remodels kitchens on Monday for another estimate. If his is close to this estimate, or higher, I'll be sending those two to the insurance company and asking for an adjustment to their amount.