Licensed public adjusters · Surrey, BC
An insurance offer is an opinion.
We document the facts.
Your insurer has an adjuster working the file. That adjuster is retained by the insurer. We are retained by you — to read the policy, measure the loss, put a properly evidenced number in front of the company, and take every dealing with them off your hands from that point on.
Golden Shield Adjusters also works as an independent adjuster for insurers, on automobile claims. That work and our public adjusting work are kept entirely separate — how the separation works.
We will pay the cost to repair or replace the damaged building, without deduction for depreciation, provided the repair or replacement is completed within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the date of loss.
Until repair or replacement is complete, settlement will be made on an actual cash value basis.
Noted on file. Replacement cost here is conditional, not automatic. If the 180-day window lapses before work is done, the settlement reverts to actual cash value — depreciation comes off, and the shortfall is the policyholder's. On a large loss that clause is frequently worth more than everything argued about the scope of damage.
The distinction
Three people can adjust your claim. Only one of them works for you.
Most British Columbians have never heard the term "public adjuster," because until recently there were very few here. The role is simple to explain.
| Role | Retained by | Acts in the interest of |
|---|---|---|
| Staff adjuster | The insurance company | The insurer |
| Independent adjuster | The insurance company | The insurer |
| Public adjuster | You, the policyholder | You |
A public adjuster is the only class of licensed adjuster permitted to represent the policyholder. Everyone else on your claim is working the other side of it.
Why us
Golden Shield Adjusters Ltd. has been an independent adjusting firm since 2008, handling automobile claims on assignment from insurers. Our public adjusting practice is separate, and takes no automobile work.
We spent eighteen years on the other side of the table.
There is no substitute for having built the file yourself. We know how a reserve is set, how a scope gets trimmed, which supporting documents move a number and which get filed and forgotten. That is not a sales claim — it is simply what eighteen years of adjusting for insurers teaches you.
We now apply it for policyholders, on property claims only. Our automobile work remains with insurers; our public adjusting work is exclusively for the insured. The two lines do not meet.
Process
Four stages, and we carry the paperwork.
You will not be asked to compile estimates, chase contractors, or argue clause wording. That is the work you are retaining us to do.
We read the policy
Before anything else. Coverage limits, endorsements, exclusions, sub-limits, time bars, and the loss-settlement basis. This determines what your claim is actually worth, and it is the step most often skipped.
We document the loss
Site inspection, photographic record, measured scope, itemised contents, and costing supported by current Lower Mainland trade rates — assembled into a file that can withstand review rather than a figure that invites negotiation.
We take over the correspondence
From here the insurer's adjuster deals with us rather than with you. We submit the claim, field the questions, supply the documents requested, and answer each position with evidence. You are copied on everything and approve every position we take — you simply stop being the one who has to argue it.
We close it out
Settlement review, release wording, and confirmation that holdbacks, recoverable depreciation and additional living expenses have all been accounted for before the file is closed.
Correspondence
From the day you retain us, the insurer deals with us.
The hardest part of a claim is rarely the damage. It is the administration of it — the calls that arrive while you are trying to work, the requests for one more document, the letters written in language you have to read twice. All of that moves across to us.
And the earlier you bring us in, the less of it ever reaches you at all. A claim we take up at first notice is one you never have to manage; a claim we inherit six weeks in has already cost you six weeks of correspondence we cannot give back.
| Insurer's adjuster | Corresponds with us |
|---|---|
| Document requests | Compiled and sent by us |
| Proof of loss | Prepared by us |
| Contractor estimates | Reconciled by us |
| Settlement position | Argued by us |
| You | Approve, and get on with your life |
Claims we take
Property losses, residential and commercial.
We are most useful on significant and complex losses — the ones where the scope is genuinely in dispute and the documentation has to hold up.
Residential property
Fire and smoke, water and flood, wind, hail, theft and vandalism. Houses, townhomes and condominium units.
Read more →Strata & condominium
Strata corporation losses — envelope and water escape across units — and owners facing a deductible chargeback.
Read more →Small & mid commercial
Retail, restaurant, warehouse and light industrial property damage, including tenant improvements and stock.
Read more →Business interruption
Lost gross earnings, extra expense and period-of-indemnity disputes — the most commonly underpaid coverage there is.
Read more →We do not take automobile claims as public adjusters. See about the practice for why.
Fee
You will know what it costs before you engage us.
The first consultation is free, and it is a real one — we will read your policy and your insurer's correspondence and tell you plainly whether you need us. A good number of enquiries end with us saying the offer looks fair. That answer costs you nothing.
What we charge depends on the claim. Some files are best handled on a percentage of the settlement; some warrant a retainer; some are a combination. A straightforward re-presentation of an underpaid claim is not the same piece of work as a denied business interruption loss, and we would rather price the work than apply one number to everything.
Whatever the arrangement, it is quoted at the free consultation and set out in a written agreement you sign before any work begins. You will never be asked to commit without knowing what it costs.
One consequence worth stating: we are most useful where the amount in dispute is substantial. On a modest claim you are often better off handling it yourself, and we will tell you that rather than take the file.
| Consultation | No charge |
|---|---|
| Policy review | Included |
| Fee | Quoted per claim |
| Structure | Percentage, retainer, or both |
| Agreement | Written, signed in advance |
| Automobile claims | Not accepted |
Note. Fee terms are confirmed in your engagement letter. Nothing on this page is a quotation or an offer of terms.
Common questions
If your question is not here, call us. We would rather answer it once properly than have you guess.
Is it too late to bring you in?
Rarely — but ask the question the other way round. The earlier you call, the more we can do and the less you have to. Engaged at first notice, we take over the correspondence before the file's tone is set, attend the inspection with you, and establish the scope properly the first time rather than arguing it back open months later. Every week you wait is a week of letters and phone calls you handle yourself, and positions taken on the record that we then have to unwind.
That said, we are regularly engaged after an offer arrives that looks short and after an outright denial, and a claim that has already been offered on can still be reopened and re-presented. Late is workable. Early is better.
My claim was denied. Is that final?
A denial is a position, not a verdict. It rests on a reading of the policy and of the facts, and both can be answered. We review the denial letter against the actual wording and the evidence, and where there is a case to be made, we make it.
Are you the same as an insurance lawyer?
No. We are licensed adjusters, not lawyers, and we do not provide legal advice or conduct litigation. Most property claims are resolved through documentation and negotiation rather than court. If your matter genuinely needs counsel, we will say so.
You also work for insurers. Is that a conflict?
Our independent adjusting work is automobile only and is assigned by insurers. Our public adjusting work is property only and is retained by policyholders. The two lines of business do not overlap, and we will not act for an insurer on any matter in which we act for you.
Which languages can I deal with you in?
English, Punjabi and Hindi. You can describe your loss in the language you are most comfortable in — this matters, because the details that carry a claim are the ones people leave out when they are working in a second language.
Next step
Send us the policy and the letter. We will read them.
The fastest way to find out whether you have a case is to let us see the two documents that decide it: your policy, and whatever the insurer has sent you. No charge, no obligation.
Office hours
Monday to Friday, 10:00–16:00
Active emergencies
If a fire or flood is ongoing, call rather than write. We take
after-hours calls for losses in progress.