How do I find an insurance adjusting firm for sale?
Look at business-for-sale listings, ask brokers who handle service firms, and approach independent adjusters directly, since many sales are private. Ask what the sale is expected to include, such as insurer relationships, open files and adjusters, how much work comes from a few insurers and whether the adjusters will stay.
An independent adjusting firm does claims-handling work for insurers and sometimes for other clients. It is not an insurance brokerage, and it holds no book of policies. That changes both where you look and what you ask. The firm earns its living from assignments, so the real question is how steady those assignments are and who is able to keep winning them.
Where to look
Start with business-for-sale listings under insurance services, then ask brokers who handle professional firms. An adjusting firm may be sold privately, for example to a senior adjuster, a competitor or a larger firm. Adjusters know each other well, so let people in the trade know you are interested. A courteous direct approach to an owner near retirement can also open a conversation, if the seller consents and any professional-conduct limits allow.
What the sale really includes
Confirm in due diligence what is included, such as relationships, open files, staff and systems. Some insurers use vendor or panel arrangements. Do not assume these transfer with the firm. Confirm with each insurer what it would need to keep sending work, and do so only with the seller’s agreement. Ask what open files exist at closing and who will finish them.
Concentration and seasonality
Ask how much of the work comes from a handful of insurers or claims managers. One relationship that rests on a single person is a risk worth understanding. Ask also how catastrophe work, such as storm or flood assignments, has affected busy and quiet periods, and how the firm staffs a surge and a slowdown.
- Which insurers send the work, and how long each has done so.
- Whether the adjusters are employees or contractors, and whether they will stay.
- How the firm handles surge work and quiet stretches.
- What claims are open at closing and who finishes them.
Whether the owner’s adjuster licence or the firm’s registration carries over is a question for the insurance regulator and your lawyer. For a related search, see how to find an insurance book of business for sale, and what to weigh before buying an insurance agency.
Related reading
10 pages on the same subject, grouped by topic.
Buying
- Expert answerHow do I find an insurance book of business for sale?
- Expert answerWhat should I weigh before buying an insurance agency?
- Expert answerDoes an insurance brokerage need the insurers’ approval to sell its book of business?
- Expert answerShould I buy an insurance agency’s book of business or the whole agency?
Due diligence
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentMajor pitfalls to avoid when negotiating a purchase agreement
- 04Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWorking with a broker to find a business to buy
Deavo is an advertising and listings platform, not a brokerage, law firm or valuation firm. This page is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or valuation advice, and rules differ by province. Confirm anything you rely on with a qualified professional before you act on it.