Los Angeles County, California

Public Adjusters in Los Angeles

Headquartered in Encino since 1972. We represent Los Angeles homeowners, landlords and businesses against their insurance companies — on fire, water, earthquake, wind and theft claims.

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Licensed in California
Since 1972
No Upfront Fees
9+ Languages
Los Angeles

Public adjusting for Los Angeles policyholders

Metropolitan Adjustment Bureau has been a Los Angeles company for more than fifty years. Our office is on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, and most of our adjusters have spent their careers inspecting losses from the San Fernando Valley to the South Bay. When a claim goes wrong in LA, we don't fly in — we drive over.

That matters because Los Angeles losses are rarely simple. A hillside home in the Palisades, a 1920s duplex in Mid-City, a strip-mall restaurant in Koreatown and a warehouse in Vernon all carry different policy forms, different code-upgrade exposures and different insurance company playbooks. Our job is to document the full loss, read the policy the way it was written, and negotiate with the carrier's adjuster as an equal — so you are paid what the policy actually owes.

Our headquarters at 16133 Ventura Boulevard in Encino has served Los Angeles policyholders since 1972. President Glenn Nahmias is a former president of the California Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.

Los Angeles service area

Communities we serve in Los Angeles

  • Encino
  • Sherman Oaks
  • Studio City
  • Woodland Hills
  • Northridge
  • Porter Ranch
  • Calabasas
  • Pacific Palisades
  • Malibu
  • Santa Monica
  • Brentwood
  • Beverly Hills
  • West Hollywood
  • Hollywood
  • Downtown Los Angeles
  • Pasadena
  • Altadena
  • Glendale
  • Burbank
  • Long Beach
  • Torrance
  • Palos Verdes
  • Marina del Rey
  • Culver City
  • Inglewood
Local Risks

What damages Los Angeles properties — and how those claims go wrong

01

Wildfire — Palisades, Eaton, Woolsey, Saddleridge

The January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures across Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena and Pasadena, making them among the most destructive fires in California history. They followed Woolsey (2018), Saddleridge (2019) and Bobcat (2020). Total-loss fire claims in LA involve dwelling limits that haven't kept pace with rebuild costs, extended replacement cost riders, building-code upgrade coverage, debris removal, contents inventories and months — often years — of additional living expenses. Smoke and ash claims on standing homes are a separate fight: carriers frequently underpay cleaning, testing and contents remediation.

Fire Damage Claims
02

Water damage in an aging housing stock

Much of Los Angeles was built between the 1920s and 1970s. Galvanized supply lines, cast-iron drains, slab leaks and failed water heaters are the most common claims we see in the Valley and on the Westside. The February 2024 atmospheric-river storms added a different problem — roof intrusion, hillside runoff and hundreds of mudslides from Beverly Crest to the South Bay. Water losses are where carriers most often apply exclusions (wear and tear, long-term seepage, earth movement) and where documentation of the sudden cause decides the outcome.

Water Damage Claims
03

Earthquake

The 1994 Northridge earthquake remains the costliest in U.S. history, and the San Fernando Valley sits on the same faults. Earthquake policies — whether through the California Earthquake Authority or a private carrier — carry high deductibles and narrow definitions of covered structural damage. A public adjuster's role is to establish the full scope of foundation, chimney, cripple-wall and finish damage so the deductible is applied against the real loss, not the insurer's first estimate.

Earthquake Claims
04

Santa Ana wind and storm damage

Santa Ana events routinely produce 60–80 mph gusts through the Cahuenga Pass, the Sepulveda Pass and the foothill communities. Roof, fence, window and tree-impact claims are common, and wind-driven rain damage to interiors is frequently disputed as 'maintenance.' We separate the covered wind event from the carrier's pre-existing-condition argument with inspection evidence.

Wind & Storm Damage
05

Commercial and multi-family losses

From restaurants and medical offices to apartment buildings and industrial space in Vernon and the Harbor, LA commercial claims add business-interruption, extra-expense, tenant-improvement and loss-of-rents calculations to the property damage. These are where the largest underpayments happen, and where an independent forensic accounting of the loss changes the number.

Commercial Claims

What Los Angeles policyholders are facing right now

The Los Angeles insurance market has been in turmoil since 2023. Major carriers paused new business or non-renewed tens of thousands of California homeowners — including a large share of Pacific Palisades before the 2025 fire — and the California FAIR Plan has become the insurer of last resort for a growing number of LA homes. FAIR Plan policies are narrower than a standard HO-3, and many families are discovering the gaps only after a loss.

After the January 2025 fires the Insurance Commissioner issued a one-year moratorium on non-renewals in affected ZIP codes and pushed carriers on advance payments for contents and additional living expenses. Those rules help, but they don't settle a claim. The carrier's adjuster still writes the estimate, still applies the deductible and depreciation, and still decides what is 'reasonable.' Under California's Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations an insurer must acknowledge your claim within 15 days and accept or deny it within 40 days of receiving proof of claim — deadlines we hold them to.

We are the same Los Angeles firm that has handled claims through Northridge, the 2011 windstorm, Woolsey and now Palisades and Eaton. We know which carriers pay fairly, which ones need to be pushed, and how LA building departments will treat your rebuild.

Our Services

Claim services in Los Angeles

01Fire Damage Claims02Water Damage Claims03Earthquake Claims04Wind & Storm Damage05Theft & Vandalism06Residential Claims07Commercial Claims
FAQ

Los Angeles claim questions

Yes. Our Encino office is minutes from both burn areas and we have been representing families and business owners from Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena and Pasadena since the week of the fires. That includes total-loss rebuild claims, smoke and ash claims on standing homes, contents inventories, additional living expenses and disputes over policy limits and code-upgrade coverage.

“
“We retained Metropolitan Adjustment Bureau to handle a water damage claim we filed regarding our property in Marina Del Rey, with State Farm Insurance Company. We were dissatisfied with the original settlement received from State Farm. After a closer inspection of the property by both Metropolitan and State Farm, it was discovered that there were developing mold issues. Our adjuster received the best compliment from State Farm, who called to say that he found Metropolitan to be of highest integrity. The settlement was reached in a timely fashion and the integrity of our property was not sacrificed.”
Kim Laughlin Wooden

Property damage in Los Angeles?
Talk to us before you settle.

Free policy review and claim consultation. No upfront fees — we are paid only from what we recover for you.

Call (818) 905-6800

Nearby service areas

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