The short answer: Friedman & Associates is headquartered in Canton and represents Cherokee County policyholders in hail, wind, water, fire, and commercial claims, and in our specialty: claims that were denied or underpaid. The initial claim review is free. If we offer representation, the written agreement states the contingency fee before you decide. No recovery, no fee. Call 877-650-3515 or text the partners.
Call us before you call your carrier. The first phone call shapes the whole claim. Already filed, or an adjuster already assigned? We're still your next call.
NOAA ledger
Reg. 120-2-52-.03
Every kind of Cherokee loss.
Results and press
$1,664,329 recovered above the carriers' first offers on just 10 recent published files, from more than a decade of this work. See real case results. You could be next.
"He helped me recover 4 times what insurance was offering… extremely diligent and moralistic in how he worked."Kelly, Google review · 4.8★ across 23 reviews · read them all
When you hire the firm, you get the partners: Joshua and Hannah Friedman, with Callie Macho on client success. Not a call center. And Canton is not a pin on our map. It is home.
Want the fuller picture first? The film, the results register, and the client portal are all at the front door. Meet the firm →
Home turf
Canton is a courthouse-square town, and we work claims the way this town does business: on the record, in writing, and in person. When a storm drops a tree through a roof in Hickory Flat or Holly Springs, the inspection is a short drive, photographed to appraisal standard, not a ten-minute drive-by.
The practice here runs appraisal-heavy, because the county's most common fight is a carrier that admits coverage and lowballs the number. When that happens we stop arguing and invoke the policy's own valuation clause.
High-value claims get private-client handling: strict confidentiality, your file held at the partner level, and the expert bench a complex estate deserves. Private client services →
Not every claim qualifies. Four quick moves build your private review.
The law and the clock
Georgia puts real deadlines on your carrier: acknowledge within 15 days, decide within 15 days of your completed proof of loss, and pay undisputed amounts within 10 days of confirming coverage (Reg. 120-2-52-.03). A denial must cite the specific policy provision it relies on. If the policy contains an applicable appraisal clause and the dispute falls within the amount-of-loss questions assigned to the panel, either party may demand appraisal under that clause; the exact policy and claim record control (McGowan v. Progressive, 2006).
One clock outranks everything: your policy's own "Suit Against Us" clause. White v. State Farm (2012) enforced the one-year clause for the theft claim before it; the opinion did not decide tolling, waiver, or estoppel. Act 635 changes this prospectively only for qualifying first-party property policies issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after July 1, 2027; it does not erase an earlier policy deadline today. Read your clause today, and have Georgia counsel calculate and preserve the earliest plausible deadline.
The Cherokee County record
Your roof remembers the storm. So does the federal record. 172 logged events in the county since 2020. The 2026 season is already on the record: 18 reports so far. The biggest hail on the record near here in the last twelve months is 1", at 2 Ese Oak Grove, about 11 miles from Canton, on September 6, 2025. Already this year, Mar 16, 2026: 70 mph wind logged at Canton Cherokee Arpt, in this county. A wear-and-tear denial is an opinion about causation, and tying your damage to a dated event on this record is how that opinion gets rebutted.
Inside the one-year window: 19 logged events in this county in the last twelve months, the most recent on Aug 9, 2026, including 1 hail report. For policies outside Act 635's July 1, 2027 applicability boundary, the clause may still allow as little as one year from the date of loss, so the earliest date may still be working against you.
| Date | Event | Size or speed | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9, 2026 † | Damaging wind | damage reported | Canton |
| Aug 9, 2026 † | Damaging wind | damage reported | Woodstock |
| Mar 16, 2026 | Damaging wind | 64 mph | Hickory Flat |
| Mar 16, 2026 | Damaging wind | 60 mph | Arnold Mill |
| Sep 6, 2025 | Hail | 1" | Oak Grove |
| Jul 20, 2023 | Damaging wind | 64 mph | Canton Cherokee Arpt |
| Mar 25, 2021 | Hail | 1.75" | South Canton |
† preliminary NWS Local Storm Report; NOAA finalization pending. More of the record lives at Cherokee County: damage figures and per-row federal links, refreshed weekly (last: 2026-08-10). Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, cross-read against NWS Local Storm Reports. Storm reports are point observations from spotters, stations, and survey teams — a sample of what happened, never an inventory. The absence of an entry for a date or place is not evidence that no damage occurred there.
The most severe on the county record
Carriers audit storm claims against this same federal record. By its own measurements, the worst of it looked like this:
| Date | Event | Where | Measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 30, 2021 | Tornado — EF1 | Keithsburg | EF1 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | Tornado — EF1 | Greeley | EF1 |
| May 20, 2025 | Tornado — EF0 | Waleska | EF0 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | Hail | South Canton | 1.75" hail |
| Jun 7, 2025 | Damaging wind | Canton | 75 mph wind |
Ratings, hail sizes and wind speeds as recorded by the National Weather Service. NOAA also logs a rough dollar figure for some events; those are whole-event estimates entered by the local office, frequently blank and often far below real losses, so we do not publish them as if they meant anything about your claim.
Questions from around the square
Should I call you before I call my insurance company?
Yes. What gets said in the first call shapes the whole claim, so talk to us first. Already filed, or an adjuster already assigned? Call us anyway. We step in at any stage, and the earlier the better.
How much does a public adjuster cost in Canton, GA?
The initial claim review is free. If we offer representation, the written agreement states the contingency fee and scope before you decide. No recovery, no fee.
Do you actually have an office in Canton?
Canton is our headquarters: 701 Sterling Reserve, Canton, GA 30115. Nearby inspections are often same-day, and every client watches their claim move in a secure portal.
My roof claim was denied as wear and tear. Is that final?
No. A wear-and-tear denial is an opinion about causation, and opinions get rebutted with evidence. We tie your roof’s condition to a documented storm on the federal record and re-present the claim. Start the free review before you accept it.
How long do I have to act after a Canton storm loss?
Two clocks matter. Your insurer owes you an acknowledgment within 15 days under Georgia regulation, so report promptly and in writing. The dangerous clock is your policy’s "Suit Against Us" clause: White v. State Farm (2012) enforced the one-year clause for the theft claim before it. Act 635 changes this prospectively only for qualifying first-party property policies issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after July 1, 2027; it does not erase an earlier policy deadline today.
Can my roofer handle the insurance claim for me?
No, and Georgia drew that line to protect you. Adjusting or negotiating someone else’s claim takes a public adjuster license (O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43), and the law specifically bars roofing contractors from doing it (§ 10-1-393.12). That is no knock on your roofer. We handle the carrier, your roofer handles the roof, and we work well beside good contractors.
How fast can you inspect my property?
Often same-day near Canton. Holly Springs is about 10 minutes from the office, Woodstock and Ball Ground about 15, Acworth about 20, Kennesaw about 25, and Marietta or Roswell about 30.
Prefer a quieter first step? Ask us anything, free: a real answer from a licensed adjuster, no strings.
Friedman & Associates are licensed Georgia public adjusters, not attorneys. Our work is the licensed practice of public adjusting under O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43: reading the policy, documenting and valuing the loss, negotiating with the carrier, and preparing appraisal. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and litigation, including bad-faith suits, is referred to independent policyholder counsel.
Don't take the carrier's first number. A free, confidential review by the licensed public adjusters headquartered in your town. If we take the case, the fee comes from the recovery, never from you.
See if my case qualifies 877-650-3515