The short answer: Friedman & Associates represents Chattanooga policyholders in hail, wind, tornado, water, fire, and commercial claims, and in our specialty: claims that were denied or underpaid. We are licensed in Tennessee and inspect in person, on the roof and in the attic. Fees are contingency only, capped by statute at 15% before an offer and 25% of the increase after. No recovery, no fee. Call 770-230-2616 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.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-6-913
NOAA ledger
TDCI Rule 0780-01-05
Every kind of Hamilton 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 Chattanooga is not a pin on our map. Joshua went skydiving over this valley — he is an adventurer, and this is one of his favourite places in the South.
Want the fuller picture first? The film, the results register, and the client portal are all at the front door. Meet the firm →
What a Chattanooga claim looks like
Ridge and valley is the whole story here. The Tennessee River cuts between Lookout, Signal and Missionary Ridge, and the wind that funnels down that corridor arrives at street level with nowhere left to go. The county record is a long list of what it took with it, from Hill City to Brainerd to Ooltewah.
The building stock sharpens it. North Chattanooga and St Elmo are full of houses old enough to be expensive to put back — slate, standing-seam metal, heart-pine framing, true divided-light sash — and none of that is a drop-down in estimating software. A template prices them as something cheaper every time.
High-value claims get private-client handling: strict confidentiality, your file held at the partner level, and the expert bench a complex home deserves. Private client services →
Not every claim qualifies. Three taps to find out if yours does.
The law and the clock
Tennessee puts three deadlines on your carrier: 30 days to acknowledge, 60 days to decide with written reasons, 30 days to pay what's undisputed (TDCI Rule 0780-01-05). The matching rule makes mismatched repairs the carrier's problem, not yours, and entitles you to its depreciation worksheet on request. When the number is the fight, appraisal forces a binding valuation (Merrimack Mutual v. Batts, 2001), and a bad-faith refusal to pay can cost the carrier up to 25% more (§ 56-7-105).
One clock outranks everything: your policy's own "Suit Against Us" clause. Tennessee's contract statute runs six years, but policies commonly shorten it to one or two by clause. Read yours the day a claim goes sideways — negotiation does not pause it.
The Hamilton County record
The valley makes its own weather. The record keeps the dates. 110 logged events in the county since 2020, including the EF3 that came through East Ridge in April 2020. The 2026 season is already on the record: 19 reports so far, with hail to 1" near Graysville. The biggest hail on the record near here in the last twelve months is 1", at 4 Nw Graysville, about 8 miles from Chattanooga, on July 3, 2026. Tying your damage to a dated event on this record is how a wear-and-tear opinion gets rebutted.
Inside the one-year window: 20 logged events in this county in the last twelve months, the most recent on Aug 7, 2026, including 1 hail report. Policies commonly shorten the suit deadline to one or two years by clause, so those are the dates still working for you.
| Date | Event | Size or speed | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 7, 2026 † | Damaging wind | damage reported | Ooltewah |
| Aug 2, 2026 † | Damaging wind | damage reported | Chattanooga |
| Jul 5, 2026 † | Damaging wind | damage reported | Soddy-Daisy |
| Jul 3, 2026 † | Hail | 1" | Graysville |
| Apr 28, 2026 | Damaging wind | 60 mph | Chattanooga |
| May 12, 2025 | Hail | 1.25" | Montlake |
| Jun 25, 2023 | Hail | 1.75" | Brainerd |
| Apr 12, 2020 | Tornado | EF3 | East Ridge |
† preliminary NWS Local Storm Report; NOAA finalization pending. More of the record lives at Hamilton County: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2020 | Tornado — EF3 | East Ridge | EF3 |
| Mar 2, 2023 | Tornado — EF0 | New Pt | EF0 |
| Jun 25, 2023 | Hail | Brainerd | 1.75" hail |
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 Chattanooga
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 Chattanooga?
Tennessee sets the ceiling by statute (Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-6-913): at most 15% of the settlement if you hire us before the carrier makes an offer, at most 25% of only the increase after one, and nothing may be collected before your claim settles. No recovery, no fee.
How long does an insurance company have to pay a claim in Tennessee?
Thirty, sixty, thirty. Tennessee’s claims rules give the insurer 30 days to acknowledge, 60 days after your completed proof of loss to accept or deny with written reasons, and 30 days to pay undisputed amounts after accepting liability. Put every blown deadline in writing.
How much severe weather does Hamilton County actually get?
More than people expect from a river town. The federal record carries an EF3 that came through East Ridge in April 2020, hail to 1.75 inches at Brainerd, and damaging wind through the city again in April 2026. The ridges funnel it straight down the valley.
The repair will not match the rest of my roof. Is that my problem?
No, it is the carrier’s. Tennessee’s matching rule requires replaced items to be brought to a reasonably uniform appearance, and the insurer must hand over its depreciation worksheet on request. Ask for both in writing.
The check will not rebuild the roof. What is the lever?
Your policy carries one. When the carrier admits coverage but the number is wrong, the appraisal clause forces a binding valuation by independent appraisers (Merrimack Mutual v. Batts, 2001).
My house in North Chattanooga is old. Why is the estimate so low?
Because it was priced by software with modern defaults. Slate, standing-seam metal, plaster and true divided-light sash are not defaults, and putting them back properly costs what it costs. That has to be scoped and priced before the carrier prices it for you.
Our contractor offered to handle the insurance claim. Is that normal?
It is common after every storm, and claim negotiation in Tennessee is licensed public adjuster work. That is no knock on your contractor. We handle the carrier, your builder handles the build, and we work well beside good contractors. One more thing: don’t let cleanup outrun the camera — tarps and tear-off erase the evidence your claim is built on.
Prefer a quieter first step? Ask us anything, free: a real answer from a licensed adjuster, no strings.
Friedman & Associates are licensed Tennessee public adjusters, not attorneys. Our work is the licensed practice of public adjusting: 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 under § 56-7-105, is referred to independent policyholder counsel.
Don't take the carrier's first number. A free, confidential review by Tennessee-licensed public adjusters. Under § 56-6-913, nothing is ever owed before your claim settles. No recovery, no fee.
See if my case qualifies 770-230-2616