News

Peter K. Strojnik, Attorney for Insured Victim, Discovers That Adjuster Rob Rich Was Summarily Suspended in 1999 for Fraudulently Endorsing Insurance Checks and That His Certification by the NAPIA Has Been Revoked

PHOENIX-(Business Wire)-October 4, 2008 - On September 29, 2008, Peter and Tanya Strojnik filed a lawsuit against Rob Rich of Rob Rich and Associates, a self proclaimed Senior Professional Public Adjuster. Mike Mehl of Royal Restoration was also listed as Defendant in the lawsuit.

The Strojnik Family suffered a catastrophic fire at their home. They thought it would be a good idea to hire a public adjuster to help them deal with the insurance company. They hired Rob Rich. They believed that he would protect their interests.

However, after hiring Rich, the Strojniks discovered that Rob Rich’s public adjuster license was summarily suspended in 1999 when the Department of Insurance discovered that he was depositing insurance proceeds into his own account by fraudulently endorsing the insurance checks and deposited them into his own account.

Investigation also disclosed that the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters, NAPIA, revoked Rich’s accreditation as a Senior Professional Public Adjuster in 2003, but that Rich continued the use of this designation on his website.

On the other hand, Michael Mehl of Royal Restoration agreed to a debriefing session with Peter K. Strojnik, the attorney for the homeowners. Mr. Mehl disclosed that he was unaware of Rich’s practice of fraudulently endorsing insurance checks and that he was not aware of the decertification of Rich by NAPIA. Mehl opined that Rich’s conduct gives the entire industry a bad name, and offered to help in the prosecution and investigation of Rich. Mr. Mehl agreed to “cooperate in further investigations of Rich and to make himself available for additional debriefing and the execution of further Affidavits, Declarations, or other documents reasonably necessary in the prosecution of the Lawsuit against Rich.” Based on the representations by Mehl, Strojnik agreed to dismiss Mehl from the case altogether.

“I feel relieved that we have been dismissed from the lawsuit,” said Mrs. Mehl. “We only did what Rich told us; we were caught completely off guard,” she said. In his Affidavit filed with the Court, Mr. Mehl stated that “Rich told me that I must pay him a 20% ‘public adjusting’ fee out of any moneys paid to me as a result of my services relating to the Loss.” Rich also told Mehl that the “bill for [Mehl’s] services would be paid for by the insurer.”