By Andrew Hackmack
The Nassau County Council of Chambers presented its Small Business Person of the Year awards last Friday morning at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. Viggiano was the recipient from the Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce. She founded Emergency Services Company in 1996, a public adjusting firm.
Viggiano is in the business of helping people. If someone suffers a property loss, Viggiano serves as an advocate for them. "I'm hired by the insured to make sure they get fair representation," she said. "I make sure the insurance company does the right thing."
She works for both home and business owners, helping people after they have suffered property damage from a fire, flood, hurricane or other natural disaster. Viggiano's goal is to do what's necessary to make the person whole again and fights erroneous claims made against her clients.
Responsibilities include helping people find temporary housing, calling a company to board up a home or business, creating an inventory of lost and salvaged items and calling on subcontractors to get work done. "I orchestrate it all," she said. "I basically do everything the insurance company does, but I do it on behalf of the homeowner."
Viggiano is licensed to serve as a public adjustor throughout the state of New York. She said she doesn't have a typical day. It could be spent visiting the scene of a fire, making phone calls or catching up on paperwork. The amount of cases she handles varies from year to year. "It's been a very quiet year," she noted.
She tends to have more cases during the colder months, when fires are more common. Often that is a result of people seeking solutions to heat their home that might not be safe. Still, her job is to help that person rebound from the tragedy. "The main satisfaction is helping people to become a whole again," she said.
Viggiano runs her company from a home office. She said a lot of her business is through word-of-mouth. After suffering a loss, people tend to call their insurance company or a lawyer first, she noted, but many people don't know what a public adjustor can do for them.
She has been a member of the Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce since 1997 and currently sits on the board of directors. Viggiano said that she has worked as an advocate for some of the group's members, while others have recommended her to someone they know.
After starting her business, Viggiano thought it would be a good business decision to have a life insurance policy. The person who she bought her policy from happened to be a member of the Chamber of Commerce and recommended that she join. "It's a very good source of networking," she said of the chamber.
Viggiano grew up in Valley Stream and is a graduate of Central High School. She is a member of the New York State Public Adjustors Association and the Women's Insurance Network of Long Island.
Chamber of Commerce President Debbi Gyulay said she was glad to see Viggiano acknowledged for her hard work as a small business owner. "Lucy started her own woman-owned company in a mostly male field and has been in business for more than a decade," Gyulay said. "That along with my knowledge of how many challenges there are to owning a business, has garnered my respect and admiration for what Lucy has accomplished.
