Deployed!

 

You may hear nothing for months and think you’re forgotten and then a hurricane shows up on the radar and suddenly you’ll feel like the most popular guy in town. Phone calls and e-mails will start pouring in and all of a sudden you’re in high demand.

You will need to make a decision and pick which vender you want to work for, and go on standby with that one. Contact all the others and thank them for thinking of you and request they keep you on their roster, however, this time you’re already on standby. This way you don’t burn bridges. Eventually, if you do a good job, you’ll be on the top of the list for your favorite vender and you won’t be concerned about being on other rosters. But never burn a bridge.  

Getting deployed is exciting and you’ll think it’s a dream come true. But, that dream can turn into a nightmare pretty quick if you’re not prepared. It’s important to know before you go. It can be a long time between paychecks and an expensive road trip if you aren’t ready to turn and burn when you hit the storm site. But, never fear—that’s why I’m here.

Okay. So, you’ve passed the test, got your license, posted your resume and now you’re on your way to, Hurricane Virgin. What should you do?

There are various idiosyncrasies depending on which vender you are deployed with and which carrier you’re representing. Sometimes you’ll be working with one vender but handling claims for different carriers. This makes it a little more confusing because, different strokes for different folks.

Basically you will be doing the same thing for everyone, but saying it in a way to suit the carrier. In other words, you’re going to be doing the same thing no matter who you work for, but one company may want you to, two-step while another wants you to waltz—either way you’re dancing, it’s just to their music.

            And since they are paying you to visit their insured and handle their claim, they have the right to determine how they want you to dance. No matter what kind of music they play or what language they want you to say it in, just remember at the end of the day, the carrier wants to know three things:

1)      Do we owe?

2)     Why or why not.

3)     If so—how much.

And they want you to tell them five different ways:

1)      Tell them with words

2)     Tell them with photos

3)     Tell them with diagrams

4)     Tell them with an estimate

5)     Tell them your bill $ :-)

We’ll cover how to tell them soon.

            Remember, never be afraid to ask questions. The vender makes money when you make money, so if you have a question—ask. Odds are if you have a question others have the same question too.

NOTE: Some adjusters will work for more than one vender. You can do this because you’re an independent contractor. I worked for three venders at one time and it about drove me crazy trying to keep straight how each one wanted their claims packaged, and I just got plumb wore out. Furthermore, if you run too thin, you’re not doing the best you can for any one.

I recommend you do a great job for one, rather than a mediocre job for several. Even if you have a lull in the action occasionally, I think being loyal to one vender, will pay off in the long run—but that’s a decision you have to make since I don’t have your energy, or pay your bills.

Take your time—you’ll get there faster…because, time is one of your a most valuable assets. 

Adjust well, 

Doug

Adjusting, everybody’s got to do it…some do it for a living

Adjusters Life@aol.com

~

DO YOU WANT TO START LIVING YOUR ADJUSTER'S LIFE TODAY, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES?

The # 1 Best Selling Insurance Adjuster Training is at your fingertips.

Your new life as an Independent Insurance Claims Adjuster is at your fingertips.

* Everything you need to know from resume to payday.

* No sales gimmick or hook.

* Simple words penned with sweat from years of adjusting and one on one training. 

* No need spend time and hundreds of dollars with training and travel.

Adjuster’s Life comes not only with words and examples but a promise to personally assist you for*FREE* as you as you build your Adjuster’s Life.

The Adjuster’s Life thrives in any economy, you can too. Are you ready to see what it’s like to ride through a storm with an adjuster?

What’re you waiting for?

Jump in—let’s roll.

~

Let me know how I can help you live your Adjuster's Life

Oh yeah, one more thing if you've read Adjuster's Life would you mind leaving a great review on  Amazon?…and if you really like us you could LIKE our Adjuster’s Life FacebookPage?

They say it helps…whoever ‘they’ are.

 You might also like:

So you're an adjuster, now what?

How to avoid missing it

So, You Want To Be An Insurance Adjuster?
How Much Does An Insurance Adjuster Make?

What Does An Adjuster Need To Know?

What I've learned as an Insurance Adjuster

So you're an adjuster, now what?

Good job! 

You passed the test. You’ve got your Adjusters License.  Now you’re a bona fide licensed insurance adjuster…on paper.

Passing the test makes you licensed, but it doesn’t make you an adjuster.

It doesn’t teach you how to get rolling, keep rolling and enjoy it along the way.

Getting claims, running them, writing them, turning them in, having them be accepted by the carrier, the insured and the contractor is what gets you paid and makes you an adjuster. 

In short, you’re an adjuster when you successfully and efficiently are closing claims. Or as they say in the field: Turnin’ & burnin’ or Runnin’ and writin’

Let’s get started.

Resume

Get your name out there. Not unlike any business you need to solicit if you want to get called. Write a resume heavy with any construction and estimate writing background. You want to show that you know what it takes to fix a damaged structure. Even if you don’t know how to physically do the work, you need to be able to show what needs to be done on paper, in the form of an estimate, reflecting step by step repair procedures.

Let’s say for example you receive a claim where a tree has damaged part of the insured’s roof. You will need to know what needs to happen to make repairs and be able to communicate it on paper. Such as; replacing the tree damaged insulation, rafters, sheathing, felt, drip edge, shingles, fascia, soffit etc. Notice I listed in an order that resembles the actual layers of a roofing system. If you get in the habit of writing your estimates in a way that makes sense, it will help you to not forget anything, and it makes it easier for your file reviewer to understand your estimate.

If you are working a flood you may want to start at the pad and work your way up on your room by room estimate; pad, carpet, baseboard, drywall, paint… We’ll go into more detail about this later.

For now let it suffice to say you want to impress anyone reading your resume that you know construction and you can write an estimate.

Secondly, if you have any knowledge at all of the Xactimate program you want to put the word Xactimate in your resume. It is the most popular adjuster’s program. The carrier will dictate which program you use, and most likely it will be Xactimate. We’ll talk about other programs later and by the time you finish this book I tell you how you’ll at least be able to put on your resume that you have working knowledge of Xactimate and other adjuster software programs. The key here is to just have the word Xactimate on your resume. It’ll help.

The next thing you want to show on the resume is people skills. Although technically your job is to determine cost of repairs for insured damages, really you’re in the people business. And don’t forget it. If you do—your life as an adjuster will be miserable. You need to do all of this in a way that makes everybody happy—as much as possible. You want to show that you’re able to communicate well with others. You’re the face of the insurance company—their representative. They want to know you will represent them well. 

In summary your resume should show that you have knowledge of construction, estimate writing, the word Xactimate, and you’re good with people.  

Go to http://catadjuster.org/  Scroll down and find the heading, Resume hosting, on the right margin. 

It states:

 Adjusters we provide a free resume hosting service.  Just create a free account, login and visit the Roster to add your information and upload your resume.   The Roster is used by many employers to locate adjusters so don't miss out on an opportunity add your name to the National Adjuster Roster.

Jump through the hoops and get your name listed on their roster as a licensed adjuster ready to be deployed. Then turn your ringer up and listen for the phone. While you’re waiting be sure to finish this book, so you’ll know what to do when the phone rings.

Also while you’re at CADO (Cat Adjuster Dot Org.) click on the ‘Classifieds’ tab. It’s located on the top second from the left. Then click on jobs. You’ll notice venders looking for adjusters.

A vender is like an employment agency for adjusters. A carrier is the insurance company. Click on any vender looking for adjusters and send them your resume. You may need to fill out their online application to be officially on their roster. Getting on a roster is simply getting your name on their list of adjusters. Get on as many rosters as you can for starters. Of course, you can’t deploy for more than one vender but until you get your foot in the door and have more work than you can handle—get your name on every roster out there.

You see, a vender wants bragging rights to the carrier. So, the more adjusters they have on their roster the more they can tell the carrier they can handle.  

The carrier (insurance company) can make one phone call to a vender (adjusting company) and say we need a thousand adjusters on the east coast. The vender puts out a deployment request to the adjusters on their roster.

In catastrophes with advance knowledge, like a hurricane, the vender will put adjusters willing to deploy on standby. Which means: be packed, have the truck full of fuel, and if we confirm be ready to roll.  

See, it's not all about being there, it's what you do before to get you there. Know before you go. 

Adjust well, 

Doug

Adjusting, everybody’s got to do it…some do it for a living

Adjusters Life@aol.com

~

DO YOU WANT TO START LIVING YOUR ADJUSTER'S LIFE TODAY, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES?

The # 1 Best Selling Insurance Adjuster Training is at your fingertips.

Your new life as an Independent Insurance Claims Adjuster is at your fingertips.

* Everything you need to know from resume to payday.

* No sales gimmick or hook.

* Simple words penned with sweat from years of adjusting and one on one training. 

* No need spend time and hundreds of dollars with training and travel.

Adjuster’s Life comes not only with words and examples but a promise to personally assist you for*FREE* as you as you build your Adjuster’s Life.

The Adjuster’s Life thrives in any economy, you can too. Are you ready to see what it’s like to ride through a storm with an adjuster?

What’re you waiting for?

Jump in—let’s roll.

~

Let me know how I can help you live your Adjuster's Life

Oh yeah, one more thing if you've read Adjuster's Life would you mind leaving a great review on  Amazon?…and if you really like us you could LIKE our Adjuster’s Life Facebook Page?

I don’ t know why, but they say it helps…whoever ‘they’ are.

 You might also like:

How to avoid missing it

So, You Want To Be An Insurance Adjuster?

How Much Does An Insurance Adjuster Make?

What Does An Adjuster Need To Know?

What I've learned as an Insurance Adjuster

FREE Online Flood Insurance Certification!

How to avoid missing it

There’s plenty of ways to miss it, running insurance claims. But there’s one sure fire way to miss it, often—and one way to prevent it…

I still remember it. Hail claim. Nice, big expensive, new house. Thirty year laminate. It was disgusting. Footfall, marring and mechanical damage everywhere. I thought it must’ve been installed on a hot—hot Saturday afternoon…and the boys were thirsty.

I took my time. I took 92 photos (actually more but that’s how many I submitted with the file.)

Did I mention, I took.my.time?

I searched high and low and found plenty of damage—only none of it had anything to do with hail.

Just thirsty boys in a hurry.

I took my time. Explained what I found (and didn’t find) to the insured, as per carrier protocol.

No surprise—they weren’t happy.

I submitted my file. And you know what? I took my time, detailing in photos all the stuff I found and explained that it had nothing to do with hail—but just a bunch of thirsty boys on a Saturday (or so it seemed).

Back at the ranch, up on the roof, a day or two later a contractor or two, looked at all the things I’d taken pictures of and told the insured he couldn’t believe how bad I’d missed it and, “You have substantial damage to warrant roof replacement.”

As you might’ve guessed a re-inspect was requested—only not with that adjuster (me). I didn’t even know about it until later on…we’ll get to that in a moment.

And wouldn’t you know it? The new adjuster found “substantial damage to warrant roof replacement.”

So, the contractor was happy, the insured was happy, and the new adjuster was happy to bill a big fat fee for a big fat roof.

Only…something odd happened.

An inside handler for the carrier, took.his.time. and looked back through my 92 photos and thought, hmmm, this guy looks like he.took.his.time. Maybe he’s not blind as a bat like the contractor and insured said. Maybe, he didn’t miss it. I think we ought to take another look.  

In comes the engineer.

Lo and behold the engineer agreed with that blind as a bat first adjuster. The shingles were damaged sure and certain, in all sorts of ways except, for anything that had to do with hail.

But…

He didn’t take.his.time to review his report after he copied and pasted from a template. So he didn’t notice the statement about finding dents in the roof vents. The roof vents that he had no, zero, nada, zilch, photos of. He did have one picture of some mechanical damage to valley metal, though.  

The desk adjuster didn’t take.his.time to read the reports thoroughly, either. He did, however, see the part that said something about hail dented roof vents.

That’s why I received the claim back in my queue with a request to write an estimate to replace the hail dented roof vents.

I took.my.time and replied with photos of the vents from the original 92 pictures and an excerpt from my original loss report advising that the vents were vinyl. (Hail doesn’t dent vinyl vents—it may crack holes in older brittle ones, but not new ones. Well, if it does it will damage a lot more than just the vents.) I also included my original statement that the shingles were damage from poor workmanship, but not hail.

The moral of the story?

We don’t ever want to miss it—but sometimes we will. One of the biggest things you can do to prevent missing it is to: take.your.time.

Take your time, you’ll get there faster~ dougism 101

WANT TO START LIVING YOUR ADJUSTER'S LIFE TODAY?

do you know someone who does? 

The # 1 Best Selling Insurance Adjuster Training is at your fingertips.

Your new life as an Independent Insurance Claims Adjuster is at your fingertips.

* Everything you need to know from resume to payday.

* No sales gimmick or hook.

* Simple words penned with sweat from years of adjusting and one on one training. 

* No need spend time and hundreds of dollars with training and travel.

Adjuster’s Life comes not only with words and examples but a promise to personally assist you for *FREE* as you as you build your Adjuster’s Life.

The Adjuster’s Life thrives in any economy, you can too. Are you ready to see what it’s like to ride through a storm with an adjuster?

What’re you waiting for?

Jump in—let’s roll.

Get your Adjuster's Life today

Get your Adjuster's Life today

 You might also like:

So, You Want To Be An Insurance Adjuster?

How Much Does An Insurance Adjuster Make?

What Does An Adjuster Need To Know?

FREE Online Flood Insurance Certification!

What's your story? Have you ever bumfuzzled something just because you were in a hurry? 

Take your time and send me a line...

AdjustersLife@aol.com

or leave a reply. 

Adjust awesomely,

Doug

Insurance Claims Adjuster School 101.1

Every day folks just like you are enjoying Insurance Claims Adjuster Jobs.

Everyday day people scour the web looking for Claims Adjuster Training.

If you’re one of them, congrats! You're in the right place: 

Insurance Claims Adjuster School 101.1

What is Claims Adjusting?

On my first deployment to a major hurricane I was a nervous green horn. I didn’t have enough confidence to make a decision and so I asked questions—lots of them.

That was good. Never be afraid to ask questions—lots of them. That’s how you learn. Especially in the insurance world—there is no dumb question.

Policy language can be confusing and can be interpreted differently. So, if it’s your first day on the job or you’ve been at it for thirty years, if you have a question, ask. Don’t be ashamed to ask. And when you ask too many, and it’s time to cut the umbilical cord, they’ll let you know. They did me. The long hours and endless flow of questions fired at my inside handler finally wore on his nerves until he blurted out:

You’re an adjuster—adjust.

I continue to ask questions—lots of them.

  

I don’t think he realized the wisdom of his words that day. I’ve forgotten his name, but still remember his words. It remains some of the best advice I’ve been given regarding adjusting even after all these years.

You may do the same things over and over, but no claim should be considered a brainless cookie-cutter exercise. Consider each and every claim as having its own unique set of circumstances and adjust each scenario against policy guidelines, and then, make a recommendation accordingly. As an adjuster you’re paid to give recommendations.

Kind of like CSI

Sometimes the human element gets involved and things get a little hairy. You may hear someone tell you that old crack in the drywall resulted from a tree hitting the roof. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Your job is to gather evidence and determine what direct physical damage was related to the insured peril. And also, just as important—damage not related to the insured peril—especially damages claimed by insured as resultant damage. We’ll get into that, in more detail later.

Remember, adjusting, in a nutshell is to let the carrier know if they need to write a check and if so; why, and how much. You are the eyes and ears of the carrier. You are to see what happened. Listen to what the Insured said happened. And document this through photos, sketches and written word. Generally the carrier is the check writer, and they will hold the final decision regarding what gets paid. 

An official statement you can make might sound like this:

“I do not have authority to extend or deny coverage.”

But, I usually say something like:

“It’s not my check book, so your carrier will make the final coverage decision. If it were my check book…I’d be fishing right now.”

This statement basically says the same thing, but in a way they’ll remember—which keeps you off the hook. And the insured is less likely to get confused and say you promised them a big fat check.

Well, that’s all for today.

What questions do you have about how to get an insurance claims adjuster job? Or insurance claims adjuster training?  

I read you correspondence and try to answer as quickly as possible.

Doug Spurling

AdjustersLife@aol.com

Join us on facebook

WANT TO START LIVING YOUR ADJUSTER'S LIFE TODAY?

The # 1 Best Selling Insurance Adjuster Training is at your fingertips.

* No need spend time and hundreds of dollars with training and travel.

* Everything you need to know from resume to payday.

* No sales gimmick or hook.

* Simple words penned with sweat from years of adjusting and one on one training. 

FREE BONUS!

Adjuster’s Life comes not only with words and examples but a promise to personally assist you for * FREE *as you build your adjusting career.

The Adjuster’s Life thrives in any economy, you can too. 

Are you ready to see what it’s like to ride through a storm with an adjuster?

What’re you waiting for?

Jump in—let’s roll.

Get your Adjuster's Life today

 You might also like:

So, You Want To Be An Insurance Adjuster?

How Much Does An Insurance Adjuster Make?

What Does An Adjuster Need To Know?

FREE Online Flood Insurance Certification!