Call Pilot back NOW tell them you are ready to roll as soon as you pass the drug test.

New Guy3,

First things first, I gotta call out the CLOWN YES CLOWN that claims to have made 300k in 4 months doing flood claims or claims that SOMEONE he knows made 300k in 4 months. To be a touch subtle, your buddy is either a clueless dumbass to believe his "friend" made 300k in 4 months or he is a L-I-A-R.

Now in regards to your situation, you have NOT messed up whatsoever my friend. If Pilot put you on standby and told you that you need to pack your bags, you are well served to do just that. Pilot is one of the industry JUGGERNAUTS and as such, do as they ask. You need to email and call whoever your contact person is, yes they are probably slammed right now but you need ANSWERS NOW!!! Get a hold of someone.

About the equipment list, yes most of those things are important but do NOT stress my friend about every little thing on that list. That list is just suggestions to keep you productive The power inverter for the truck is something we all need, but I am not sure if you are thinking about bringing the all in one printer and laptop set up in your truck! Now you can do whatever works for you, but personally I don't bring a printer or my laptop out of my RV or hotel room. I am scoping and writing for the first 8 or so hours of my day or scope and write during all daylight hours. I then go back to the notel hotel take a shower grab a bite and then begin the next part of my day writing up my days estimates. Whilst other's may disagree, this works for me. That way my laptop and printer's stay in good shape and I don't have to worry about some crackhead breaking my truck windows to rip off my stuff. The best way for you to decide on what to buy what to bring what stays in the hotel what stays in the truck is to learn from what I tell you what others show you and tell you and take a bit from me a bit from them and then put your own opinion as to what works for you.

That you haven't opened anything yet is good  because I want you to take that little extension ladder back to the store and replace it with a 20 to 22 footer. You state you have a truck, so maybe you have a ladder rack, if you don't have a ladder rack, get one.

I don't want you going at 100 MPH, even if you can. Let's keep it at 65MPH for now. Remember, I don't want you turning in 8 so so claims a day because then you are gonna waste time the next day dealing with all the revisions. I want 25 solid claims a week that are done right the first time than 60 half assed claims a week. You have enough stress to deal with in doing 3 solid claims a day but it's gonna get reall stressfull when now you have 5 rewrites to do on top of the other claims. Pretty soon you start scoping scoping and scoping for a week straight without writing ANYTHING so you can catch up with the rewrites and now with no claims being closed you aren't making any money. Then you are always under the gun and you are no longer in the proper mind set to do good work and everything suffers.

Quality over quantity.

Good luck

Robby Robinson 

I can personally vouch for people that I know made 300K in four months after Katrina, I'm one of them.  As a matter of fact, one of our recently departed comrades who I worked with a few times and who posted to this board frequently, topped 450K and was home by Xmas after Katrina. For clarification, they were Mississippi claims, not New Orleans.
Not bragging, just stating a fact here. There were a ton of adjusters who either turned them in with a $75 fee bill or just literally threw them away in the trash thinking they were all denials. When the re-opens came, everyone had split to Louisiana and those of us that remained had nothing but slab claims with coverage.

Posted By K ung Fu tzu on 05 Sep 2011 02:49 PM

I can personally vouch for people that I know made 300K in four months after Katrina, I'm one of them.  As a matter of fact, one of our recently departed comrades who I worked with a few times and who posted to this board frequently, topped 450K and was home by Xmas after Katrina. For clarification, they were Mississippi claims, not New Orleans.
Not bragging, just stating a fact here. There were a ton of adjusters who either turned them in with a $75 fee bill or just literally threw them away in the trash thinking they were all denials. When the re-opens came, everyone had split to Louisiana and those of us that remained had nothing but slab claims with coverage.

Well that you can personally "vouch " for these people making 300K in a 4 month period makes all the difference in the world......NOT !

I am sorry but you vouching for these people means squat to me,I mean who are you? You don't even identify who you are, sorry but credibility is NOT found in a psuedonym. Sorry but your post means about as much as some team lead from NADO trying to tell ALL of us that he NEVER had a pay issue with NADO and the ones that did were shi$%y adjusters doing sub-par work.
 

I am gonna still call BULL#$%T on the 300K in 4 months(save that speech for the rookie adjusters taking one of these 3 day turn and burn courses)

I spent almost 2 years for Katrina/Rita and I also cleaned up a lot of other adjuster's screw ups and I can tell you that I was buried in claims for much of that time. I did NOT come close to $75,000.00 a month or 18,750.00 per week. For clarity, my name is Robby Robinson and although I made more money during those two years than I ever had before, I did not EVER make 18,750.00 a week ANY WEEK. For tax year 2006, I grossed 203,497.54, I WAS BUSY EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I was working the same storms you worked friend and yet you CLAIM that you made 4 times the amount I made and you made that in 4 months??

4 times the amount of money in 1/3rd of the time .

This blanket denial and adjusters throwing them away thinking they were denials? On that scale? The ONLY thing I have ever seen close to that was during Ike (I wasn't working Ike, I had already pulled the trigger and wen't with Gustav) was the TWIA debacle. Claims that were originally denied or with minimal payments were reopened. The adjuster running the reinspections had two choices with the volume of claims put in their laps. 

1) Deny the claim outright and make 150.00 or 2) rewrite the claim and run the risk of TWIA not paying the adjuster at all. So with those options, ok I can see an increase in claim volume with blanket denials across the board and say 10 claims a day 1500 a day 7 days a week which would bring about 10,000.00 a week.

In 4 months that was only $160,000.00 .

So you claim that you made double that but not just blanket denials, you actually inspected all of the denials and ended up writing out 10+ claims per day. Assuming you only slept 4 hours a day, that is 2 hours per claim per day 7 days a week.

I call BS on your claim, I will post my 1099 if you post yours pal.

Something tells me you won't do that but the challenge stands

Robby

I agree with Tex. This is no place to post personal financial data. Also, I too know adjusters that worked Katrina and did VERY well. Good for them. However, it was a once in a career 'windfall'....and they knew it.

Posted By Alex_Chernov on 06 Sep 2011 07:26 PM
How is it that you throw file into trash, "thinking" it is a denial? Just wondering.. .

Because when the storm first hit and adjusters were deployed to Mississippi, they found an inordinate number of people without flood coverage at the beachfronts. Their assumption was they were all denials.   At the time, I believe the fee bill was $125.00 x 60% = $75.   Rather than complete the paperwork, the literally just stopped handling the files and went to New Orleans when access was open.

Wow. I mean, you need to be a certain sort of a person to walk away from files like that. I am glad I am not that kind. 

Posted By Tex Walker on 07 Sep 2011 12:09 PM
Robby why are you so pissed off about someone making more than you ?... I can also confirm that those numbers are real, because I was also one of " those " few and lucky ones that made incredible money on Katrina. People hired off the streets I personally met made over 150-200K on their first storm, it was just a matter of who you worked for and how the fee scheduled was structured.

I can say, I peraonally grossed more that your 200K on approx with working 10-12 slab claims that paid wind/surge for Lexington AIG homeowners claims @ 2.3 % fee schedule. Do the math, $ 1,000,000 + gross biller at 2.3 % = your having a good day.

Robby, it's not how hard you work, it's how smart you work ! I've met a lot of adjusters that started back in 2004/2005 like you thinking they knew or know everything only to gauge their existence on how much you've made.. Well, if you're still pissed about a storm that happened 6 years ago thinking I really missed the boat on the gravy train of big billers, you should be because that scenario will never happen again !

You ask why I am so pissed off over someone making more money than me? Tex, I am NOT pissed off that someone either made more or claims to have made more than me WHATSOEVER !!

I am a passionate person and I am passionate about this industry and I am passionate about teaching the next generation of adjusters about "reasonable" aspirations in this industry.

What pisses me off is when new adjusters like the gentleman who posted this thread to begin with seems to think that with one or two deployments a year he is gonna be able to make between 60 and 80 grand. He really truly believes that and the reason he believes that is because of the BS that some staff adjuster told him about the 300k made in 4 months. This guy has already spent a few grand to get licensed trained etc.... and he has done so on this erroneous statement of riches over 3 or 4 months. 

So apparently some folks have made this amount of money although they all state that it was a once in a lifetime occurence, it doesn't look like the guy who told this gentleman that those numbers are a one time occurance.

The whole point to the 1099 thing was to call his bluff, I never said that 200k a year is the standard and I know folks made more and folks made less, I wasn't bragging. I simply told Kung Fu guy that he can vouch for that money and I said big deal who are you you post under a pseudonym, talk is cheap and to prove it. Oh yes by the way the 200k I made in 2006 was gross before expenses, so the final AGI was FAR less. Again I wasn't bragging,  I just told Kung Fu guy to back up his words 

The problem is that rookie adjusters read this garbage and they think this is real life and it's NOT!! As all of us are aware our industry is saturated with rookie adjusters. One of the reasons they are flooding MY industry is because of the BS they feed these rookies!! With the economy being what it is these guys are desperate to feed their families and because of guys running their mouths about x amount of dollars, we have a flood of even NEWER adjusters ready to make millions on the gravy train. An abundance of rookie adjusters with bad information does not benefit the industry. If we give these folks real information, we would have a marked decrease in the amount of new folks coming to make the big dollars, it's as simple as that and these folks deserve correct info from the start.

Robby   

Posted By Tex Walker on 07 Sep 2011 01:38 PM
Oh..and one more thing Robby, why would you want to show anyone your tax return for ? You should be embarrased just for saying that, 203,497.54 is not something to brag and bost about either. Keep your personal business to yourself, no one cares how much or in this case how little you made. Stop making it a pissing contest, you are showing how green you really are !

Posted By FloridaBoy on 07 Sep 2011 03:42 PM

I agree with Tex. This is no place to post personal financial data. Also, I too know adjusters that worked Katrina and did VERY well. Good for them. However, it was a once in a career 'windfall'....and they knew it.

 

 FloridaBoy,  whilst you are correct that this forum is NOT the place to post personal financial data, it is also NOT the place to post unsubstantiated claims of phantom riches PERIOD!!! If someone goes out of their way to claim they made that kind of money in a brief amount of time, well prove it! If they can't prove it, they should keep their mouths shut

These forums are read by thousands of rookie adjusters and what they read here they for the most part take as gospel. So if someone is gonna tell our rookie brethren they made 300k in 4 months and that the rookie can make 60k to 80k part time with one or two storms, I say put up or SHUT UP!!!!! Our rookies need REAL information and NOT the dog and pony show that some of the 3 day turn and burn companies tout when trying to fill up a classroom

Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about my industry and I am passionate about helping our newer brethren. Anyone who knows me also know I have zero tolerance for BULL$%T

 

 

Robby Robinson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted By Tex Walker on 07 Sep 2011 01:38 PM
Oh..and one more thing Robby, why would you want to show anyone your tax return for ? You should be embarrased just for saying that, 203,497.54 is not something to brag and bost about either. Keep your personal business to yourself, no one cares how much or in this case how little you made. Stop making it a pissing contest, you are showing how green you really are !

Tex, I am not embarassed about that amount, I was just trying to make this new adjuster realize that the information given is chock full of 

BULL$%T and he deserves real information.

This new adjuster is being fed a line of BULLS%^T and I am copying and pasting below the reason I am passionate about voicing my opinion to help our rookie brethren:

My thought process is get called out on 2 storms make 60 to 80 k a year based off his information.

NEED I SAY MORE?

Posted By CatAdjusterX on 09 Sep 2011 09:46 PM

Posted By Tex Walker on 07 Sep 2011 01:38 PM
Oh..and one more thing Robby, why would you want to show anyone your tax return for ? You should be embarrased just for saying that, 203,497.54 is not something to brag and bost about either. Keep your personal business to yourself, no one cares how much or in this case how little you made. Stop making it a pissing contest, you are showing how green you really are !

Tex, I am not embarassed about that amount, I was just trying to make this new adjuster realize that the information given is chock full of 

BULL$%T and he deserves real information.

This new adjuster is being fed a line of BULLS%^T and I am copying and pasting below the reason I am passionate about voicing my opinion to help our rookie brethren:

My thought process is get called out on 2 storms make 60 to 80 k a year based off his information.

NEED I SAY MORE?

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Tex, me green? The fact alone that you are defending the CLOWN that told this rookie adjuster he can make 60 to 80k a year with two storms a year tells me how "green" you must be.

Nobody cares how "little" I made ?Keep my personal business to myself? UHM, my post was in response to Kung Fu along with your "boast" that you made 300k in 4 months. There are tons of folks just like you on the net that talk the talk, but when challenged to back up your tales with facts, zero zip nada. You and others like you need to post responsibly on these boards because so many new adjusters are reading these posts as well

 

Posted By newguy3 on 31 Aug 2011 01:36 AM

 

 I just got hired by Pilot, I guess. They called and said get your paperwork in and get ready for a drug test. The lady told me that she knew they would call me so pack my bags. I have all paperwork in, but they haven’t called me for a drug test yet. I e-mailed and they said if I was called to give them the zip of where I was going and they would set me up there to have it done. 

I have taken all my tests they have on (my training) and passed with 100%. I am starting the free stage 1 of xactimate. I have bought a 16' extension ladder that fits in the bed of my truck, a laptop, mobile printer, the office supplies on their list, a 750 watt inverter, a roof angle tool, 100 ft tape, construction master calculator, and a few other small things. I was going to order the belt system they recommended but they are out. So I don’t have a hagg shingle gauge, chalk, chalk holder, magnifying glass, magnet, all in one scanner printer copier, fax, and I believe this is all I don’t have from the list. Thus far, 2000 bucks. I haven’t opened anything I can’t take back yet.

I am 31 years old and have 3 small girls, I know that I could be gone a while (although I was under the impression only 30 claims and 2 weeks). I owned my own construction business for 12 years and did several large projects, and worked with several insurance adjusters. I believe I understand the way of life and the long hours, I spent many years with 16 hour days. I am not just a kid jumping into this; well I didn’t feel that way until I read some of your posts. I got the idea from a State Farm staff adjuster who has a great life, not millions but comfortable. He told me to look at Pilot. I also met a guy that works for Pilot and he told me of the long hours and paperwork. He told me that he made 45000.00 off his first claims in 2005, and how his friends got called to New Orleans and made 300k in 4 months off flood claims. I realize that was a once in a life time storm. My thought process is get called out on 2 storms make 60 to 80 k a year based off his information.

Here is where I wonder if I messed up. Did I just waste 2 grand? Will I waste another 2 when I get called by going? Don’t get me wrong I will work my tail off, but I don’t really know what I am doing. I am a fast learner and I move 100 mph. That doesn’t help if I don’t know the world I am working in. These guys say I should be fine, but I don’t know. The Pilot guy I met said live at the help center until I figure it out.

What say you? Thanks for your time on this… 

 

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Newguy3, what do you mean when you say you have started the free stage 1 of XM8?

 

One thing to remember is that you pay for everything. Rooms, Gas, Gas, Food , Gas, Did I say Gas? This alone will cut your $80K per year by over 50% . it's not what you Gross it's what you net. Oh yaa remember to save back 35% for taxes.

 remember: don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see. Been there done that!!

Posted By Montana Goldust on 11 Sep 2011 11:07 AM

One thing to remember is that you pay for everything. Rooms, Gas, Gas, Food , Gas, Did I say Gas? This alone will cut your $80K per year by over 50% . it's not what you Gross it's what you net. Oh yaa remember to save back 35% for taxes.

 remember: don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see. Been there done that!!

Well the gross I spoke of a few days ago when adjusted for all expenses and taxes and self employment tax( Social Security) literally brought that number down by almost 45%

 

Posted By ImReady on 03 Oct 2011 03:00 AM
I make it a point to never call someone a liar. It is the lowest form of communication a person can perform. You are not God, you do NOT know everything, and have no right to say someone did not make the money they say they did. I believe he made what he said, I have no reason to disbelieve him. I have never seen his paycheck, I know nothing of his business expenses. I would be a total fool to say to him that he is lying. I am no fool. HOWEVER, if I did mess up and call someone a liar, I would be quick to apologize to them. This would show that I am an honorable man. Which I am.

Mr. ImReady,

You are a dollar short and a day late and you chiming in weeks after this was resolved is about as worthless as.......you get the idea !

Let me make something PERFECTLY CLEAR, I have every right to say anything I want if it makes a new kid think twice before investing money that many can't afford based upon stories of riches that can be made. I have paid my dues and taken my lumps and I have earned that right.

As per more than a few posts on this very thread and a few calls and a few emails, I have had colleagues and friends let me know that they did indeed make that kind of money and within that time frame on that particular storm(Katrina). It is also crystal clear that every single adjuster who made that kind of money from that storm would NEVER give a new adjuster thinking of getting into the biz the idea that they could make the same.
 

If you read the thread ,you would be well aware that what made me respond so passionately is this new person had in his mind that based upon THAT(the 300k in 3 to 4 months) information, he is thinking he can make 60 to 80k on just two storms a year. Even more important is this kid (31) is a daddy to 3 little girls and he is worried about the couple grand he has already invested.

Anyone who wants to be a CAT adjuster without either having a family member already in the biz and in a position to give them a leg up or a friend in the biz also in a position to give them a leg up and has to support a family as a new adjuster should stay far away from this industry. I have and will continue to help every adjuster already in the biz. If I can help a young man with a family by giving him a reality check, you are DAMN right I am gonna step up and say something.

So Mr. ImReady, I don't need any ethics advice or any advice from someone who hides behind a psuedonym and I sure as hell don't need ANY advice from someone who doesn't pay attention to detail enough to see this thread was handled weeks before you opened up your mouth.

Robby Robinson

Chuck, the point was that you said it had to be net, net after expenses. So I gave you the expenses.

If you can't clear enough to net out a profit after that, I guess I'm missing your point.

Just about any job you have, you will be expected to provide transportation to and from work.

Licensing, certifications, continuing education are frequently expenses carried by the employee.

Ever notice how many people use cell phones, air cars, laptops? Yes, I included those monthly costs as expenses.

Your bitterness is duly noted, but I don't get why you care so much....

If this is such a crappy way to make a living, why are you still here?

Do the math, to gross 27 grand in 28 days you have to average $67.50 an hour for 400 hours of being awake. If you gross 27 grand at 300 per claim that means that you have to be assigned 90 claims and you have to average 3.3 closings per day, everyday.

For Tex Walker to have grossed 600 grand would have required 6000 hours at 100 gross an hour. By my calculations that would be about 500 24 hour days.

Chuck and Rod:  The key here is how the bills were calcluated.  No one said they were hourly.

Adjusters who were as fortunate as this 'Tex' and 'K ung' were in the perfect storm with the right (for them and their pocketbooks) carrier who had billing arrangements set up on a contigency fee for GLA's that took little or no time to calculate.  The carrier rescinded those agreements very shortly after these adjusters/firms submitted their bills and paid their adjusters.  The reason they rescinded those arrangements was for the same reason the cynics on this forum aren't able to 'run the numbers'.

Anyway heads rolled, acccounts were lost, and Albatross' were to be hung around necks for years to come.  There's a good reason why these people have false aliases; it's not because they are lying about how much they made.  Some actually made much more than Tex.

Posted By Tex Walker on 04 Oct 2011 05:03 PM
Maybe if CatadjusterX would stay off CADO and keep from posting 24 hrs a day to the majority of the blogs, he would actually make some money and see what you can actually do when your not Queen Bee of the chat rooms ! Sorry if your still bitter about people that made ALOT more than you on past storms, not to worry it will happen again for the majority of us !

Tex  Walker

What is it with you, you seem to have a BIG problem with me and you must like to stir up the hornet's nest just for the sake of dealing with your own inadequacies. I say this because unless you are extremely dense, you would have read enough of my posts on this thread alone that explains clearly my reasoning for action. Your statement that I am still bitter about people making more money than me clearly eclipses you being dense and crosses the line between ignorance and S-T-U-P-I-D-I-T-Y.. Is that clear enough for you?

Your comment about me trying to be queen bee in the CADO forums and posting on CADO 24 hrs. a day shows exactly how little you know about me. You have no clue who I am or what I do everyday. I will tell you that CADO is but a small part of my day, but you are GOD DAMN right that I will continue to post as many posts on as many sites as necessary to give the new folks a clear picture of what this industry is and isn't about. As long as there are people like you that spin bogus tales of excellence and non stop work, I will continue to do what I do the way I do it

You are right about one thing, this industry is a lot smaller than folks think.

Robby Robinson

Your comment about me trying to be queen bee in the CADO forums and posting on CADO 24 hrs. a day shows exactly how little you know about me. 

I agree.  He forgot that you've got to sleep too.  I think he meant 18 hrs.

Posted By OkcLarryD on 05 Oct 2011 09:04 AM
Robby,

You lost me when you took the Lord's name in vain....................

Well Larry, All I have to say to you is........you are gosh darn correct and I should NOT EVER take his name in vain and for that I am truly sorry to you and the man upstairs.
 

Posted By Jud G. on 05 Oct 2011 12:40 AM

Your comment about me trying to be queen bee in the CADO forums and posting on CADO 24 hrs. a day shows exactly how little you know about me. 

I agree.  He forgot that you've got to sleep too.  I think he meant 18 hrs.

Oh.

Now then, this is more like it!!  Reminds me of the entertaining quarrels in past years, but I don't think I'll participate.  Age and patience have set in, as Stormcrow (aka the Dirty One) has lend credence to.  Do what we do, as can as we can, and live with it.  There's no need to be on the one-up on 'ya type of talk, because at the end of the day.....the big earners are also the big spenders.  It will catch up, and maybe already has for some.

Posted By Leland on 05 Oct 2011 07:30 PM
I do not want to be the last word on the subject so will someone please post a story on the WORST fee bill for the MOST amount of work. (Then maybe we can average the two to give a realistic portrayal to newcomers....)

Whilst not a herculian effort, I wrote a 34k and change estimate and submitted a roughly 1,175.00 fee bill only to find out a few days later it was an erronious assignment and had already been inspected (twice)written and closed with payment from another IA firm. As such, instead of approx. $700.00 I was only able to re submit  a bill for 70.00 for an erroneous assignment but being #3, I got zero zip nada

Posted By Tex Walker on 05 Oct 2011 09:09 AM
Robby, what do you mean by this comment ? " As long as there are people like you that spin bogus tales of excellence and non stop work " I think everyone here knows and can validate that what I'm saying is true and there are people that do really well like me in this business or obviously they would have found their fortune somewhere else.

I think your comments clearly state your insecurities and inadequacies, as you seem to be the dense one here. I dont have a clue who you are, but you sure make it easy to paint a self portrait on who you are.

So continue to do what you do and they way you do it, because obviously it's not working for you since you have to be combative with others and how others make it look so easy !

Take the path of least resistance in life, you might like it :)

Tex, nothing in my responses indicates anything about me being bitter of others making more than me, that was NEVER the issue. The issue was and is and always will be about giving prospective adjusters real world information and facts to make an educated decision, PERIOD!!!! Uneducated and undertrained rookie adjusters are saturating our industry and have done much damage to the industry through monumental mistakes, driving fee schedules way down and are PARTLY responsible for the rise of the Public adjuster and plaintiff attorneys over the last 5 to 10 years. Many of these folks are buying into the dog and pony shows that many(not all) of the vendors who promote their 3 day licensing courses about BIG money and claims of adjuster shortages. In Texas alone there are close to 45,000 licensed adjusters and I would say probably half of those if not more have never adjusted claim 1. This year was great for new adjusters but even that was less than 7,000 working adjusters(new and old hands).

If these new folks were given a realistic view of our craft, a good portion would probably decide against entering the fray . That would drastically reduce the numbers coming in and by default the ones who do choose to enter our industry would know that the big money is the fruits of experienced adjusters who have paid their dues and taken their lumps and in most cases that kind of money will not be realized as a rookie adjuster
 

Tex, that is the ONLY reason for my responses in this thread. Oh, by the way, the path of least resistance is not always the right path my friend . 

In closing, there is a great difference between combative and passion

Posted By Mike Kunze on 05 Oct 2011 09:07 PM

Now then, this is more like it!!  Reminds me of the entertaining quarrels in past years, but I don't think I'll participate.  Age and patience have set in, as Stormcrow (aka the Dirty One) has lend credence to.  Do what we do, as can as we can, and live with it.  There's no need to be on the one-up on 'ya type of talk, because at the end of the day.....the big earners are also the big spenders.  It will catch up, and maybe already has for some.

Well said !