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fivedaily
USA
258 Posts |
 Posted - 04/22/2003 : 14:59:54
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Ya know CD, I pur out a reasonable request to Mshort for him to explain how he did it because I need the production. He ignored me and instead chose to focus on all of the negative posts. I don't think he truly wanted to do anything other than brag. Because if he was trying to be a helper to those around him, he missed his opportunity. He wasn't run off, he ran away from responding to my request to know how he closed 200+ files in 24 days. His initial post had math errors and he never bothered to correct them. This is why there was such a response to his closure numbers. Anyone here would have been more than happy to know how he did it. Being a braggart will get you exactly what he got. Put up or shut up.
Jennifer |
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jlombardo
USA
212 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 15:08:58
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| NICELY PUT , JENNIFER........YOU GOT MY VOTE. |
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LAW1526
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 16:17:19
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CatDaddy
You are right this is an excellent place to draw from everyone’s expressed experiences and apply or disregard. From my point of view the readers only wanted to know (like preparing detailed file) how you and Mr. Mshort are able to accomplish the amount of claims in the time frames you have identified. I for one can only reason with my own experience and how long it takes me to process a claim with out having it come back to me with question or corrections. If it’s a trade secret and you do not want to articulate in detail how you produce those kinds of numbers then so be it. In my understanding of your posts you expressed your appreciation for this sight being a learning tool for all of us to draw from. I would really like to know based from your input if I’m capable of performing the same. Thus, I could learn from your detailed time management system to better myself and praise you for your unselfish assistance.
The amount of detail required by the organizations I have been working with, have required detailed log notes, captioned photo sheets showing all damages, detailed diagrams, detailed estimates and on my last hurricane a full captioned report. All that co-mingled with 24 hour contact, scheduling inspections and working with the insured. I mathematically cannot get your numbers to work in relationship to the way I have been working my claims. My assumption is you and Mr. Mshort developed a system that is working for you. I was hoping you would share your system with us. I have mixed no bones that I’m envious of your numbers. I just would like to know how you are doing it.
I do not nor did I intend to offend or belittle any one. I was just expressing my personal experiences real time. At your request, I can provide you with a time line of a normal day for me and produce an actual completed file I have been required to submit. You can evaluate my work and point out where I may improve my production and we will share that with our readers.
By just simply making a statement I work 8 to 5 and complete 9 to 10 claims a day does not articulate how you manage to do that, nor does it provide any tools for one to learn from. I could have just as easily stated I normally do 10 to 15 claims a day 7 days a week and turn all my claims in the day after I inspected them. I don’t think you would have believed me with out me supporting my claim. If we all were to make blanket statements with out supporting our position then this sight only becomes a sight of foolishness. I don’t believe that is what you intended or is it?
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 16:53:27
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Hey Hurricane! You go girl!
Lenny (LAW1526), another great post; I'm glad you found your way to CADO. |
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CatDaddy
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 17:40:38
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Jennifer, back in February, you started a great thread called "My typical daily schedule" and we got some great information about how adjusters go about their daily routines. What Short, myself, and others do is what I listed in my post of 2/13/03. It is based on a 12 hour day and we work 6 days a week, full speed ahead. My post was as follows. Those of you seeking the secret formula, get your pencils out.
Posted - 02/13/2003 : 14:08:28
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I’ll throw my typical day in the hat……
When I go out to inspect, I have completed ALL of the preparation for those inspects no later than the day before. I use a calendar and I have appointments scheduled at least two weeks out.
The day before, I have a Delorme map with every claim I have with me on it. As I have said in other posts, the FIRST thing I do is enter my claims into Delorme and see what my territory looks like. I usually pick some type of roadway that dissects the center of my territory and then take a vertical line and that divides my turf into 4 quadrants. I group my claims according to the quadrant they fall in and by street. THEN I start call people, already knowing where they are and what claims I have in the same area. I get my days work into as tight an area as I can. I have found that I had 10 claims on the same street before by doing this first.
So my days work is tight. I have also entered all of the admin information into Xactimate for each claim. So with them mapped out and entered, all I have to do is go work them.
I try to be sitting in front of my first one by 8am. So the whistle blows and you’re off. Straight down hail on an average home takes about 20 to 40 minutes to scope, depending on damage. Then another 20 or so to write it up. After I complete the estimate, while it is printing, I staple my photos and write the check. I get the copy for my insured ready with the check and before I walk away from the van, I start the print on the copy of the estimate for the file. I go inside, do my explanation thing with the policyholder and when I come out, I grab the copy printed for the file, throw it in the jacket and head for the next one.
If they are zoned tightly, I can do one about every 45 minutes. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. If the policyholder is home, I write the estimate and draft everytime. The claim is done and it saves you phones calls and letters you may have to write for claims that are not first contact settled.
One piece of advice I would give is to try to make your appointment times a little flexible. Not to come later but to come sooner. I tell my PH, “Ok Mr. Carr, that’s 10am on Wednesday the 12th. Now I am going to be just around the corner from you at 9am. If I finish with Mr. Ghostbuster early, is it ok to come to your home a little early? I will call you first if that happens.” 9 out of 10 times they will say yes. This allows you to stay ahead and gives you the ability to squeeze in another 1 or 2 a day.
Its a race against yourself. You want to look at as many as you can close the same day. Don’t get in the habit of looking at 10 and closing 7. The next day you look at 8 and close 7. That type of cycle puts your pending files on the rise and that causes a whole lot of other things to happen. Your phone is ringing, your basket is full of messages, your voicemail is full, your boss is asking you what’s going on and you can’t sleep. All bad things for cat adjuster to contend with.
I try to quit no later than 3pm. A claim that was first contacted in the field takes about 15 minutes to get ready for review. Think about what you have looked at and that its gonna take about 2 ½ hours to write up 10 files when you get in. Get to the office or hotel by 3pm, write them up by 530pm and you have 1 ½ hours to finish planning for tomorrow and whatever else you need to do.
That’s a 12 hour day, 7am to 7pm. Eating lunch is optional. I keep an ice chest handy and have learned to love convenience store food.
Thats it Lenny. Its a twelve hour day though, not 8am to 5am. It works. You work hard for 6 days then play hard for 1. The number you can do varies based on extent of damage and type of houses. Short is working 2-story steep in Dallas and is doing only 5 a day but his billings are good. The system is the same though. Staight down hail, you can inspect/close/first contact 8 a day and take a long lunch or you can eat a sandwich and do 10 a day. My personal best is 16 inspects/closings on one day but I was on my first one at 7:15am. I closed my last one at 6:30pm. Short just recently did 18 in one day but I think he said he wasnt able to close them all til the next day. None of that is everyday for any of us but you bust it on one day like that and then fall back to 8 to 10 a day and your average is pretty high.
CCarr, guit talk'n to that hurricane! I need a match on my 401K!
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jlombardo
USA
212 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 19:05:31
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| You and Shorty are truly the greatest adjusters that I have ever heard of........You must be incredibly fast with measurements,loading and unloading your ladder,equipment, etc.....a true shutter bug....I guess you are fortunate to be able to "staple " the photos...most of us have to load them into the program and label them...most of us have to draw diagrams of the roofs, etc.....Please don't take this wrong...but you guys are truly amazing.........and must be tremendously athletic and in incredible shape...like the photo of you and shorty tossing the toliet seat...it is obvious you are tri-athletes.......I guess if they were all gable roofs.....Any way, thanks for sharing and be safe ....please don't trip as you sprint across the roofs........ |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 19:44:47
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mshort68 said (Post 04/21/2003 : 18:51:39) Guys, I wasn't bragging.....I'm just excited about being in the business and running and gunning.
I have only one question:
Why doesn't mshort68 post the same "information" about how many claims he is closing and how much money he is making on The Worley Companies website? (In his non-bragging way of course)
The Worley Companies have a really nifty Interactive Community located there which is called Worley Cityplace, where any adjuster, especially Worley adjusters can share ideas and information with one another.
In fact mshort68 has posted there before, although a little more humbly than his posts here on CADO.
And since Worley was the vendor for whom mshort68 was working in Pineville, I am sure they would appreciate his sharing his valuable insights and tips with all of their other adjusters so they too can one day have their own mansions on the hill, instead of having to cut Shorty's grass to make ends meet.
The Worley Cityplace website is located as follows and is worth viewing by everyone here:
http://www.worleyco.com/bbs/
So again I ask, WHY hasn't Shorty posted the same information there as he has shared with all of us here?
Can anyone here think of any reason why he hasn't or might not?
CD, surely as his mentee, you must have some clue?
Just imagine the gratitude that Mike Worley and Darryl Martin would have toward any hotshot adjuster who could share lessons like this (in a non-bragging way, of course) with all of their other slow poke adjusters who only close six or seven or eight or nine (but close them right) files per day!
Such an intriquing question and for the life of me, one I just can't figure out... |
Edited by - JimF on 04/22/2003 20:20:29 |
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LAW1526
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 19:44:51
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CatDaddy
Thank you for your response. I would like to ask a few questions.
1. Are your log entries one line entries?
It normally takes me about 20 mins. for all log entries per file.
2. Are your photos digital?
By the time I down load my photos (8 to 10 photos), insert them into my estimating program, caption each photo takes at least another 20 mins.
3. What type of diagrams are you putting in the file?
I draw my roof and perimeter diagrams in the estimating program showing north, east, south and west. Location of damages on the diagrams and the direction of the storm. This takes at least another 20 mins.
As you can see I have at least 60 min dedicated to the above three items. I have another 20 to 30 mins to prepare the estimate. I normally spend 30 to 40 min for my inspections with out encountering any problems and another 10 min setting up the file.
This totals approximately 2 hours per file not including drive time. To inspect 6 claims and enter all required data I have 12 plus hours invested in 6 claims. Then I have to make phone calls and return phone calls. I must admit 14 to 15 hour days are very normal for me.
I have no problem mapping my claims and placing them so I have 5 to 10 min to get to the next inspection.
Where and how can I decrease my time per file?
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LAW1526
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 19:59:26
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CatDaddy
One last question do your T&E claims reflect your aforementioned time frames? |
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GLB
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 21:51:34
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Shorty
What is your reinspection average score? Why do you leave the storm so soon? If the vendor has enough claims to asign you 224, they must have a large claim count or very short handed. Either way a man with your skills and knowledge should be a valuable asset to the vendor. Most vendors would be very gratful and pay whatever it takes to keep you on a storm site. It was stated you pay more taxes than some of us make, which is doubtful. Do pay all your taxes due? Most of us slow adjuster will usually exceed $100,000.00 per year and not tell everyone our business. If you pay more than $100,000.00 a year in taxes, you are burning yourself out for nothing. The US Gov't will survive without your payment. Do you only have one friend on this site that has worked with you and will support your statement. Your vendor should be proud of your figures and should make a statement for you and be extra happy and proud to have a man of your ability on his roster. This would be a good selling point for obtianing new business. If he could back it up. You surely do not work for a vendor listed on this site or thay would be proud to acknowledge your abilities.
Do you work for the same vendor and have to seek employement from a new vendor for each storm. |
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Michael Stueart
USA
26 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 00:10:47
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WOW!!!!
THE BLOOD SEEMS TO BE GUSHING HERE..........
IN DEFENCE OF CD AND SHORTY, I KNOW 2 ADJUSTERS WHO ARE WORKING DALLAS NOW THAT ARE CLOSING 10 A DAY, START AT 7:30, FINISHED SCOPING BY 12-1:00 AND THROUGH WITH PAPERWORK BY 4:00. THEY ARE FAST. EVEN IN MARYLAND THEY WERE EACH SEEING 6-7 A DAY WITH SEWER BACKUPS, AND THROUGH WITH PAPERWORK BY MID AFTERNOON. THE COMPANY DOES HAVE THE CLAIMS ASSIGNED TIGHT, EVEN HERE IN NY THEY ARE ASSIGNED FAIRLY TIGHT.
EVEN FOR A ROOKY LIKE ME, HERE ON THE ICE STORM I HAVE CLOSED 58 CLAIMS IN 1 WEEK OF INSPECTIONS. AND I HAVE NOT HAD ANY KICKED BACK ON THIS STORM. GRANTED SOME OF MY CLAIMS HAVE BEEN FAST TRACKED AND A FEW CWP'S BUT THE RATE AINT BAD FOR A TEXAS BOY WHO HAS ONLY WORKED 4 STORMS. I THINK I COULD CLOSE 10 A DAY ON HAIL.
MAYBE I'M LOOKING AT IT WRONG BUT I DONT SEE WHY YOU ALL CANT BELIEVE HE CANT CLOSE 10 + A DAY. IF THE CLIMS ARE TIGHT AND TRAVEL BETWEEN CLAIMS IS CLOSE....
MY 2 CENTS WORTH... |
Michael Stueart |
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GLB
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 00:12:22
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Jim F
I just read your post of 4/20/03. You are 100% correct. I started out in 1971 with a large indepentent. They paid me a salary, furnished a company car, sent me to all types of insurance schools and gave me several years of ojt. While I was employed by this independent they sent me out on several storms. At this time the requirements for a cat adjuster was to be an experienced adjuster with several years of staff or independent experience. Through the years some contractors started working cats. This worked out, these guys were serious about the business. During these years everyone had all the work they wanted. You were able to take time off, and when ready to return to work all you had to do was make a phone call, and advise you were ready for work. We all made good pay but no one knew how much other adjusters were being paid or their file count. No adjusters bragged about this. Then a storm named Andrew struck. The companies were demanding adjusters from the vendors and the vendors started looking for bodies. These bodies were able to stay hidden in the maze for a few weeks. Then reinspections and audits started th wein out the obvious. Others survived because the companies were being pressured by the commissioner. The vendors kepp these bodies working because they knew the clean up crew would have to clean up the mess after the storm office closed. After Andrew the ones that survived for two three months, thought they were experienced adjusters and had been paid more money for two -three months work, then they had ever made in a year. They then started bragging to their un employed cousins, in laws or out laws. They all then began mailing out resumes to every cat co. they could get a name and address of. Most of them only worked for a vendor only one storm, They then had to try to get hooked up with another vendor. Of course they continued to brag about the nlarge paychecks. Some of them are still carring a cop of one of the Andrew checks and continue to tell friends and enimies this is always the way storm work pays. Know we have all these schools everywhere, so you can buy your license in a round a bout way. If you pay the fee, attend class and not spit on the instructor, they will continue drilling you on the test answers until they pass the test.
This is the reason we have cat adjusters that can only work one type of storm, and others out in the field that do not know what a Proof is or haow to complete one. No one has never put this form in their hand and told then how to fill in the blanks. The do not have a sample to refer back to.
If the vendors would ever pull their resumes and vertify the experience or background they could probably trash about 50% of their names on the list.
You are experienced in the field. Do you agree or not? |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 07:22:21
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Gary, I agree wholeheartedly, and for all the reasons you have given, and a few others.
Most especially do I agree with your comments:
We all made good pay but no one knew how much other adjusters were being paid or their file count. No adjusters bragged about this.
Bravado and braggadocio in boasting of claims closed or money made, are merely an oinment for the reflective insecurities of those lacking class.
I find such discussions of income counterproductive, as a friend of mine labels them, and largely irrelevant, as well as tasteless. To me at least, discussing how much you make or made is unprofessional and only serves to invite a dilution of the ever smaller claims pie which is akin to personally killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
I'm surprised more posters haven't piggybacked more on that aspect under this thread.
And I repeat my earlier question: When will we ever learn? |
Edited by - JimF on 04/23/2003 07:30:12 |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 08:27:03
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Lest we forget.
The whole purpose in the claims process for adjuster deployment is not adjusters getting rich but insureds getting served. |
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Ghostbuster
476 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 08:30:22
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When will we ever learn? Wasn't that a line from an old folk music tune from the early sixties? Something about 'Where did all the flowers go'?
It is basic human nature to reduce all things down to the lowest common denominator, unless there is an outside force to maintain the standards. Such a force can be on the grand scale of government protectionism of domestically produced products, (steel, cars, food, appliances,), or professional and union organizations, (doctors, engineers, plumbers, teamsters). But, adjusters do not have such a force of control. We do not because the insurance industry squashes that bug before it can hatch.
So...here we are as a trade group sinking to the level of the lowest common denominator. We get more like Homer Simpson each day. And, that's pretty low. |
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It started on Hail and ended where ??
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