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I predict measurement will become much more accurate with the robots taking most of them. Also there will many less serious falls from structures once everyone is assigned their standard issue jet packs.

That old post of Chuck's carried a lot of prophecy.  I think if he could have shared a joint with Jim Morrison a few years earlier, the cat world might be different. Not that I'm condoning that!!

Mike,
I hear it is good for the eye sight.......

Steve et al:

This is probably going to continue and increase in the quantity of claims overpayment and lessen the cost of adjustment, as we are not a factor that can be charged against the file, but rather a cost that they incur which cannot be written off. This is due in part to the inexperienced call center operators, not asking the proper questions, based only on their knowledge or the lack of same or having a comprehensive check off sheet that can be verified before the claim is settled. These people usually have up to $10,000.00 in telephone authority and can use it at their discretion, albeit the loss may not even be covered. As the claims count increase they may up the authority, which will be a monetary catastrophe.

 

 

The residential market will feel this decline very soon, and it may take several years to return to the old, tried and true ways, perhaps never, as the new younger leadership in the carriers is led by technology and they implement it with a somewhat lack of knowledge of our profession.

 

Now, with respect to the commercial side of the equation's, this should and must be done in the old fashioned way, inspect, examine, question, and do it the right way the first time. The commercial work will always need a qualified adjuster to handle an intricate or large claim.

 

The tools of the trade, computers, Internet, PDF, Lazer measuring devices, and other such items have made life a bit easier on the old timer, but the newer people can only rely on them. This is the creation of the dumbing down of the adjuster, and they are at a distinct disadvantage on how to handle a claim properly.

 

What is needed more than anything is a proper education of an individual on the claim policies and procedures. This one item is creating the fiasco's we all experienced in 2004-5 and 2006-08.

 

Unless and until an adjuster is mandated to have 6+ months training in the field,with a fully capable adjuster, and coupled with the proper computer usage

we shall never recover from the issues at hand.

 

Take it for what it is worth to you, but most older adjusters will certainly have some additional input.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck, Ray.

Some claims should be handled by phone, of course. Someone threw a 20 pound boulder through my drivers side window a couple weeks ago. I called the Gecko at 6:30 am and the glass repair guy showed up at 8:30am at my work place. Claim over. Done deal. It is possible that, given my previous experience, Team Five of Big Red would have had me driving around without a window for a day or two.

But then there are other claims where the insured should get the personal attention and accurate claim adjustment they deserve for their premium dollars. Just my opinion, though. I'm not in charge, so I don't make those high level decisons. (Of course, I'm also not responsible for the mess we seem to have gotten ourselves into either -- and there's something to be said for that.)

Technology, technology, technology, our new tower cases with 64 bit O/S will be here on Monday. 8gbs of ram memory. The satellite uplink is on the way. Lasers, man lifts, digital cameras, smart phones, net books, GPS, cell phone repeaters, off site back up, micrometers, catalogs, if you intend to succeed in this business, if you don't have them, you best be thinking about them.

Go back and read my predictions from 5 years ago and then think about the world we live in. My cell phone updated itself today as I was driving across the 310 bridge. Over the air (OTA) update, who ever heard of such a thing, nobody, cause Google and T-Mobile are the only ones that do it.

We've got the same old tools and lots of new ones.

The economy is just going to get worse, when the bad loans come home to roost banks are going to go bankrupt. How are you going to get to a storm if the bank won't loan money on that new Cummings diesel.

There will be an influx of people from other professions, carriers are going to have trouble paying our invoices. We heard a rumor that the power company in Kentucky is having trouble with short term financing to repair their damaged infrastructure and get the power back on. Have you ever worked freeze claims in the dark and then had to eat cold meals and stay in a cold motel room? Me neither and I don't want to. What about fuel, fuel prices are down at the moment, but fuel prices will go back to $6.00 a gallon. What about vendors, several vendors borrowed big money for payroll during Katrina/Rita, but what if the usual sources will not make the loans. Are you willing to help finance a storm, I don't want to do it voluntarily and I certainly don't want a vendor sneaking up on me.

Anyone working flood claims has experienced the change in attitudes at NFIP since Katrina. And more changes are coming. My understanding is that the General Adjusters working for CSC will be phased out April 1 and a new crew will take over.

What if State Farm actually leaves Florida and a million residential policies, will Citizens be able to borrow money, pay claims and pay us too? I wonder. Will a horde of new little insurance companies pop up, can the new little pop ups make good on their financial obligations?

I predict the vendor system will always be the way "farm out" insurance losses will be worked. I expect the large vendors will get larger and the smaller will be history as credit for payroll ever two week becomes tighter. I expect more loyalty on both sides for temp. adjusters.I also expect less turnaround time on the finished product approval to check in hand as a basic file requirements test will be required before deployment. This has been needed for the last 10 years and its the carriers and vendors to blame for not having a strict test and rerference verification.

I suspect claims procedures are about to take a turn for the worse. It was report the AllState has hired a well known firm that assists companies in outsourcing their work. The two areas under consideration are claims and finance. This firm exclusively finds companies for the outsourcing in India. The next claims "manager", to use the term loosely, could be sitting at a desk halfway across the globe, and payment sent by snail mail. Who do you think will handle the complaints based on these circumstances?

AllState requires IntegriClaim, so the paperless file to India is feasilble. IC has already developed & sold metrix programs for analyzing claims to determine if the claim was handled "correctly". The executives at AllState may believe that clerks can now perform file reviews based on the vendor reports generated by IC.

This is not a scenario I would work in.

Wonder if the policy language will change to allow all of the new technology?

Is it not a fact that the carrier has an OBLIGATION to inspect and examine , photograph and prepare an estimate of damage? Or am i too old to remember?

This is a great question Dave. The answer is no. Contract law says "we have the right to inspect, but not the duty".(obligation)

"Its the insured duty to prove up their loss"

Since the risk of loss coverage (the last 60 years) in the dwelling market this has evolved into todays practice. Only in recent years have the court opines said we have to furnish the insured with a copy of "our" estimate of damages, value and loss amount.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...guide.aspx

Here are some thoughts about the economy and what a is going to happen, interesting reading.

No credit means no bank loans, if no bank loans where do computers and vehicles come from. I can tell you that the car lots in Houma are backing up. One of my mentors says that all inventory might as well be milk, once the due date has passed it is unprofitable. This is 2009 and there are 2007 vehicles sitting on lots unsold.

No credit means no credit cards or lower credit limits, how to finance the big boys, those big vendors that get 10,000 people in the field, as they did in 2004. We have always financed Pilot, Crawford, Eberl, Worley and the like, that essential trip to the storm site and the first 60 days, gas, lodging, computers, software and food, before the money starts to flow to our bank accounts. I don't know about you, but I was about 60TUSD in the hole before the first dollar hit my bank account after Katrina. I eventually made money but some of the 60TUSD was short term credit.

Everybody, including you and I, are going to be doing everything we can think of to extend capital.

Will the trillions being spent by our government do any good, I think so, in the short term. Over the next 5 years we are going to see another bubble as billions and billions of borrowed money, increasing the national debt, is disbursed and spent on space travel, social giveaway programs, road building, schools and education and building levees. In the long term, I think the United States of America will return to the way it was in the 1930's in some ways. Outhouses, no electricity, no city water and infrastructure that is at least local.

Wiser more knowledgeable minds than mine say that we are in a depression and I tend to agree. Our government has spent us out of depressions in the past and maybe they will this time, but due to the economic situation in the rest of the world I am doubting it.

So the next five years will be lived on the government dole and then who knows.

Posted By Chuck Deaton on 08 Feb 2009 01:45 PM
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...guide.aspx

Here are some thoughts about the economy and what a is going to happen, interesting reading.

Economic stimulus packages can work -- if they're big enough.

The Great Depression proves that. Oh, I know that you've read or heard endlessly that the New Deal didn't end the Depression and that only World War II did. But let's get our facts and terminology straight, shall we? The New Deal, despite all its activist programs, was never very big on economic stimulus. And besides being a global war, World War II was the biggest stimulus package ever.

Posted By Jud Gardner on 08 Feb 2009 08:45 PM

I suspect that we will see a large portion of construction companies coming in to write the estimates and attach photos for review by the examiner...