Forums

To answer the part of your question that is possible to answer, "Yes, it is possible to make a living doing this work." Should you bow out now? I can't answer that. It would depend on a lot of things. There are certainly no guarantees, and now there are more people who don't make it in the long teerm than those who do. This is especially true in the post-Katrina world where about 10,000 three day wonders flooded the market. Most of them are gone now, so who knows? Personally, as an independent I had six very good years, three so so years, and one abysmal year. And when I say abysmal, I mean it was so far down I had to look up to see the floor joists. I can't begin to speak to whether you have what it will take to survive in the current market.

It's a tough industry to get your foot in the door and succeed.
The only good endings I read are from well seasoned adjusters on these forums. I would soak up everything they have to say and research every company before signing on with them.
I personally wouldn't recommend getting more licenses until you get deployed and make it through the first round. Then if you still have your hair, finger nails, toe nails and not amongst the living dead, would I continue on. Good luck to you in your journeys.

I THINK ever state except NY allows temp. adjusters. Wait till it happens and get a temp license and the vendor can get it for you. I  think all people that have a license should have to work under another adjuster for two years, but its not that way. If your dad was an electrician or plumber and you did not want to go to college how many weeks, mpnths or years do you expect to put in before he gives you the keys?

My dad once told us, "just because you have a license, doesn't mean you know how to drive on the ice."

Sure, you can make money. But, you can also sit on your butt for months on end and have terrible years. As others above have said, to be successful, it takes time to learn and understand the business. CAT adjusting is not your standard 9 to 5 claims job.

My suggestion is not to jump into this field with little knowledge or training. A three-day wonder or even attending a three-week school does not make one a competent adjuter. You may get lucky or have friends that can assist you but, unless there is another large event like Katrina, you may never get deployed.

In the long run, I feel most would be much better off getting a regular claims job with an insurance carrier or established IA firm. Let them train you. After a few years of learning the job and paying your dues, if you want to go the CAT route, you will be in a much better position to be successful.

"Paying one's dues."

Now there's a novel concept. How can such an arcane practice still be relevant in this brave new automated society? Such obsolete thoughts, weren't they voted off the island in a prior episode?

"Paying one's dues." Now where have I heard that before?

Ol' Ghost

 I started adjusting when Ike hit and I have been working non stop since.  You probably want get your foot in the door unless a major storm hits.  As far as who to target first for employment, I would try Pilot, Eberls, Wardlaw, Renfroe.  You will never have to worry about being payed on time.  I work for Pilot and probably will only work for Pilot.  They care about there employees.  They service Allstate, State Farm, American Family, Liberty Mutual, and Florida Citizens.  Also if you get a chance to be an inside adjuster before going out in the field, take it.  It will allow you to learn the software and an overview of the adjusting world.  There are quite a few that get thrown out in a cat to be a field adjuster and fail.  It helps to know the basics first. 

Posted By jjm83 on 28 Apr 2009 02:17 PM
  I would like to know if I should bow out now without spending anymore money on this line of work?