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Search the archives, all the veterans who post here have said time and time again, stay on the porch. First time out you will be lucky if you get home with your shirt.

Posted By ChuckDeaton on 18 Jun 2009 01:19 PM
Search the archives, all the veterans who post here have said time and time again, stay on the porch. First time out you will be lucky if you get home with your shirt.

Let's just say for a minute I am willing to take my knocks and come home without my shirt the first time... Then what, will it be worth it then?

Chuck, I do appreciate your response by the way, I am just looking for more opinions.

If I just listened to the first person who told me something was hard and that I should give up, then I wouldn't exactly be cut out to do this sort of thing now would I? :)

I have been told I wasn't worthy or I didn't know enough about a particular business many times and never let that stop me before.

If there is good money to be made in this business then I am willing to do what it takes to learn and willing to pay my dues, that's the way it goes in any business.

Not my first Rodeo, just my first Rodeo riding this particular horse.

Have a lot of credit cards and a good vehicle.

Tough crowd.. Thanks guys for your help..

Anyone of us will help you and will answer your questions honestly.

If you have friends that have made big money, quiz them and post the way to the light on this board.

If you know any young ladies that are rocket scientists, that can do geometry theorems in their heads, quiz them too.

I can tell you that every reader wants to know the secret of big money, I certainly do and will pay for the information. I pay my broker, my banker, engineers, other adjusters, contractors, mechanics and Xactimate, I would certainly pay for bona fide directions to the light.

If you or anybody else knows anybody that has consistently made 6 figures per annum adjusting insurance claims over a career, please, please, please send me a name and contact number.

I agee with Chuck. I haveseen good andI have seen bad, but my wife always made some income. I can make this general statement. "it,s good luck and hard work to make $1,000. per day gross day after day....... bla bla...... bla. Its good luck to work 6 months a calander year. The good adjusters seem to have good luck..... bla....bla...bla.

 The problem with any response to this question is that no one can predict how much work will be available in the foreseeable future (next two years) because the amount of work that will soon be available will be determined by (almost completely)  future, not past events. This in itself is practically the entire foundation that the Independent industry was built on.  Today’s Insurance companies rely on an Independent work force as an effective tool for handling the unforcastable overflow / glut of  claim work that exceeds their ability to settle w/ in-house staff.  Hiring and maintaining a large staff force in anticipation of large / unforeseeable events is not a cost effective solution and to date, I have yet to hear of any better means of handling large claim activity (within the mandates put in place by the DOI) than w/ an Independent force.  

 

   There is no such thing as a good time to start a claims industry career, there is only good / lucky timing.  If you obtain your adjuster’s license, carrier certification, complete estimatics and policy training now and a hurricane of any significance makes landfall on a populated area this year, chances are very good that you will receive an assignment w/not just one IA company but every IA Co. that you take the time to complete an application process / sign on with.

 

  $45K / year ?...  Yearly earnings will depend on many things but I don’t want to skirt what I perceive to be the fundamental spirit of your question so I think the best way to provide you with some perspective on the subject, I will need to create an fictitious (yet very possible) chain of claim generating events that would level the work opportunity playing field for all catastrophe adjusters (newbies – old salts) for accurate comparison:

 

Walk with me if you will to the year 20??, the year that began in mid January with a large earthquake in LA, followed by a record spring hail season,  the landfall of a strong category 3 on the upper east coast in August followed by another hurricane of similar proportions in Miami come mid October. In this calendar year, all licensed property adjusters would  have the opportunity to work as many days as they could stand up to a total of 350 days.

 

In this scenario, the  individual yearly salaries would range (conservatively) from negative double digits to $500,000.00 pre taxes and post deduction amt for carrier percentage split. Mixed amongst these incomes figures you would find:

 

• Numerous new – moderately experienced adjusters who became overwhelmed w/their assignments and quit before their first paycheck.
• Numerous hard core, tenacious new adjusters who slugged their way through all 350 days, billing on a component basis for the first 30 – 90 days  and succumbing to a $476/day (daily rate) for the balance of days remaining in that year.
• Some well seasoned / trained adjusters w/ average levels of motivation who quit the year in July after banking $250,000.00. (because they were tired and that was more money than they had ever made in a given year)
• Some highly motivated 2-3yr experience level adjusters who earned $200,000.00 - $350,000.00 by working the whole year strictly on a component basis.
• Some 5 – 15+ year highly motivated crackerjack adjusters that earned $500,000.00+  ( very desirable to the industry because of their accuracy and efficiency)  This group of adjusters were continuously pushed into large new claim inventories from event to event by the Independent firms that they worked for. (The industry tends to lead with their best foot forward because adjusters who make a lot of $ will  also make a great deal of $ for the IA Co.s that employ them.)

 

My conclusion:  There is no average income.

 

That would be my most accurate assessment of yearly potential income based on what I have witnessed in past years.  Note: some opinion was unavoidably included to cement the integrity of scope into some semblance of meaning.  If you would like my most politically correct answer than disregard what I just said, forget about potential salary and pay attention to the details and priorities of becoming well established in a new career.

 

• Get licensed, IDL’d, certified and trained  because your opportunity to work storm will come.  Most every year will include what I would call a jumping on event. The time just following a large catastrophic occurrence when the IA train (if you will) slows down just enough for new adjusters to jump on board. In other words, all licensed adjusters (with very few exceptions) wanting a storm assignment will get the opportunity to work a large occurrence. 

 

• Don’t forget to bring your education, know how, insight, knowledge, understanding etc. of how the claims industry operates!   New Independent Adjusters could earn 2-3 times the salaries of new doctors and attorneys if they were simply willing to invested 1/10^th of the time and financial resources of medical and law students. The opportunities (training schools, information and events) to learn are everywhere. Every major cat site  I witness a sea of new IAs that are forced to spend 12 out of every 14hr day in the office working on returned files and asking questions when they could be out in the field earning money.  Remember:   It’s Ready, Aim, Fire -  NOT – Ready, Fire, Aim.    

 

• Be prepared to demonstrate the appropriate attitude and capabilities for working both current and future claims. Getting invited back to work the smaller and more frequent (career sustaining) storm events will depend largely on a strong first assignment performance.  It is very difficult to portray any redeemable qualities to a new employer  when you are overwhelmed and frustrated.  Your first storm deployment is nothing short of an interview for the chance to work future storm events. IA companies (much like any company that wants to prosper)  don’t like to take a risk on the great unknown therefore they tend to carefully choose who to deploy from their list of employees whenever possible. IA companies don’t care how much or how little education or experience that you have because they have learned that the best way to evaluate an adjusters capabilities is by first hand knowledge of work product and behavior. (Example: I am currently deployed on a storm clean up assignment with a very capable and talented Independent Adjuster who never finished high school. With less than 3yrs of full time experience, he unquestionably has earned the respect of the IA firm that we work for because he is consistently offered storm work even during periods of slow storm activity.)

 

 How many companies to hire on with? – Sign up w/as many companies as you like or have time for but don’t let all that time and effort detract from the time and effort you should spend on getting prepared. Remember that even green adjusters are in high demand during a “jumping on” event.

 

Flood training , wind training or both? Forget about flood for now, that will come. Taking a flood certification class now would serve little purpose as the Feds require work exp before they will give you a NFIP #. Focus on wind & estimatics certification as it does not require experience, besides most wind adjusters will get free flood certifications during a future large flood event by the carrier they work for.

 

   Hope this helps.

 

                           Kevin   (Owner/Operator CCS LLC)

 

When making a storm budget I would put the number of $150.00 per day on the road. This would include a tank of gas each day and living in a hotel, motel and most meals out. If you have to send any back hame for the one.s you  left behind this has to be in the budjet also. A good set of wheels is a must no time for break downs and unexpected major expense.

Posted By fonewiz on 18 Jun 2009 02:10 PM
Chuck, I do appreciate your response by the way, I am just looking for more opinions.

If I just listened to the first person who told me something was hard and that I should give up, then I wouldn't exactly be cut out to do this sort of thing now would I? :)

I have been told I wasn't worthy or I didn't know enough about a particular business many times and never let that stop me before.

If there is good money to be made in this business then I am willing to do what it takes to learn and willing to pay my dues, that's the way it goes in any business.

Not my first Rodeo, just my first Rodeo riding this particular horse.

"I have been told I wasn't worthy or I didn't know enough about a particular business many times and never let that stop me before.

If there is good money to be made in this business then I am willing to do what it takes to learn and willing to pay my dues, that's the way it goes in any business.

Not my first Rodeo, just my first Rodeo riding this particular horse."

Evidently you were not successful in the previous businesses or you would not be looking at Cat Adjusting.

In the 60's 70's 80's in the old days storm troopers were wishing for $100.00 per closed file, their part. Now factor in inflation and a first batch of 30 files, then more as you turn in files and lucky if you can get 6 weeks work @ about 30 per week plus the higher fee like $100.00 per file. (not possible on losses under $10,000). Do the math and tell your wife to purchase the new house or auto. Lets end this babble I am weary of the subject. The new people will believe what they want to.This subject has been discussed thousands of times. Where is the red hand?*** In the old days all the catastrophe adjusters had their own contacts and worked direct for the carrier or small local IA shops on a 60/40. It was not unusal to get to more than 100-150 when you got to the storm site. It was not unusal to close by table top settlement more than 10 per day with hand written estimates and long arithmetic. The world best tool was the Texas Instruments hand held calculator, (with tape) improved your production 40%. Millers Mutual of Texas claim managers Ron and Don Lawson invented the no carbon loss notice that the agent turned in. The adjuster turned it foward , backwards, upside down to write the estimate, attach some poloroid photos, the adding machine tape and you walked away with a slick $100 fee bill in less than 1/2 hour. I only wanted a puter on the darn 30-40 page long hand flood estimates.(that took hours and hours)