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 Hi Ray,

Sorry I've been absent from the forums for a while.I see you have mentioned this quiz a few times in another forum post as well. I'll gladly share the link to the blog with any trainees trying to figure out what it is they need to know. This quiz was designed to address the non estimating/scoping issues which are well covered by many vendors who participate on CADO. The questiionaire was designed based on feedback from over 300 students taking our online Fundamentals of Property adjusting class in most cases after they have taken many of the adjuster 101 classes and there just was not enough time to begin to cover everything they needed to know. This questionaire is also designed with the multi line adjuster in mind who handles every aspect of the assigned file. It is important to keep in mind as a claims manager that some independents who are outstanding on catastrophe assignments have not had an opportunity to learn daily claim handling guidelines and this covers alot of those needs as well. I'd also suggest anyone taking training from whatever reputable source be sure the instructor has extensive experience which should include staff and independent and preferably claims management as they will understand not only what is required but also the reason it makes a difference legally to properly handle a claim based on their management of claim litigation which is usually handled by staff adjusters and staff claim managers long after catastrophe adjusters have departed a storm.

http://dimechimes.wordpress.com/201...rk-claims/

We highly recommend the http://www.kmcondemand.com">www.kmcondemand.com program as well (knowledge based management) as it is the online training arm of Crawford and Company. My husband is a newly licensed adjuster and he has taken all of their online training for auto and property classes so I got to sit with him through alot of it. It is very reasonably priced and offers a package deal which includes basic courses, in auto claims adjusting, property claims adjusting, and now workers compensation too. It is very impressive and meets the needs of many of our members who hold down regular jobs and cannot leave to travel to field classes. I also like the fact they require self assessment tests to show the candidate has mastered the skills in the particular program. Since they are a reputable firm, this is an excellent option for people needing online reputable help.

We are just starting up our 10 session Fundamentals on line Live program the week of April 19, 2010 for our members and anyone in the staff or independent field is welcome to register and join. in on our classes.  http://www.claimSmentor.com/register/php">www.claimSmentor.com/register/php

Hello Ray

Outstanding post

and brings the point home that alot of newly licensed adjusters and/or those soon to be licensed should refrain with the mentor requests and ride alongs or ask for advice on who to work for until they have a clear understanding of what this industry is about  and an understanding of what they need to know to become a competent adjuster. 

The newly licensed adjuster should know there is more to the adjuster industry than fee schedules, Xactimate and IA firms.

As new adjusters,

  they know their job is to document the financial costs of a catastrophe,but they have to understand the human costs during these events as in most situations , they will be the only person they insured sees from the insurance company and they literally become the face of the Insurance company. No matter the kind of day they may be having, they need to maintain professionalism as how the insured views them is how they will view the industry as a whole !

New adjusters must balance their skills as an adjuster with kindness and compassion for the insured

Having an adjuster license does not make someone an adjuster

A new adjuster or any adjuster (for that matter)  who is more concerned about the quantity of claims per day over quality of claims is not only doing a disservice to the insured , but the adjusting industry as a whole.

I believe a large % of new adjusters who have yet to be deployed and even those adjusters with a storm or two under their belts cannot answer 75% of the 125 questions that an adjuster should know before they get their first deployment. I don't think it's always the new adjusters fault that they don't know the answers from Claims Mentor as many of these"Training courses  that have been popping up all over the place put many new adjusters into  the mindset of the knowledge required to become licensed adjusters is all that's needed to start making 1200 a day.

Thanks Ray for the post as Claims Mentor's 125 question checklist is a great answer  for the newly licensed adjuster when they ask you and other experienced adjusters "where should they start ?"

                                                                                                                                                                                           Robby Robinson

                                                                                                                                                                                 www.fromoneadjustertoanother.com

 Hello there

My name is Robby Robinson 

and want to tell you Your Claims Mentor website is second to none . I run the FOATA website which is devoted to working with new adjusters and to give them the realistic side of breaking into the industry. The 2 part 125 questions an adjuster should know before deploying is priceless and we ask all adjusters to look at those questions and then look inside themselves and do an honest assessment as are they really ready to go should they get that call for their first deployment.

The 10 session fundamentals online program that begins on 19 April 2010 that you speak about above, what is the cost of those sessions as  almost 75% of the members on www.fromoneadjustertoanother.com are newly licensed adjusters and I am hopeful that these classes would benefit these folks greatly.

Between CADO, Claims Mentor, From One Adjuster to Another I sincerely believe the new adjuster has the likelihood for success that is tenfold when compared to adjusters who came into the business 10 yrs ago 

Thank you for all you do for the new adjusters in the industry,

                                                                                             Robby Robinson

 Robby, I think Roy who owns CADO would say it is crossing the border in advertising in the forums if I got into that discussion on cost of our course. We regularly share the details you asked on cost with our participants who inquire about the course with their registration packet.

Thanks for what you are trying to do for our industry as well. I look forward to viewing your site and appreciate your kind comments on ours as well.

I am not with out fault when it come's to using CADO for advertizing. Traders Training System was for profit and never made one dollar. I had three boot camps free and found many flaws in 3 day schools.

When some school request you pay all your expense and $125.00 per day for 8 hours thats too much in my opine. The classes should be no more than 20 people and no more than $10.00 per hour and must have measurable results. Test ever day. Pass or fail.

I also think the software trap is just that a trap. Its really like a medical doctor who can write RX,s but can,t examine the patient and diagnose the treatment for cures.

New people who fit this post. go to chat today, read it I am lurking around this afternoon

Lets keep politics out of this descussion. The Bush or Obama administration did not pass any law that stated citizens of the US, who pass a Florida or TX.test for a catastrophe adjusters license is qualified. No National decloration of disaster will befall the public if thousands do not enter the trade. Some sources find clams as a whole down nationwide and 900 staff adjusters have been layed off since 2000. No law states new people must be used.

I tried to get my republican congress men, senators to make an amendant to the Health Care bill to get all 1099,s covered and also all catastrophe deployed adjusters to be paid by the vendors, buy having the IRS have the carriers subtract the % fee amount to vendors. They did not get to have any input. Next time remember November 2010.

I sincerely apologize

I did not intend to cross any line as I explain the merits of CADO and other websites when new folks come forward with the "Where should I start " post..

I am here to build bridges not burn them, so once again I apologize .

                                                                                                                     Robby Robinson

I forgot one last thing Ms.Debbie

I kinda thought about where you would be able to respond with the class info and I ended up sending you a private message last night with my personal email .

sidenote*I only have 6 yrs in the industry (which in my opinion I am still new to the industry) but literally 1 month on the website thing, I guess I tend to learn things the hardway

                                                                                                                                                                                    Sincerely                   

                                                                                                                                                                                            Robby Robinson

If you are qualified to work simple or complex catastrophe losses. You will be known in the ccommunity and will work. Really no need for thousands of new people entering the business each year. Try to go work for the attorneys or public adjusters who are keeping the flames of IKE and Rita burning and you will see you don,t have enough knowledge to do this very complex job.

Maybe I am missing something Ray, "If who is qualified to work simple or complex claims" ?

In regards to there being no need for thousands of new people entering the industry, "I agree 110%", but the fact is with the way the economy is and has been for awhile, there seems to be a large exodus of new people in almost every industry  as the Construction industry has all but imploded over the last couple of years and those involved in construction are looking for anything to stay above water !

I truly believe the problem with the influx of new folks is not the people themselves but this trend of 399.00 training courses that are popping up seemingly everywhere offering 5 day course , make 1200 a day ads !!

I have my website for new adjusters not to encourage folks to come to the industry but to the ones already here and to give them a realistic look at success in this industry !

No matter the influx of those with an adjusters license, most know or will find out "just because one has an adjusters license does not make one an adjuster!!"

In slow W.O.W. years or busy years,

It remains that 20 % of those in the industry make 80% of the money , so the number of those with a new  license is somewhat irrelevant !

                                                                                                             Robby Robinson 

  It is only relevent if under-trained adjusters make it to the field. I was seduced by the lure of easy money during my licensing and training classes, but was smart enough to plan for deployment and non-deployment simultaneously. That is, I work my butt off ( 70-80 hrs/ wk.) in jobs, while training temporary replacements, should I be deployed. Right out of class, I would have come close to failing at a storm site until I corrected my time management, attitude, and documentation skills. I have been fortunate to receive 8-15 auto claims per week, in addition to an occasional property or truck claim. It has helped me understand coverage issues better, document files with better pictures and naratives, and my time management skills have improved, because I also work 40-50 hours in non-insurance fields for income diversification.This site over the last four years has had all of the information needed for me to be successful, but the ultimate responsibility for success lies with me, and if I am unwilling to work towards those ends, then I could easily become nothing more than a statistic.

This is only my opinion Leland

but I think the point of those questions and the reason the  answers aren't anywhere to be found is because these are questions that an adjuster should know before they are deployed and the point of the questions is asking the adjuster to look inside themselves and gauge whether they are truly ready to deploy to that first "event" 

Again, this is only my opinion and I have been wrong before......................once !!  lol

 Leland, Great comments.

 Robby is right that the intent of the list is to make a point that there is so much more to learn about adjusting    than job licensing, scoping, and estimate entry.

We don't give a blanket one size fits all answer to each question but detailed training in all of the questions and more over a 5 week period of time attending 10 three hour online live sessions as well as 2 hours pre-class reading material and Q and A designed to present this information and provide self study guides the adjusters can use out in the field.

This reminds me of years ago giving a speech on claims adjusting not being a bingo game- it was in fun as adjusters want the answers now and many times those that aren't in to it just want a yes or no or here is the right form answer and not necessarily the details of why something is done which is very important in this litigious claims environment. Our class is 20 hours of pre-class reading and 30 hours of online classes in the 10 sessions for 50 hours total to cover the material. The ones who have taken the class will practice the self assessment up front and see a dramatic difference in how many they get right by the end of the 5 weeks!

Regarding the lump sum estimates- very good points you make and the reason for that particular question was due to the large number of adjusters I'd managed who rejected lump sum bids and returned them to the insured but never documented the file or put a copy with the file documents. We would find out about it later in bad faith litigation against the carrier when insured through their attorney alleged we did not take insured's estimates into consideration,etc...

That was also a very good comment that working claims for one carrier doesn't mean that those are necessarily the guidelines for all carriers. However, I have found managing claims for many carriers from the independent side that their are generally accepted standards for all aspects of claims and if you provide that training on the generally accepted procedures and guidelines with the caveat that the adjusters need to tailor those general guidelines for each carrier they work claims for. A good example is the number of hail hits per square differs widely in our industry and an adjuster should find out on each hail storm what the carrier expects before totalling a roof loss.

As far as training in general of new adjusters- the availability of very professional training is growing by leaps and bounds. Check the CADO bulletins as soon as Roy approves the post for 18 Free LAW CE's for all adjusters being done by the legal profession for us nationwide. The list of class offerings is as good as or better than any training I received during numerous claims management schools and claim litigation seminars. I am very happy to see the movement in the claims industry to make professional courses available at little to no cost so independents can attend even in slow years. Carrier staff adjusters can attend PLRB and wind conferences, etc at no charge because the carrier pays the membership dues to join the organizations.As far as I know, this is not the same for most independents but new avenues are opening up for independents to receive the same quality of courses like this group provides at no charge to adjusters or adjusting firms.

Good things are on the horizon in independent claim training. I strongly agree that new adjusters should not be sent out without the proper training and it is emerging much more often today then when I started the training in 2005 for our group.

We have radio commercial add,s to turn in your IKE claim again, even if you have received a partial check. We will inspect and represent you at no cost "all we want is to do the work". Most of the insureds buy this and get "much more" from the 2 or 3 adjuster to keep the insured from going the lawyer route. A direct steer by the contractor, but legal and effective. Cat. adjusting will never be the same on hurricane losses. Sounds like small hail has it,s share of reopens also.