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JD Acree here, a licensed adjuster in 6 states (along the gulf coast) that has never been deployed. My background has been 40+ of my 61 years in manufacturing quality management. In my spare time I spent 18 years doing residential remodel/repair, been the family auto mechanic until the electronics age of autos, amature photographer, diesel mechanic in Viet-Nam, designed and coordinated two industrial buildings, and a list of others too long to mention. My experiences were the result of downturns in my chosen field, meaning I had to do something to put beans on the table. I have been fearless in trying new occupations, as long as they appeared to have the ability to pay me a respectable wage.

I decided to go into adjusting after my last layoff in 3/09. I enjoy travel, meeting new people, the challenge of learning, and the ability to help others. The adjusting field seemed to be the best way for this old far* to do what I like. It also apperas that this is a field that can be worked in up until the time that you are put into a pine bos, which is good because I do enjoy working.

Posted By sbeau4014 on 13 Jan 2007 11:03 AM
My name is Steve Beaumont, and my better half is Joyce. We actually met at hurricane Hugo a few years back, but were staff at the time and it took us another 12 years from that to go full time cat work. I am 50 and got into the business through GAB immediately out of college in 79 up in ILL where I was raised. I worked for GAB 5 years, then went staff in property with St Pau Ins. in OK and worked with them in OK as an adj and TX as a property/recovery claim manager after Hugo. I am a person who will probably never "retire" so in 2001 we decided to start our retirement in our own way. We sold our house, put all our stuff into storage, bought a 40' 5th wheel and Ford 450, quit our day jobs and hit the road as homeless unemployed gypsies. Our gameplan was to work cat work at least 6 months out of the year and at that point decide if we want or need to work more financially and mentally. When we weren't working we planned to travel the country visiting family and friends, and seeing things we have never had a chance to see. The time we didn't work would be our "retirement" a little at a time when we were young enough to enjoy it. We formed a corporation to work under called MLC Adjusting (Mid life Crisis) and within a couple weeks of quiting our day jobs there was a great convention in a place called Biloxi by a group called CADO. We decided to go to that, had a great time, listened to some good presentations and met a lot of very good people in the business of strictly cat adjusting. I have always loved the cat adjusting end of the claims business and being able to do it all the time was a great opportunity for us.

I inherited two wonderful teenagers when Joyce and I married in 91 who have made me a very proud stepdad and now grandpa two times over. We bought some land in the Branson, MO area a few years back and at some point will build a house on it that we can get our "land legs" whenever, if ever, we get tired of traveling fulltime. We have traded in the 5th wheel and truck for a 40' motorhome and SUV and Joyce, myself and our two labrador retrievers enjoy being on the road as much now as we did 6 years ago when we started.

I have been in the insurance claims business close to 28 years now and can truly say that I have always loved my job and career. There aren't a lot of people that can say that and I feel blessed to be in this profession and to be able to make my living doing something I enjoy so much. I have also been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to work enough to support my free-wheeling gypsy lifestyle that I have become so accustom to. Overall in life my interests besides work and family have been sailing, travel, motorcycles, reading, movies and music. I am 6'3" and my wife wants to get me involved in an organization called the Alagamated Order Of The Real Bearded Santa's (AORBSantas) so that may clue you in to my hair and beard color, but fortunately I will have to use a lot of padding to fill in the suit.

I do thank Roy and the moderators on this site for all the hard work and support that they give here, and for all the imput that the other people lend to the site. In our business, education is very important and this site is probably the best place to get education in the cat business, and also general insurance information too.

 

Hey Steve,

first things first, I know this post is almost 4 years old, but I have to say from your desciption of the 28 yrs of you and your bride being in our industry, sounds like you are living a blessed existence.

I have 7 yrs in the biz and the thought of meeting a fellow adjuster and getting married would be incredible, your a lucky man to say for sure !!

To have 28 yrs  in and buying an RV to travel the country for work and vacation with someone you love is something I hope to experience.

 

Do you two a vehicle behind your RV ?

 

 

Robby Robinson

Hey Steve,
first things first, I know this post is almost 4 years old, but I have to say from your desciption of the 28 yrs of you and your bride being in our industry, sounds like you are living a blessed existence.
I have 7 yrs in the biz and the thought of meeting a fellow adjuster and getting married would be incredible, your a lucky man to say for sure !!
To have 28 yrs in and buying an RV to travel the country for work and vacation with someone you love is something I hope to experience.

Do you two a vehicle behind your RV ?




Robby Robinson

Robby,
Thanks for post, and you are right, i feel that I am a very lucky man and live a blessed existance. Had two anniversary's this week, the 1st was yesterday was the 21st anniversary of when my wife and I met at Hurricane Hugo, which is a nice one to remember. The 2nd one is today, the 1st anniversary of when my wife and I were involved in a serious auto accident in Austin where our Jeep Commander was totalled out, along with two other vehicles, by a guy who was paying too much attention to his GPS. We were sitting at a stoplight, and got rear-ended by him doing about 60... Up until that time we towed the Commander behind the motorhome, and also have a lift on the back of the motorhome for our Harley. We are just very thankful that we chose not to ried the motorcycle that evening, or I would not be making this post. At this time, whenever we drive the motorhome somewhere, my wife has to drive our other car seperately as it can not be flat towed behind a motorhome, but sometime this year or next we will probably replace the Commander with another towable car.

This business we are in is great in that it affords us adjusters the opportunity to travel around the country to other places and earn money at the same time we do the traveling. Unfortunately for a lot of us (myself included), we don't spend extra time in the areas where the storms or disasters hit to enjoy what the areas have to offer besides a bit of work. If you get to the point of doing the RV traveling, don't make the same mistakes as I have, take time to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak.

Hi fellow adjusters, Don here form So. California, currently starving to death due to temperate to moderate weather. Started in auto claims fresh out of the collision repair business, moved into homowners property cat adjusting in 1992 Northridge Earthquake, I was real green but, they were hiring anyone. I worked cats as a hit and miss kind of thing until 2004. I have since worked hailstorms in Texas, and wind/water damage/sewer back up claims all over, including NOLA, Florida hurricanes. Currently licensed in CA and I hold an NFIP cert. Looking for local work now, it looks like were going to get skunked this year as far as anything major.

Well drak we must call you a go getter, you were working EQ in Northridge 2 years before it hit.Did you mean Andrew in Tampa in 1992?

Posted By Ray Hall on 08 Oct 2010 09:04 PM
Well drak we must call you a go getter, you were working EQ in Northridge 2 years before it hit.Did you mean Andrew in Tampa in 1992?

Yes, it was either a typo or the deceptions of an old man's memory. Call it what you will but, the rest of the story is approximate.

 

It was indeed 1994 Northridge.... not 1992.

Hello.. I'm STILL a newbie... 54 yrs old, former private investigator. Wondering if I'll finally (or ever), get some work as an IA as a result of recent damaging storms. I've been working as a seasonal employee at Lowe's for the past 3 months, thinking maybe I'll get more work if I leave Texas, since I've heard that 85% of all Independent Adjusters live here in Texas, I might have better luck moving out? I've had my license for almost 2 years now. I've had more experience over the years with personal injury claims... but still no luck getting day claims or anything related to property. Trying to get more training and deployment through Pilot if I can get it together, but my house is in foreclosure here just north of Houston (since 2008) and my Ch13 has been discharged, so some of the wolves are back at my door!! I know, it could always be worse. :)

Posted By MarkGehring on 10 May 2011 09:31 PM
Hello.. I'm STILL a newbie... 54 yrs old, former private investigator. Wondering if I'll finally (or ever), get some work as an IA as a result of recent damaging storms. I've been working as a seasonal employee at Lowe's for the past 3 months, thinking maybe I'll get more work if I leave Texas, since I've heard that 85% of all Independent Adjusters live here in Texas, I might have better luck moving out? I've had my license for almost 2 years now. I've had more experience over the years with personal injury claims... but still no luck getting day claims or anything related to property. Trying to get more training and deployment through Pilot if I can get it together, but my house is in foreclosure here just north of Houston (since 2008) and my Ch13 has been discharged, so some of the wolves are back at my door!! I know, it could always be worse. :)

................................................
 

I don't particularly care for the moniker "Newby" when talking of newly licensed folks. It probably has more to do with when I was the "FNG" in my platoon back in my Army days.

So with that being said, Mark I have a few questions and some solid advice .

You state your home is in foreclosure and your bk is recently discharged (Brother there is no shame in that!!)

Anyway, when I read posts from aspiring adjusters talking about why they came to our industry, unfortunately the all to common answer is they got layed off from a once thriving industry and are now looking for a new industry to make a living.

I am NOT nor will I ever be a doomsayer telling new folks they are certain to fail, but I do NOT blow smoke or paint the industry with rose colored glasses. Granted I have but 8 years of experience working in our industry. I have NOT JUST been licensed for 8 years, I am truly lucky and fortunate that those 8 years were spent actually working claims except for the end of 2009 and Spring and Summer of 2010(I broke my leg, pelvis, ribs, jaw and fractured my skull from falling off a ladder)In the Summer of 2010 I was fortunate to become a claims manager and continue to make a living. The solid income to which I have earned over the years has taken care of myself and my family nicely. However the reason for the solid income has more to do with the solid IA firm to which I was employed as opposed to my skill level. There is also a large amount of..........LUCK!! (I think all my fellow CAT adjusters with experience will tell you that luck does play a part in this industry) No matter how good of a CAT adjuster you may be, there are certain variables to which we have no control over( When a storm and/or event hits and where a storm and/or event hits) Yes there are some of us that are able to work between events, (hailstorm or a hurricane or tornado or flood) doing daily claims  or managing those IA's doing daily claims.

Unfortunately, in most cases a new adjuster is not qualified to work daily claims or even a new CAT adjuster who did well on their first storm will have a hard time doing daily claims till the next storm.

What I am getting at is I am not sure why someone would want to become a CAT adjuster unless they have a relative in the industry, know someone in the industry or are financially stable enough to keep your head above water before you get your shot. I only say this because the income for the first few years will be spotty and inconsistent at best in most cases.If you are having financial problems(no shame there brother) and are looking to support a family by becoming a CAT adjuster, you will be in deep trouble. I never chose to become a CAT adjuster, I fell into it by accident because a friend owned an IA firm and asked if I wanted to go to Florida to work some claims back in the 4 from 04( I have been a concrete contractor for 18 years and the guy figured I know my way around construction and estimating ) I figured what the heck , let's give it a try. I had never heard about CAT adjusters until I literally became one.) I had no idea that this would become my future or how successful I would be, but it did and I cannot imagine doing anything else.

The problem with having no connections on the inside is that even if you do get deployed when you are new, many folks do not have the financial ability to sustain themselves and a family back home until you start generating cash flow by closing claims. You have to be able to support your operating costs(food.fuel,lodging) anywhere from two weeks to 2 months in some cases.

Does this mean you are destined to fail ? Hell no it doesn't!!! It is hard ,very hard to break into the industry but when you do ,remember that your first CAT deployment does NOT mean you have made it, not at all !! You must make the most of that opportunity by viewing the deployment as a TRYOUT. Lots of new adjusters (60%+)will either quit or be asked to leave because they could not manage the chaos that can be a CAT deployment . The #1 reason for a new adjusters failure is lack of knowledge of their estimating software (in most cases XM8). If you want to make a career out of this and want to be invited back to the next event or asked to stay around for cleanup(doing cleanup is huge for the rookie adjuster) you need to do your job better, faster than the next guy. There is no real difference between a 20 year vet as opposed to a rookie in that they are both expected to close claims, period!! The last place you want to realize that you need more training on XM8 is out in the field.

As a new adjuster, many firms will try to get you to take their course or this cert or that cert. Whilst some certs are important for an adjuster, in regard to a new adjuster you should only spend money on XM8 XM8 XM8. Take as many classes as you can afford on XM8. Outside of XM8, bury your nose in a book regarding policy, learn policy, know the differences between an HO-3,4,5 etc and a DP policy. You can learn everything you need to know by going to www.claimspages.com , it is free of charge. Take policy knowledge seriously learn what is and isn't covered because trust me when I say you do NOT want to turn in an estimate to replace a roof due to deferred maintanence.

Save your money for licensing ,XM8 and more XM8. Dwhat you have to to get field experience, ride-alongs, apprentice, write up your own house if you have to.

If I have two rookie adjusters before me and am only going to deploy one of them, remember this. The first rookie has gotten licensed in 10 states has 10+ certifications coming out the wazoo but no field experience. The other rookie has a few licensed , has no certs other than having level 3 knowledge of XM8(not level 3 certified, but level 3 knowledge) but has a good bit of field experience. The rookie with field experience is going to work. That he has a solid working knowledge of XM8 will keep him out in the field.

You can do it but you must have all the facts to make a good decision for you and your family. It's hard very hard, but nothing worth having is easy. If you commit to yourself and your family to do what is necessary, you have a damn good chance to succeed and a whole new world awaits you and yours.

 

Robby Robinson       

 

 

 This is a short story of a person I met in 2006 that was working hurricane Rita losses for a very large vendor and doing very well as he had  good cumputer knowledge and an easy estimation program requirement. He got called out many times and was away from home weeks and months at a time. He purchesd a large duelie to tow his tag along bind. He intented to use the truck and and additional flatbed to run hot shot oil field jobs during the slow times. This lost $ because of the fee and fuel cost.

His only child would cry ever time he packed his bags for weeks and months. He decided to get a staff cat. adjusters job with lots of travel, a small % of his IA income ; but, all the expense. Indeed he did travel 75% of the working year and his only child still cryed and missed his father for weeks and months. He tried to get an IA job with all the local IA firms I sent him to see; BUT he was not qualified to be a "regular IA property or liability adjuster. I have always known how local IA,s and branch claims managers think about "stormers" and gambling on a stormer becoming a good, steady employee that will stay loyal and not run when a big on hits as I was both for many many years before I ever worked for my first cat. vendor late in my adjusting life( I am now 100% retired from all work).

I do not know where this good man is working; however, his 2nd child is still in the infant stage and crys for other needs. He is probably working on large dwelling files and going as fast as he can and closing the hell out of files and thinking of back home and the family when he counts the billing sheets each night; but I am proud I did not have to do that job when my children did not see me for 75% of time as I was doing my job for years.

Can anyone provide me with a recommendation for an attorney that has experience with

retriving adjuster's fee's due?

Please post the name of the IA firm and the company, just so I don't step in the same pile of poo.

Please post the name of the IA firm and the company, just so I don't step in the same pile of poo.

Hi, Thanks for the welcome, excited to be aboard, but totally new, 'don't have cash flow and need to know how to best advance and become solvent the quickest and nost competant way,  Gloria.

Hi Gloria,

 please repost with your background and also read Just getting started .

That will answer a lot of your thoughts.

   In the mean time this is not a get rich quick business. You sound like you need to make some money quickly. Better look at other jobs right now.

Jerry, you should have pointed out to her that we are not a corporation and for the most part that advancement is only what you learn and how competently you perform?

I would also like to point out to her the title of this posting is not about asking questions it is about introductions as Jerry has asked.

If she is incapable of following this, I question her capability to perform specifically under the stress and pressure of adjusting during a Cat event.

Posted By Montana Goldust on 29 Feb 2012 09:04 PM

Hi Gloria,

 please repost with your background and also read Just getting started .

That will answer a lot of your thoughts.

   In the mean time this is not a get rich quick business. You sound like you need to make some money quickly. Better look at other jobs right now.

Posted By GK Contracts on 29 Feb 2012 12:38 PM
Hi, Thanks for the welcome, excited to be aboard, but totally new, 'don't have cash flow and need to know how to best advance and become solvent the quickest and nost competant way,  Gloria.

The best way to advance and become solvent the quickest and nost (sic) competent way. Gloria, if you want to learn our craft, you must first show some kind of respect towards those who have figured out a way to earn a living in the adjusting industry. Your post assumes this is something you can learn in a weekend.

Here is your first and most important lesson: When I fell from a ladder in 2009, a well versed VA trauma surgeon told my family that although my left leg and pelvis were shattered, the surgery went extraordinarily well and was quite routine. Does that mean that it's easy to become a trauma surgeon?

I travel quite a bit and almost all flights are smooth and uneventful, does that mean that it's easy to become a pilot?

 

Of course you would not got to a Medical community forum or a commercial aviation forum and post, "I have no cash but need to know how to advance the quickest and most competent way to become a surgeon or a pilot" 

Now becoming an adjuster does not require years of schooling, but to become a successful competent adjuster requires years of experience.

There are lots of folks (including myself) that enjoy helping the new folks. However, those folks who come to the trade with dollar signs in their head and not interested in learning a new trade but only concerned with the quickest way to make the cash, should stay away.

The #1 rule for all adjusters ,prospective or experienced is: Pay attention to detail. That means for you, when you joined this site, the instructions for those new to the trade to start by going to the "getting started" thread

In closing Ms. Gloria, many folks right here on CADO will help you provided you get rid of the shortcut to riches mentality.

Hi everyone. I've been adjusting for about a year it's definitely been the best job I've ever had. I'm looking to make this into a career and hopefully pick up some tips and tricks from the more experienced voices on the forum.