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If Ebrels will spend some time with you. you are on the right path.

Eberls has good training and I am taking advantage of all I can. I will be taking State Farm Certification next month through them. Thanks for the reply I appreciate any help I can get.

Posted By Brownie on 18 Jul 2011 06:09 PM

I am a Professional Home Inspector in Texas and I recently got my Insurance Adjuster License, I have taken Wind and Hail Damage class and I am signed up for Xactimate training later this month. I am needing some advice from experienced adjusters on what certifications might help me get work. I have recently signed up with Ebelrs Claim Service.

Brownie, understand that there is an industry within the adjusting industry that isdirected towards the newly licensed adjuster. There are certification classes for almost anything these days and can be overwhelming for the new adjuster to comprehend one certification to another in regards to importance.
 

This is only my opinion and others may differ:

Almost all of these certifications have their place in the industry, but that place is NOT with rookie adjusters. There are some certifications that ARE required to work claims with certain companies (IE..State Farm) but by and large a rookie adjuster will do fine without them. Understand that no matter how many certifications a rookie adjuster holds, they mean NOTHING and will not keep you on a storm IF you cannot take an XM8 estimate from start to finish multiple times a night.

Again this is only my opinion, I believe newly licensed adjusters need to concentrate on 2 things and one of them is free:

1) XM8, you should take as many XM8 courses that you can afford to get you to the point of you can do these estimates "in your sleep". The last place you wanna realize that you need more XM8 training is out in the field on a storm. XM8 issues is the #1 reason new adjusters either quit or are asked to leave a site. If you are a computer whiz and can learn things quickly then by all means purchase a few Beginner and intermediate XM8CD's  (Less than 100.00$)If you need help take a class, you can do XM8 in a classroom or online(online is tough because you won't have access to the instructor's help if you get stumped on something.) They now have XM8 Webinar's which is the best of both worlds. Do what you have to do to master XM8

2) Many rookie adjusters love to talk about XM8, IA firms, Fee schedules, waiting on a hurricane or a hail storm. But rarely will you hear much about one of the most important aspects of knowledge essential to a newly licensed adjusters success: POLICY

There are many different types of policies out there from Commercial , Marine, Flood,HomeOwners, Dwelling, Auto. As a new adjuster you would be well served to delve into the inner workings of the HO-1,2,3,4 etc...policies and the different types of DP's Dwelling Policies. These 2 types of policies are the ones you will have frequent contact with. Now you don't need to memorize these policies, but you need to be adept at policy terms, definitions and exclusions/Covered perils. You need to know the difference between schedule A,B,C,D,E and so on and so forth. If you are a homeowner yourself , start by reading your own policy. You can access all the different types of policy at www.claimspages.com at no cost whatsoever. It should be noted there are many discussions within CADO and examples of different policies throughout the site in addition to forums for specific policy discussion.

You really need to understand the concept of what is and what is NOT covered because trust me when I say you do NOT want to recommend payment to replace a roof due to "deferred maintenance!"  

Once you have some experience then by all means look into the different types of certifications available.

Good luck and may god bless you in your new endeavor,

Robby Robinson

Posted By georgelamar on 02 Jan 2012 02:03 PM
Robby you have alot of good information for a new adjuster.... I enjoy reading about what you say for us "newbies"

Thank you George!! It's rookies like you that make this worthwhile for me to write what I do.

Sidenote: I hate the term "newbies"

Robby hit the nail on the head. Another investment you will want to make is getting licenses in as many states as you think you may possibly work in. In this business you have to pay to play so look over the maps available that show what states do not require licenses and which do.

  keep in mind the states you always hear about that have tornados , hail and hurricane damage. This will take in the Carolinas sout to Florida then over to at least Colorado. I currently hold 14 licenses. That I will maintain in case they are needed.

  if a state has a big storm and has a state of emergency issued then those who don't have licenses usually will be admitted but it may be for only 90 days then they have to leave if they don't have a "Non-Resident " license. Just something else to keep in mind. I remember an adjuster who stayed and worked Hurricane Andrew for 8 years. He retired after that "GIG"