ChuckDeatonLife Member  Senior Member Posts:1110  
| 11/20/2012 2:24 PM |
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"Cimmaron (sic) Claims looking for help" Know before you go, know before you go, know before you go.......................
AdjusterPro --- Know before you go, know before you go, know before you go .........................
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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mo.cat.adjuster Guest Posts:2 
| 12/02/2012 12:21 PM |
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What is everyone's take on Sandy? I've done 26 claims in Mass. and 39 in Long/Staten Islands. So far, that's been it. Were there so many underemployed adjusters this year that the majority of the claims have been handled? I, as I am sure everyone, need some more work. Is the next move Calif? |
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| 12/02/2012 8:33 PM |
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Rumor has it State farm just sent 1000 staff and IA adjusters from the Frederick, MD and Dallas, TX call centers to NY in an attempt to stay in compliance on over 15k claims. Many, many inside adjusters very unhappy. And remember, SF doesn't write flood policies. So if SF has over 15k unreviewed wind or BUSD claims in field I can't imagine what other companies have waiting to be inspected. Just my .02 Be safe out there.
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CatAdjusterX Veteran Member Posts:964
| 12/02/2012 11:26 PM |
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Posted By mo.cat.adjuster on 02 Dec 2012 12:21 PM
What is everyone's take on Sandy? I've done 26 claims in Mass. and 39 in Long/Staten Islands. So far, that's been it. Were there so many underemployed adjusters this year that the majority of the claims have been handled? I, as I am sure everyone, need some more work. Is the next move Calif?
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Mo cat,
I still have quite a few of my rookie members working wind claims throughout the NE. Most of my moderate to significantly experienced folks "appear" to be doing well with "some" indicating "No end in sight"
Nevertheless, I would venture to say the lion's share of claims have rested on flood work (NFIP). Even with that, I believe it was stated that only 14% to 21% of flood damaged properties had NFIP coverage or "private" flood coverage. FEMA and other federal entities are requiring homeowner's who didn't have any flood coverage to file a claim with their HO-policy PRIOR to being eligible for either grants or SBA loans. I think many of the wind claims are going to end up CWOP.
My opinion:
I think the first round is close to being wrapped up and the remaining work will be for those rookies who shined and experienced hands to work cleanup.
We cannot forget that Governor Cuomo has opened the floodgates by allowing non resident PA's to come work claims in NY. I foresee a "Katrina esque"(probably not a word) situation with massive amounts of reopens and litigation.
So with that, I think those uber experienced hands (with reopen and lit. experience) will have work for the foreseeable future "A good leader leads.....
..... but a great leader is followed !!"
CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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Jud G. Advanced Member Posts:509
| 12/03/2012 2:30 PM |
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Reopens will come from a few sources and I can readily think of three. If you all know of others, chime in.
1) The typical, files that are under-paid due to inexperienced adjusters, difficult customers, and/or moving too fast, etc.
2) Another group will come from a deluge of people who have second homes and carriers who insure vacant/REO properties.
3) Another group will come from multiple stages of litigation and a plethora of litigated issues. I have a few carriers who have decided to hold their ground on the sewer back-up losses. I suspect that they will eventually fold since too many others are already. I'm just waiting for them to realize the tenacity of the average New Yorker and discover their love for litigation.
This will also be a major time for New York to reinvent the wheel as it pertains to the wind vs. flood issues. Florida did it through Mierzwa, then MS, and then Louisiana. Anyone around for TX and Ike's fallout? Why on earth would the Empire State bow out of this? (rhetorically speaking).
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Jud G.Advanced Member Posts:509
| 12/11/2012 8:55 PM |
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Posted By CatAdjusterX on 02 Dec 2012 11:26 PM
So with that, I think those uber experienced hands (with reopen and lit. experience) will have work for the foreseeable future
To a degree, I agree with this statement. However, the typical pay of a Re-Inspector position is so piss-poor that your average adjuster inhales the smoke blown up his skirt and concedes off the high he got from getting a Promotion.
Most re-inspector assignments cap you at a day rate or pay for the next tier on the fee schedule. Some have fine print clauses laced with 'if the prior adjuster should have known, then we simply don't owe any increased fees'.
The only way this phase of the storm becomes a legitimate arrangement is when the carrier pays at a minimum, General Adjuster (more experienced adjuster) time and expense from the time the reopen is received. A second method is if the tiered fee schedule gets reset from dollar one. Many good adjusters are aware of these issues. They either have the wisdom to avoid them, get decent pay arrangements, or they are able to find work elsewhere.
Trust me, getting to be the ''Hero Adjuster" gets old quick. At this point, you're dealing with customers who have serious issues (legitimate vs. illegitimate; it doesn't matter). Plus, you're re-working the entire claim even though someone hacked up a load of crap for in-disputed payment. |
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HuskerCatVeteran Member Posts:762
| 12/11/2012 10:02 PM |
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I agree Jud, it sucks getting old...and knowing it...and having others tell you.
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| 12/12/2012 1:06 AM |
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lol @ Jud.
those "promotions" aren't all they are cracked up to be.
I used to get a little rush when I got called to handle a "hot" claim, especially a "hot supplement".
Now, they all get vetted before they are accepted......"Oh, a $110K supplement on a $4K initial, you say?.....yeah, I'll take that one."
Rod
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 12/13/2012 1:10 AM |
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At New York Nation GA T & E rates assisting with closing mishandled, disputed and litigated claims is an excellent gig. And with the quality of the claims reps that turned out for Sandy there will be work for years.
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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MedulusModerator Veteran Member Posts:786
| 12/19/2012 12:17 AM |
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Speaking for myself, Jud, I've often made more money after everyone else goes home and I am the last one standing. However, I'm not really sure this is the venue to do that. This has been an unseasonable warm winter in New York so far, but I have had to wait for the frost to burn off the roof a time or two. And snow is likely to be right around the corner. And...these roofs are the kind that can kill you even when they are dry. So maybe I'm older and wiser, or maybe I'm just wiser. My home in California is looking pretty good about now. I won't be heading out just yet, and have some reinspects scheduled, but I may do the unthinkable and leave while there are still assignments on the table.
As for New Yorkers, I've met some great people here on Staten Island and am glad to be part of the solution for them. They have been friendly, patient, understanding and cooperative as a whole. I cannot complain at all about that. I'm sure I can find something else to complain about.
Steve Ebner CPCU AIC AMIM
"With great power comes great responsibility." (Stanley Martin Lieber, Amazing Fantasy # 15 August 1962)
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 12/19/2012 6:53 AM |
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The residential risks on this island are murderous for a wind adjuster. First, many are on pilings, the BFE is around 14 feet so the first elevated floor is above 14 feet. The roof is a minimum of 36 feet above that and is a cut up, 10/12 pitch. And now it is winter, in January, February and March it will be cold. Yesterday the wind off the Atlantic would cut you in half. To top that off most are no claims.
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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HuskerCatVeteran Member Posts:762
| 12/20/2012 8:53 PM |
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Thought there might be a little more discussion & activity on this thread...but is everyone just busy? tired? sick & tired of being tired?..or nothing worth commenting or caring about? Have to realize this is two falls in a row with the late Cat's in the Northeast, and it's a different animal from the norm.
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MedulusModerator Veteran Member Posts:786
| 12/21/2012 7:58 AM |
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Tired, Huskerguy? Yes indeed. Still busy? Absolutely. It isn't the old days when you hand sketched a diagram, whipped out a hand estimate, turned in the file closed, and left the staff adjusters to clean up the mess with supplement requests and reinspects. At least one of the carriers is pretty much expecting full handling right down to the letter writing - which means it's sort of like being handed six months worth of daily claims in a three day period and being told to inspect and handle them in a two month period or less. But that's what catadjusting is, and that's what catadjusters do. And sooner or later we "hit the wall". This post, however, is about all the internet free time I have today. Lots still to write up. And the storm that's coming through right now is going to exacerbate things. Today is a good day to stay inside. So I'm going to sit here for the next 18 hours and make this pile of claims shrink, at least a little bit.
Steve Ebner CPCU AIC AMIM
"With great power comes great responsibility." (Stanley Martin Lieber, Amazing Fantasy # 15 August 1962)
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 12/21/2012 7:27 PM |
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Man, with the wind off the Atlantic blowing, it was cold, gloves, parka and knitted cap weather.
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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Proadjuster58Guest Posts:2
| 12/26/2012 11:02 PM |
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anyone out there handling flood for CNC..just curious...I took nearly 70 personal lines flood claims and a couple commerical and rom where I sit..looks like a long haul to closure and approval......:)..... :<(
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ChuckDeatonLife Member Senior Member Posts:1110
| 12/31/2012 11:56 PM |
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Looks to me like most of the payment for handling flood claims is going to come in the 1st quarter of 2014.
The cut off for the Proof of Loss isn't until the end of October, 2013.
"Prattling on and on about being an ass with experience doesn't make someone experienced. It just makes you an ass." Rod Buvens, Pilot grunt
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| 01/01/2013 6:54 PM |
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I am a new adjuster. Received my license right after Thanksgiving 2012. I applied at the 4 larger IA firms. With a few days all 4 had texted/called wanting to send me to NY. I went with the first one. I drove 1600 miles one way. Atleast 500 adjusters were there in Melville for orientation (they had 3 orientations the same week I was there). I heard
that some were being sent home right then (with 4 days pay). By the time I was sent home, over half were already gone. I only worked 2 weeks. My friend said there are about 200 left (mostly the old timers or family/friends of the IA managers). At the daily rate, I may have
broke even. Any advise on choosing the right IA firm when several call at same time? Any IA firms better than others? Is that normal to call in 1500 adjusters when within 2 weeks half are sent home? Should I wait on the next storm or get a job doing regular claims (for experience)? I have saved money so I dont really have to work. I am looking for positive input. I am fresh out of the military after being in 12 years.
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MedulusModerator Veteran Member Posts:786
| 01/04/2013 12:06 AM |
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Chaseolin,
No one can really advise you on whether to wait for the next storm or get a job with a carrier. I worked for State Farm for five years and Nationwide for 2 years before I hanged (hung?, no, hanged I think) up my proverbial shingle and went independent. I'm glad I took that route, but I was chomping at the equally proverbial bit for the last two and a half years of that as I waited for the right moment to take my career into my own hands.
I have been part of the kind of operation which you just experienced, and I lucked out even then. I went to Virginia Beach for Hurricane Isabel with a firm that called in everyone and their brother and then called in their sisters too. However, I was one of the few with commercial experience. So, when the mix of residential and small commercial claims dried up after three weeks, I had one claim left. It was for the City of Hampton, VA with 64 buildings on the policy, including a high rise city hall and a domed sports stadium. This took me three more weeks and basically doubled my income for the assignment.
Preferable, however, is an assignment with a firm that calls in fewer adjusters for a longer period of time. I spent ten months working Katrina on the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and was the last one standing for the last four months for the firm for which I was working. I have been out of the field for too long to tell you exactly which companies operate in which ways. I've been on staff for a carrier for five years, and this is my first storm back as an independent.
The real trick is not getting a major hurricane assignment. The real trick is finding the smaller assignments that serve as your bread and butter between the major storms. The best assignments are often the storms that don't make the national news for more than a night, and getting called to those takes constant work contacting and recontacting companies in the interim until you find the company that dovetails with your skills and ambitions.
Send me a private message with your contact info, and I will help advise you if I can. And thank you for your service.
Steve Ebner CPCU AIC AMIM
"With great power comes great responsibility." (Stanley Martin Lieber, Amazing Fantasy # 15 August 1962)
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| 01/05/2013 10:53 AM |
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Take Steve's comment as golden from the heavens above. I feel for all the adjusters that drove in from far away. I was doing BUSD and Wind in Baltimore when a larger company opened an additional CAT call center. It was amazing to follow the storm from the inside. After all was said and done, we were 9% of the total work force and did 15% of the work. It seems every 4 hours things changed and what was needed to be handled.
Due to the Governor's of NY and NJ extreme pressure was put on the insurance industry. That is why CAT call centers had adjusters sent out, every newbie was called in, and claims were told to be completed and handled within 8 days. This made it a no win situation for those wanting or needing to make money. This was not a normal storm or CAT. The "oldtimers" have it correct when they say it will have tremendous "back end" work due to the quickness of the claim handling, and when the weather warms up.
Your first several years in the industry will be learning curves. Pick your company, stay in contact, and make yourself available.
Remember: Give them what they want, when they want it, and how they want it.
Good Luck !
Give them what they want, when they want it, and how they want it !
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| 01/06/2013 2:08 AM |
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I didn't go up to Sandy. as fate may have intervened ...
Two days before I was set to leave home, I stepped through a big commercial roof. I wasn't hurt, but it was only the third time in over 20 years this has happened to me without any warning, and never on a commercial. It gave me pause, literally.
Then, the night before as I was packing, we had the worst hailstorm in anyone's memory. The entire core fell about two miles from where I live, up to 11" deep in drifts. Mind you, this is where hail doesn't normally occur, and it damaged many homes on every elevation.
Weeks before, I had dreamed of just such a hailstorm occurring where I live, but when I woke up I was in disbelief, given the amount and size of the damage I saw and the direction the storm came from. We don't get hail like that where I live, and only once had I seen it come from the West. It's also the only time in my life I recall ever dreaming of hail, despite seeing a ton of it on the road.
If curious fate intervened on my behalf, I wouldn't argue with anyone who is getting tired of Sandy's sand in their shoes.
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