Hello,
Thank you for taking your time to read my forum post. I will give a brief description of who I am and my backround and then go right into what I am seeking.
My name is Kevin Thomas, I am from Ohio. I am currently 23 years old and have a history a little different than that of a claims adjuster. At 17 I joined the US ARMY. Before, during (reserves) and after the ARMY I was a commercial roofer (Foam Roofing, no shingles). When my time was finished with the ARMY I became a corrections officer for a little shy of 2 years. I then decided I wanted to work for myself. I started my own Landscaping business and flipped houses on the side. I got my Adjusters License for Ohio last fall. Since then I have only finished 5 claims. I pushed aside my adjusting to focus on my landscaping business, because quite frankly I am a very subpar adjuster...
What I am seeking.
I am seeking some advice.. A mentor would be great, but I know those are hard to find. I am very serious about adjusting, I truly want nothing more than to be a very very good one. The reason I only have done 5 claims and then put adjusting on the back burner is because I simply do NOT know what I'm doing... I roll up to the house, and its a simple roof. Hail damage? No big deal right? Wrong.. I literally do not even know where to begin, measurements of what? just the roof? from the ground up? and then at that, I knew there was more to it then just shingles, but one end had a branch that went through the roof. So now we are talking about rafters? Support beams? I don't know.. and when it comes time to line item it up in Xactimate, I truly don't even know how to make the claim valid for what actually will need to be replaced. I don't want to omit anything and hurt the insured.. So its just very stressful. Ive had basement leakings due to cracks and such and replacing personal items, water heaters, electrical? I don't even know where to begin... I want to be a cat adjuster and I cant even write up damages for a consolidated room....
I truly want to be great, I am willing to put in the time. But where do I start? I feel I need to become a subject matter expert when it comes to EVERYTHING that a home is built on and with.. Do I need to get a bachelors in residential construction? I obviously know I don't, but it feels I need to. Any advice will help, anything at all. Truthfully I am willing to put in the work. Please email me anytime KLHTHOMAS@GMAIL.COM or feel free to reach out on here. Thank you so much. I genuinely appreciate your time.