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It seems like something even a bean counter can figure out.

I recently saved my company the equivalent of my annual salary by catching an error made by a rookie adjuster.  That was on just one claim.

A good general adjuster may well save the company millions on a single claim by applying the knowledge that adjuster has gained over time.  And that adjuster may save the company millions repeatedly over the course of a year. 

Saving a nickel here and a dime there may very well add up to millions over the course of many claims, but one mishandled large loss can wipe out those millions in a single blow.

It seems so obvious that I wonder why the industry doesn't see it.  But then, I haven't been hired as a business consultant so what seems blatantly obvious to me carries no weight with those who make decisions about company policy.

Fortunately, I am one of those seasoned guys who is within ten or twelve years of retirement, so I will not likely be around for the fall out.  Or maybe they can hire me as a consultant once I retire, so they can then deign to listen.

Keep up the good fight, Marc.

Both of you have good points to consider. But, most on this site are "cat workers" as carriers have pressed to get the claim contacted and settled. Speed not quality is the moniker. I just attended a class to learn more about Xact 25  of the 60 or so classmates only a few were under 60 while most were 62 and up. We all struggle with the new 25.1 and sketch as we all learned using DOS when there were no pictures or drawings  You had to know your stuff to write an estimate and handle a claim. Today, a 15 yr old high school student could learn Xact 25 in under 2 hours. He could take our scope and have it done to perfection in about 1 hour and still play video games. The examiner in the Tower would never know because he wants immediate contact and inspection followed by a closed claim the next day. His bosses are pushing him for those goals.  I was asked prior to Katrina how many real adjusters I knew and I said under 20. Until carriers realize complicated claims will not resolve following the initial visit and patience not speed settles claims, then it will only get worse and the talent that is out there now will not exist in 5 years or less.  

     Yea, though I walk through the valley of bean counters, i can revel at what the true cost to the carriers. As Marc and Steve pointed out, a "few good men" will save those carriers the costs of the bean counters salaries 10 times over.  And all because they refuse to look down from their ivory towers and see the real world.

The sad thing is that the "metrics" used by the bean counters focus on passing on the expense of the mistakes made by the poorly qualified to the policyholder thru increased premiums due to poor loss ratios. Maybe if they paid folks decently and millions were saved by savvy adjusters the loss ratios would not be so abyssmal.Seems fairly simple to us why don't they care to see it? As Homer says so well "DUHH!!!!!!!"

In the past week, an independent general adjuster I hired worked together with me to handle a fire loss expeditiouslyand expertly. In the process the insured was able to get their business back into operation amazingly fast. That's called customer service. In the process we saved (conservatively) a quarter million dollars for my company. That's called lower premiums and higher profits. By authorizing under $5,000 in overtime and being willing to pay the IA hourly to stay on site to handle virtually all aspects of the claim by days end, we were able to reduce the BPP exposure by somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000. That says nothing about the potential for Business Interruption that was avoided. If I followed the normal procedures and tried to cut the IA bill and handle the claim according to the manual, we would have lost that money and had a pile of barely worthwhile salvage to show for it.

Compare that pile of beans to the one created by all the nickels and dimes saved by phone handling claims with minimally qualified adjusters. See which pile is bigger.  Then compare the intangibles like customer satisfaction.  I'll bet on my stack of beans.

This is just one more reason why I have made the career choices that I have.

You would not believe the level of competence of the adjusters I am confronted with on  a daily basis.  Or, the lack thereof.  You also would not believe the business practices of some of the auto insurers.

I have to go outside and walk around to "gather my thoughts" daily.  Sometimes, hourly.

Steve If only everyone at the carrier level was as savvy as you it would be a pleasure doing business, unfortunately most of them have blinders and corporate attitudes towards the invaluable services of a qualified claims adjuster.

Good write, Steve. I have done exactly that time and time again with no thanks, or no show of appreciation from the bean counters. I sometimes wonder if they care that you save them thousands of dollars. One claim in Miama during Andrew, I saved a company over 3 million dollars and got no gratitude for it, but is sure as hell made me feel good. Finding a good GA or EGA is difficult to do. I am getting ready to retire here shortly and some of my ol fart friends are too. I am just not seeing any young, energetic GA's in this arena. Too bad.

I feel the same pain, Tom.  I'm one of those "in-between farts" at the age of 48.   Multi-line staffer for starters several years, then a staff independent for a few, then jumped into self-employment independent before I even had an inkling of what 2004-05 would bring.  Gained a whole lot of good experience off of that as an inside consultant for nearly a year and made a good living at the same time.  Figured all that should count for something, you know, coverage knowledges, estimating experience, adapdibility, customer service skills, etc.,.  But it is difficult, as Steve pointed out in an earlier post about having maybe too much experience.  So is it that someone can interpret me to have too much experience, or is it that those with the say in the hiring are really reading this site and don't appreciate the warped sense of humor that I'm often apt to exhibit?  Probably the latter I suppose, the customers always appreciated my manner more than the bean counters did.  Guess one just has to squeeze the cheeks a little bit harder when your a "tweener".

Right on target Mike, most head hunters and adds from carriers are for adjusters trained by an insurance company for 4-5 years. Why not this is enough training to settle 98% of property, auto, auto liability, homeowners, commercial, general liability claims within your settlement authority. The other 2% will have to get upper management approval. Show me a carrier that does not trust one of their Sr. Adjusters with five years training on a particular type claim more than an Independant GA with 30 years. And why should the carriers not trust their employees who they trained in some aspect ever day they were employed by them. The training and higher education ,seminars and schools never stops for your employees.

Furthermore all the old strom chasers in the US and Canada wineing about their unique ability is for naught as you are a necessary body in time of need. Stop working for these fly by night vendors and go with a vendor that will try to make you a "good living"  for a few months in "some years"

The vendors/carriers realize they will have to triage a monster cat. and seem to be trying to clean up the business, good  for them. The days of warm bodies with a license is coming to its end. A windstorm adjuster with construction background can be well trained in 3-4 weeks to do the job. Any thing less is a sham.

No state license makes a person a professional, it takes 4-5 years of working experience and on job training to become competent....

I agree Mike.  Been in the business since 1988 and about 6 months ago was thinking of going back to work for a carrier.  Turned out I was declined for having "too much experience".  They wanted someone "fresh" to train "their way".  After that, was offered to take a G.A. position back east.  Turned it down......did not want the label with "too much experience".

You are correct, Sir.  I fell into the hands of a headhunter after 6 years in my first staff job.  At the time, I was carrying the company check book, with policy limit authority (multi-line & no small bean limits) but a moderate salary & often overworked, and getting a little burned out since I worked out of my home.  The work was always there, had no backup & when I did take vacation time it was spent in my office just trying to keep caught up.  Mr Recruiter called one day with a very enticing opportunity & I ended up going to another carrier which looked like greener pastures.   That was a mistake....as I've aged & look back on it.  There's a reason there's a saying about "the grass is always greener on the other side", and have you ever noticed most haven't been completely satisfied when they took a taste of it?