| 08/31/2011 1:36 AM |
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I just got hired by Pilot, I guess. They called and said get your paperwork in and get ready for a drug test. The lady told me that she knew they would call me so pack my bags. I have all paperwork in, but they haven’t called me for a drug test yet. I e-mailed and they said if I was called to give them the zip of where I was going and they would set me up there to have it done.
I have taken all my tests they have on (my training) and passed with 100%. I am starting the free stage 1 of xactimate. I have bought a 16' extension ladder that fits in the bed of my truck, a laptop, mobile printer, the office supplies on their list, a 750 watt inverter, a roof angle tool, 100 ft tape, construction master calculator, and a few other small things. I was going to order the belt system they recommended but they are out. So I don’t have a hagg shingle gauge, chalk, chalk holder, magnifying glass, magnet, all in one scanner printer copier, fax, and I believe this is all I don’t have from the list. Thus far, 2000 bucks. I haven’t opened anything I can’t take back yet.
I am 31 years old and have 3 small girls, I know that I could be gone a while (although I was under the impression only 30 claims and 2 weeks). I owned my own construction business for 12 years and did several large projects, and worked with several insurance adjusters. I believe I understand the way of life and the long hours, I spent many years with 16 hour days. I am not just a kid jumping into this; well I didn’t feel that way until I read some of your posts. I got the idea from a State Farm staff adjuster who has a great life, not millions but comfortable. He told me to look at Pilot. I also met a guy that works for Pilot and he told me of the long hours and paperwork. He told me that he made 45000.00 off his first claims in 2005, and how his friends got called to New Orleans and made 300k in 4 months off flood claims. I realize that was a once in a life time storm. My thought process is get called out on 2 storms make 60 to 80 k a year based off his information.
Here is where I wonder if I messed up. Did I just waste 2 grand? Will I waste another 2 when I get called by going? Don’t get me wrong I will work my tail off, but I don’t really know what I am doing. I am a fast learner and I move 100 mph. That doesn’t help if I don’t know the world I am working in. These guys say I should be fine, but I don’t know. The Pilot guy I met said live at the help center until I figure it out.
What say you? Thanks for your time on this…
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| 09/01/2011 2:02 PM |
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Call Pilot back NOW tell them you are ready to roll as soon as you pass the drug test. |
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| 09/02/2011 1:15 AM |
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married?
stay home.
if you are going somewhere for 30 claims, you are wasting your time.
I will tell anyone you can make 200K a year, but you need to invest 100K and have some luck as well.
and don't believe everything you hear.
Rod
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CatAdjusterX Veteran Member Posts:964  
| 09/02/2011 2:37 AM |
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New Guy3,
First things first, I gotta call out the CLOWN YES CLOWN that claims to have made 300k in 4 months doing flood claims or claims that SOMEONE he knows made 300k in 4 months. To be a touch subtle, your buddy is either a clueless dumbass to believe his "friend" made 300k in 4 months or he is a L-I-A-R.
Now in regards to your situation, you have NOT messed up whatsoever my friend. If Pilot put you on standby and told you that you need to pack your bags, you are well served to do just that. Pilot is one of the industry JUGGERNAUTS and as such, do as they ask. You need to email and call whoever your contact person is, yes they are probably slammed right now but you need ANSWERS NOW!!! Get a hold of someone.
About the equipment list, yes most of those things are important but do NOT stress my friend about every little thing on that list. That list is just suggestions to keep you productive The power inverter for the truck is something we all need, but I am not sure if you are thinking about bringing the all in one printer and laptop set up in your truck! Now you can do whatever works for you, but personally I don't bring a printer or my laptop out of my RV or hotel room. I am scoping and writing for the first 8 or so hours of my day or scope and write during all daylight hours. I then go back to the notel hotel take a shower grab a bite and then begin the next part of my day writing up my days estimates. Whilst other's may disagree, this works for me. That way my laptop and printer's stay in good shape and I don't have to worry about some crackhead breaking my truck windows to rip off my stuff. The best way for you to decide on what to buy what to bring what stays in the hotel what stays in the truck is to learn from what I tell you what others show you and tell you and take a bit from me a bit from them and then put your own opinion as to what works for you.
That you haven't opened anything yet is good because I want you to take that little extension ladder back to the store and replace it with a 20 to 22 footer. You state you have a truck, so maybe you have a ladder rack, if you don't have a ladder rack, get one.
I don't want you going at 100 MPH, even if you can. Let's keep it at 65MPH for now. Remember, I don't want you turning in 8 so so claims a day because then you are gonna waste time the next day dealing with all the revisions. I want 25 solid claims a week that are done right the first time than 60 half assed claims a week. You have enough stress to deal with in doing 3 solid claims a day but it's gonna get reall stressfull when now you have 5 rewrites to do on top of the other claims. Pretty soon you start scoping scoping and scoping for a week straight without writing ANYTHING so you can catch up with the rewrites and now with no claims being closed you aren't making any money. Then you are always under the gun and you are no longer in the proper mind set to do good work and everything suffers.
Quality over quantity.
Good luck
Robby Robinson "A good leader leads.....
..... but a great leader is followed !!"
CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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K ung Fu tzu Member Posts:76
| 09/05/2011 2:49 PM |
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I can personally vouch for people that I know made 300K in four months after Katrina, I'm one of them. As a matter of fact, one of our recently departed comrades who I worked with a few times and who posted to this board frequently, topped 450K and was home by Xmas after Katrina. For clarification, they were Mississippi claims, not New Orleans.
Not bragging, just stating a fact here. There were a ton of adjusters who either turned them in with a $75 fee bill or just literally threw them away in the trash thinking they were all denials. When the re-opens came, everyone had split to Louisiana and those of us that remained had nothing but slab claims with coverage. |
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Alex_ChernovMember Posts:67
| 09/06/2011 7:26 PM |
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How is it that you throw file into trash, "thinking" it is a denial? Just wondering.. .
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okclarrydVeteran Member Posts:954
| 09/06/2011 10:07 PM |
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That's the "turn 'em and burn 'em" guy. We all know a couple that slam through a storm and leave (the mess, that is).
What used to just burn me to the ground was these same guys would beat me to the next storm.
I never did figure out how they stayed in with their/our employer since their work was so bad.
Larry D Hardin
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CatAdjusterXVeteran Member Posts:964
| 09/07/2011 12:15 AM |
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Posted By K ung Fu tzu on 05 Sep 2011 02:49 PM
I can personally vouch for people that I know made 300K in four months after Katrina, I'm one of them. As a matter of fact, one of our recently departed comrades who I worked with a few times and who posted to this board frequently, topped 450K and was home by Xmas after Katrina. For clarification, they were Mississippi claims, not New Orleans.
Not bragging, just stating a fact here. There were a ton of adjusters who either turned them in with a $75 fee bill or just literally threw them away in the trash thinking they were all denials. When the re-opens came, everyone had split to Louisiana and those of us that remained had nothing but slab claims with coverage.
Well that you can personally "vouch " for these people making 300K in a 4 month period makes all the difference in the world......NOT !
I am sorry but you vouching for these people means squat to me,I mean who are you? You don't even identify who you are, sorry but credibility is NOT found in a psuedonym. Sorry but your post means about as much as some team lead from NADO trying to tell ALL of us that he NEVER had a pay issue with NADO and the ones that did were shi$%y adjusters doing sub-par work.
I am gonna still call BULL#$%T on the 300K in 4 months(save that speech for the rookie adjusters taking one of these 3 day turn and burn courses)
I spent almost 2 years for Katrina/Rita and I also cleaned up a lot of other adjuster's screw ups and I can tell you that I was buried in claims for much of that time. I did NOT come close to $75,000.00 a month or 18,750.00 per week. For clarity, my name is Robby Robinson and although I made more money during those two years than I ever had before, I did not EVER make 18,750.00 a week ANY WEEK. For tax year 2006, I grossed 203,497.54, I WAS BUSY EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I was working the same storms you worked friend and yet you CLAIM that you made 4 times the amount I made and you made that in 4 months??
4 times the amount of money in 1/3rd of the time .
This blanket denial and adjusters throwing them away thinking they were denials? On that scale? The ONLY thing I have ever seen close to that was during Ike (I wasn't working Ike, I had already pulled the trigger and wen't with Gustav) was the TWIA debacle. Claims that were originally denied or with minimal payments were reopened. The adjuster running the reinspections had two choices with the volume of claims put in their laps.
1) Deny the claim outright and make 150.00 or 2) rewrite the claim and run the risk of TWIA not paying the adjuster at all. So with those options, ok I can see an increase in claim volume with blanket denials across the board and say 10 claims a day 1500 a day 7 days a week which would bring about 10,000.00 a week.
In 4 months that was only $160,000.00 .
So you claim that you made double that but not just blanket denials, you actually inspected all of the denials and ended up writing out 10+ claims per day. Assuming you only slept 4 hours a day, that is 2 hours per claim per day 7 days a week.
I call BS on your claim, I will post my 1099 if you post yours pal.
Something tells me you won't do that but the challenge stands
Robby
"A good leader leads.....
..... but a great leader is followed !!"
CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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| 09/07/2011 12:09 PM |
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Robby why are you so pissed off about someone making more than you ?... I can also confirm that those numbers are real, because I was also one of " those " few and lucky ones that made incredible money on Katrina. People hired off the streets I personally met made over 150-200K on their first storm, it was just a matter of who you worked for and how the fee scheduled was structured.
I can say, I peraonally grossed more that your 200K on approx with working 10-12 slab claims that paid wind/surge for Lexington AIG homeowners claims @ 2.3 % fee schedule. Do the math, $ 1,000,000 + gross biller at 2.3 % = your having a good day.
Robby, it's not how hard you work, it's how smart you work ! I've met a lot of adjusters that started back in 2004/2005 like you thinking they knew or know everything only to gauge their existence on how much you've made.. Well, if you're still pissed about a storm that happened 6 years ago thinking I really missed the boat on the gravy train of big billers, you should be because that scenario will never happen again !
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| 09/07/2011 1:38 PM |
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Oh..and one more thing Robby, why would you want to show anyone your tax return for ? You should be embarrased just for saying that, 203,497.54 is not something to brag and bost about either. Keep your personal business to yourself, no one cares how much or in this case how little you made. Stop making it a pissing contest, you are showing how green you really are !
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| 09/07/2011 3:42 PM |
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I agree with Tex. This is no place to post personal financial data. Also, I too know adjusters that worked Katrina and did VERY well. Good for them. However, it was a once in a career 'windfall'....and they knew it.
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Alex_ChernovMember Posts:67
| 09/07/2011 4:00 PM |
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Making 150k a year for 10 years straight would beat any "lucky" cat year. My goal is long term over 100k yearly income. I just don't get why some ppl would brag, and other people would doubt somebody's bragging. Come on.
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Alex_ChernovMember Posts:67
| 09/07/2011 4:03 PM |
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here is the topic for you guys. In one day I have received the following COL claims: 1 fire, 1 accidental discharge, 3 floods, 1 vehicle, 1 sinkhole, 2 third party liability claims (property), 2 wind and 1 business interruption. Yeah! That's where I want to be.
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K ung Fu tzuMember Posts:76
| 09/08/2011 6:09 PM |
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Posted By Alex_Chernov on 06 Sep 2011 07:26 PM
How is it that you throw file into trash, "thinking" it is a denial? Just wondering.. .
Because when the storm first hit and adjusters were deployed to Mississippi, they found an inordinate number of people without flood coverage at the beachfronts. Their assumption was they were all denials. At the time, I believe the fee bill was $125.00 x 60% = $75. Rather than complete the paperwork, the literally just stopped handling the files and went to New Orleans when access was open.
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K ung Fu tzuMember Posts:76
| 09/08/2011 6:22 PM |
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Robby,
Wasn't really looking to debate the topic nor share finanicial information, but was merely stating what I know to be true and factual. The MWUA fee schedule, once revised and the AG put his stamp on coverage approval, paid 4.5% for losses over 100K. With 30-40 slab claims now approved for payment, an individual didn't need to close 10 claims a day. A 250K loss with contents paid out $7500 to the adjuster after the split. Add to that the combo wind/flood assignments and 300-400k was easily doable in a very short period of time. I handled an antebellum home with wind/flood coverage and the fee bill was over 30K. I'm sure many made much more, especially on commercial losses insured by the state.
This in no way means that an average adjuster will make anything close to this over any consistent period, nor was any indication given that one should expect it. It was just a statement. It was an extrodinary event which made for extraordinary circumstances.
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Tim_JohnsonMember Posts:243
| 09/08/2011 7:10 PM |
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Kung Fu is correct. I was a file examiner for Katrina and our schedule was 4% for everything over 50,000. I had one of the large loss commercial adjusters reporting to me, he was writing a 1/2 page Xact sheet for one mil. That was not all the damage to the building, that was our policy limits. His sheet might just consist of roof mounted a/c units and windows blown out, etc. He was at 70% for his vendor. Do the math, his part of those files was 28,000. As a matter of fact, 14.2 files made him $400,000. November came and he asked his vendor to hold his money until 1/2/2006 so he would have more time to decide what to do with this pile of money to best serve him and not the IRS.
BTW, I do think those days are over with
Tim Johnson
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Alex_ChernovMember Posts:67
| 09/09/2011 12:22 AM |
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Wow. I mean, you need to be a certain sort of a person to walk away from files like that. I am glad I am not that kind. |
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CatAdjusterXVeteran Member Posts:964
| 09/09/2011 2:06 AM |
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Posted By Tex Walker on 07 Sep 2011 12:09 PM
Robby why are you so pissed off about someone making more than you ?... I can also confirm that those numbers are real, because I was also one of " those " few and lucky ones that made incredible money on Katrina. People hired off the streets I personally met made over 150-200K on their first storm, it was just a matter of who you worked for and how the fee scheduled was structured.
I can say, I peraonally grossed more that your 200K on approx with working 10-12 slab claims that paid wind/surge for Lexington AIG homeowners claims @ 2.3 % fee schedule. Do the math, $ 1,000,000 + gross biller at 2.3 % = your having a good day.
Robby, it's not how hard you work, it's how smart you work ! I've met a lot of adjusters that started back in 2004/2005 like you thinking they knew or know everything only to gauge their existence on how much you've made.. Well, if you're still pissed about a storm that happened 6 years ago thinking I really missed the boat on the gravy train of big billers, you should be because that scenario will never happen again ! You ask why I am so pissed off over someone making more money than me? Tex, I am NOT pissed off that someone either made more or claims to have made more than me WHATSOEVER !! I am a passionate person and I am passionate about this industry and I am passionate about teaching the next generation of adjusters about "reasonable" aspirations in this industry. What pisses me off is when new adjusters like the gentleman who posted this thread to begin with seems to think that with one or two deployments a year he is gonna be able to make between 60 and 80 grand. He really truly believes that and the reason he believes that is because of the BS that some staff adjuster told him about the 300k made in 4 months. This guy has already spent a few grand to get licensed trained etc.... and he has done so on this erroneous statement of riches over 3 or 4 months. So apparently some folks have made this amount of money although they all state that it was a once in a lifetime occurence, it doesn't look like the guy who told this gentleman that those numbers are a one time occurance. The whole point to the 1099 thing was to call his bluff, I never said that 200k a year is the standard and I know folks made more and folks made less, I wasn't bragging. I simply told Kung Fu guy that he can vouch for that money and I said big deal who are you you post under a pseudonym, talk is cheap and to prove it. Oh yes by the way the 200k I made in 2006 was gross before expenses, so the final AGI was FAR less. Again I wasn't bragging, I just told Kung Fu guy to back up his words The problem is that rookie adjusters read this garbage and they think this is real life and it's NOT!! As all of us are aware our industry is saturated with rookie adjusters. One of the reasons they are flooding MY industry is because of the BS they feed these rookies!! With the economy being what it is these guys are desperate to feed their families and because of guys running their mouths about x amount of dollars, we have a flood of even NEWER adjusters ready to make millions on the gravy train. An abundance of rookie adjusters with bad information does not benefit the industry. If we give these folks real information, we would have a marked decrease in the amount of new folks coming to make the big dollars, it's as simple as that and these folks deserve correct info from the start. Robby
"A good leader leads.....
..... but a great leader is followed !!"
CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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CatAdjusterXVeteran Member Posts:964
| 09/09/2011 9:19 PM |
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Posted By Tex Walker on 07 Sep 2011 01:38 PM
Oh..and one more thing Robby, why would you want to show anyone your tax return for ? You should be embarrased just for saying that, 203,497.54 is not something to brag and bost about either. Keep your personal business to yourself, no one cares how much or in this case how little you made. Stop making it a pissing contest, you are showing how green you really are ! "A good leader leads.....
..... but a great leader is followed !!"
CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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CatAdjusterXVeteran Member Posts:964
| 09/09/2011 9:37 PM |
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Posted By FloridaBoy on 07 Sep 2011 03:42 PM
I agree with Tex. This is no place to post personal financial data. Also, I too know adjusters that worked Katrina and did VERY well. Good for them. However, it was a once in a career 'windfall'....and they knew it.
FloridaBoy, whilst you are correct that this forum is NOT the place to post personal financial data, it is also NOT the place to post unsubstantiated claims of phantom riches PERIOD!!! If someone goes out of their way to claim they made that kind of money in a brief amount of time, well prove it! If they can't prove it, they should keep their mouths shut
These forums are read by thousands of rookie adjusters and what they read here they for the most part take as gospel. So if someone is gonna tell our rookie brethren they made 300k in 4 months and that the rookie can make 60k to 80k part time with one or two storms, I say put up or SHUT UP!!!!! Our rookies need REAL information and NOT the dog and pony show that some of the 3 day turn and burn companies tout when trying to fill up a classroom
Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about my industry and I am passionate about helping our newer brethren. Anyone who knows me also know I have zero tolerance for BULL$%T
Robby Robinson
"A good leader leads.....
..... but a great leader is followed !!"
CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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