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Posted By RandyC on 13 May 2010 11:01 AM

...I wore the roof of my house out with inspections, and formed networks with other adjusters who wanted to learn as bad as I did. We discussed scenarios of every kind until our eyes were red with too much coffee and the wildest claims the imagination could create. When we were lucky to have adjusters with experience come to our meetings, we'd pick at them until their brain ached from telling the storm stories. As wild as our imaginations were, the truth was often wilder than the imagined.....

Posted By RandyC on 13 May 2010 11:01 AM
A few years ago, I had the three day license. I had three weeks of Vale training, three weeks of Pacesetter Tech training, Claimsmentor training, class after class of vendor training, decades of industrial, commercial, and residential construction estimating, lightning and fire claim experience as an electrician, art claim appraisal experience as an art dealer, but no claim experience as an adjuster.

I read every word of every post available in two sets of archives on Caddo. Sometimes they seemed to contradict each other, so I read them over and over. I read policy and compared what people wrote to what the policy said. I read case law. I drew diagrams of trees on structure and on yards until I could explain trees to a five year old. I practiced XM8 until I could draw turrets, round roofs, round rooms, in ground swimming pools in 3-D and a thousand macros. I even drew spiral staircases and A frame houses. I went to XM8 classes, sat in the back of the room and helped experienced adjusters who didn't know XM8 learn it.

I'd ask hard questions and if they were ignored, I'd state what I thought was right in the hope that it would draw out a correction. It was the reverse Socratic method, but wise old adjusters like Ray Hall would set me straight...and I'd move on to the next question. I got to do a few ride alongs, but that's not so easy for a working adjuster to do as wannabe adjusters might think!

I wore the roof of my house out with inspections, and formed networks with other adjusters who wanted to learn as bad as I did. We discussed scenarios of every kind until our eyes were red with too much coffee and the wildest claims the imagination could create. When we were lucky to have adjusters with experience come to our meetings, we'd pick at them until their brain ached from telling the storm stories. As wild as our imaginations were, the truth was often wilder than the imagined.

After all this, I still had no experience. Too much time went by. Finally the call came. Everyone of us who networked together like this has now had the chance to work claims. A few that worked less hard to prepare, turned their claims back in unclosed, but most of us are now adjusters. We still don't work as often as we'd like.

If you are new to this business, we are the competition. You have to equal what we have done, or know somebody really important, if you want to get claims before we do. A few three day adjusters will stumble upon a job, and in two weeks someone will win American Idol! Miracles happen, but not very often.

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Awe c'mon guys, I just spent 399.00 and got my license, I don't want to do all that stuff, just show me where you work so I can make the big bucks too before the Gravy Train you guys must be on to make so much "easy" money ends.

My teacher said I would make 1200 day, it's been a month and what no work ?