Teachings from a \Seasoned\ Cat (Flood) Adjuster Monday, October 31, 2011 By John A. Postava In 2004 (hard-to-believe it was over 7 years ago!), hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne brought more claim adjusters to Florida than swampland speculators in the 1920s. In retrospect, the “Fearsome Foursome” generated more than two million property claims. Just the sheer number of claims alone required adjusters to increase productivity to meet the demands of homeowners. No matter where claims occur, filing them quickly, accurately, and efficiently is the main goal of every professional property adjuster. Increasing productivity also will increase independent adjusters' incomes. Saving time does not necessarily mean cutting quality, however. Adjusters can employ some basic techniques to avoid common mistakes and to save time. Develop Routines Having a routine means doing the same activities in the same order every time. Developing a routine will keep adjusters organized and prevent them from forgetting vital steps in the claim process. Decide the order in which to examine the property and stick with it each time. Record and scope damages in the same order for each damaged area or room. Deviating from a set routine can lead one to overlook an important detail. .... read more Read more
AMCAT Training Wednesday, April 13, 2011 I am a newly licensed adjuster, who is trying to get his foot in the door. I am well aware of how hard it is to do so. AMCAT told me they would put me on their roster if I prooved myself competient after their class, which I have no doubt I will. Are they a good company to work for? Also, if you are just waiting on the big storm and you get most of your experience on the job, I am wondering how good these training classes are, or if they are just another way for the companies to make money. I know I need to know how to do it, but I am also very short of money and dont want to waste any. If a really big huricane hits, do they send out people that havent taken classes? and if so, would I be better off doing some self studying and getting someone to try and help me out? Read more
What state licenses should an adjuster have? Saturday, September 12, 2009 I have heard a lot of different stories from different Adjusters on what state licenses to have. What do you think are the most important states to have?? Read more
AE21 Inc. Thursday, August 27, 2009 Welcome to AE21 Online. Our online programs offer the widest variety of online adjuster licensing and the highest quality claims training and continuing education programs in America, covering issues, topics and challenges that insurance adjusters, case managers and risk professionals encounter every day in the world of claims. Read more
Adjuster License types in Texas - advice neeed! Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Howdy folks. I've been lurking on this site for awhile... thinking about becoming an adjuster. I'm in the insurance business (sales) right now and have been for 15 years... getting burned out big time. Also have a residential home construction background before that. When it comes to getting an adjuster license in Texas, it seems there are 2 or 3 different kinds - there's one for workers' comp, one for "all lines", and there's even one that's a "public" adjuster license. What the heck is a "public adjuster"? I think there is also one that is for property, but doesn't include other stuff - I THINK. Anyway, what is the license to get if you want to be able to do everything except workers' comp adjusting? I don't want to get the wrong license because of my own ignorance. Okay, here is the really big question. Is it practical to think a guy like me could get licensed and find an adjusting firm to let me "wade" into it by doing some day claims here and there to get experience and knowledge? I would love to go out and adjust claims on Saturdays, and I could probably squeeze in a day duting the week if necessary. I'm pretty sure the more tenured and experienced guys would be the regular day claim adjusters during non-disastrous... Read more
Quick Tip - Xactimate v25: Adjusting O&P Per Claim Saturday, July 12, 2008 In this quick tip we cover issues related to Overhead & Profit (O&P) that you may encounter in the field. Some clients may request that you handle O&P in a different way then what your current default settings allow. In those cases you may only wish to change the settings on a selected file instead of changing your system setup. Read more