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Message |
Roy Cupps
Registered User
Username: Roy
Post Number: 27
Registered: 2-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 19, 2002 - 12:33 am: | |
Working on improving our image was one the planks used in building CADO back in 95 and still is. But I must admit I remember days when I felt CADO may cause more harm then good. Anyway, I'm in also. |
Clayton Carr
Member
Username: Clayton
Post Number: 65
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 19, 2002 - 12:14 am: | |
Well Ghost, you sure do have super rust proofed kahonees ( or however it is spelt - I'm sure DWW will correct it). The mere mention of "trade group .... lobby .... " - wow! - after its discourse last year.
Anyway, I'm in for your plan, still have some Buck urine and a salt lick left from last year, and I could supply some Maple Syrup from last years tap. That's the new thing in cooking apparently - a fusion of bitter and sweet. |
Ghostbuster
Registered User
Username: Ghostbuster
Post Number: 297
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 10:59 pm: | |
Well, Mr Lakes, 3 things, huh?
First, we need to survive, both as individuals AND as a trade group. That means getting work and converting that work to money. As professionals, we ought to, (Oh No, here it comes again. Will he never learn?), lobby to change the accounting rules thru legislation.
Second, howza bout some public relations campaigns that combat our less than sterling image? I recall when red meat was attacked by adverse groups, the Beef Council came out with their commercial and slogan, 'Beef! It's whats for dinner!'.
Third, It is well past time for the vendors to launch a massive marketing attack on the carriers by kidnapping the CEO's and taking them on deer hunts while plying them with whiskey, dirty movies, and sin on two hoofs. If it gets them to turn loose of some files for us, then let me be the first in line to pay for some bullets and dirty movie rentals. Jim Flynt and Clayton can ante up for the other treats, and Linda and Cecelia can donate some cosmetics. I have no doubt a pass of the hat can get the rest of you guys to cough up some booze bucks.
These are my ideas as a professional to lure some survival our way. (Hey, it might not be your idea of namby-pamby professionalism, but I am well past that delicate point.) |
Jim Flynt
Registered User
Username: Jimflynt
Post Number: 354
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 8:54 pm: | |
Boomers May Leave Trillions for Children to Invest
Reuters
NEW YORK (June 18) - The post-baby boom generation can expect to receive not only life's lessons passed down, but a hefty $30.6 trillion over the next 50 years -- at least by one expert's estimate.
The big question is what will the inheritors do with the money, which is almost triple the value of today's stock market.
There are no studies on the subject, but at least some of that cash and other wealth is expected to roll into stocks and other financial assets if it has not already been invested.
Conventional wisdom has been that boomer families -- the roughly 46 million whose household heads were born between 1946 and 1965 -- would start to use this accumulated wealth for retirement.
That would involve selling stocks and other financial assets, which would drain dollars from equity markets.
But one study indicates that even boomers liquidating assets for their golden years will pass on a significant amount to their children -- money that even if spent on consumer goods rather than investments, may help underpin the stock market.
Some baby boomers who earned a lot of money over the years could even make more off their investments than they spend in retirement, according to John Havens, a senior research associate at the Social Welfare Research Center in Boston.
CASH TRANSFERRED
Assuming a 2 percent annualized economic growth rate over the period 1998 to 2052, when the estates of the last boomers are transferred, heirs other than the spouse will receive $11.4 trillion, Havens told Reuters.
That's roughly the value of the stock market today, with the stocks in the Wilshire 5000 index, the broadest measure of the market, adding up to $11.2 trillion this week.
At 3 percent economic growth, boomer children pick up $18.8 trillion. If the economy kicks along at an annualized rate of 4 percent, heirs may receive $30.6 trillion.
And with Haven's analysis of wealth based on the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances, the most recently available survey of wealth sponsored by the Federal Reserve, the estimated amounts to be passed down to heirs are in 1998 dollars.
WHAT TO DO?
What heirs do with their cash will depend on when they get the check, according to Norman Duncan, a retail broker with Vancouver, British Columbia-based Canaccord Capital Corp. He has advised several clients with newly acquired money.
"If they receive it at age 24, they're most likely to spend it on a house with 20 to 25 percent going into the market," Duncan told Reuters. "At (age) 35 or beyond, the person usually has a house with low interest rates so they put as much as 75 percent of the cash into the market or other financial assets."
But even if those inheriting money just spend it, it's still good news for the market.
"There will be pressure on equity markets as boomers take money out, but on the other side there will be spending" as their children spend it, said Gil Knight, a money manager with Baltimore-based Allied Investment Advisors, which oversees $11 billion.
"If the consumer is spending, it has to be good for the economy, corporate profits and ultimately good for stocks," he said.
TOO MANY VARIABLES
Other money managers say there are too many variables to predict the amount of cash that may be passed to boomer offspring.
"If estate taxes are phased out there will be more money left" to pass on, said Fred Taylor, chief investment officer with U.S. Trust Co., which oversees $90 billion in assets. "Of course, there may be less than anticipated if the market takes some away."
The Democrat-led Senate blocked an election-year bid by Republicans, backed by business groups, to permanently repeal estate taxes this month. Republicans wish to make permanent a provision in last year's $1.35 trillion tax cut that phases out estate taxes by 2010. Without congressional action, the tax would be reinstated in 2011.
But if there is a significant amount of inheritance money waiting to be spent, Taylor also has a clear perspective on what stocks may benefit.
"One thing to buy are the shares of financial services firms," Taylor told Reuters. "With so much money being handed on, there will a continuing need for solid advice as to what to do with it."
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Ernie
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 209.172.196.132
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2002 - 1:14 pm: | |
Good question Jim:
Should be a simple answer to it, but I don't know what it is.
Prompt contact and continuing communication throughout the claim process? These are very important. Lack of communication is a common source of complaints to the DOI.
Effective communication requires knowledge of the policy to explain coverage. We must also recognize damage, and know how to fix it. Maybe knowledge and education are the most important issues?
Fair treatment of the insured, very important, and required by law. In spite of applying "The golden rule" to your professional relationships, problem claims will occasionally develop.
Prompt resolution of problem claims, also very important. The problem claim is remembered, while the smooth closures go unnoticed.
File preparation is also important. If it does not meet the company's requirements, it will be returned to you for correction. If the examiner does not understand what you did, or why you did it, you will get a phone call. You don't need either one.
The entities involved place importance on different aspects of the process. The company doesn't want any phone calls from their insureds. Your IA boss wants closures. The insured expects prompt, fair settlement of his, or her, claim.
It seems to me that every step in the claims process is equally important. In short, be the professional that you are.
E. E. |
Olderthendirt
Registered User
Username: Olderthendirt
Post Number: 133
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2002 - 11:42 am: | |
1. Treat the customer the way you would wish to be treated
2. Do the job (paper, sigh) the way the Cat manager requires
3. Communicate
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JimLakes
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 205.188.198.163
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2002 - 10:14 am: | |
To Roy and All,
It looks like we are getting some good response to some old questions since you changed the forum around. It’s Great.
I feel that you all gave good answers to the question. I do believe that every one pointed out those things that would make life better for all of us as adjusters.
I especially like and believe that we should always adjust a claim as tough it were our own. Should we as adjusters ask an insured to accept something to be done at their home, if we would not accept it at ours, providing it is a covered loss. I think not.
Contact and communication with the insured is also one of the most important things. Why do we think that this is one of the carriers’ most demanding requests? Because, unless we keep the insured informed and let them know where they can reach us, who are they going to call, the carrier.
All of you are so right when it comes to education. I have been in this business for over 30 years and as some have stated, you can learn something new every day, sometimes, not because you are looking for it, but because it changes on a daily basis. It still amazes me that as old as I am, sometimes I look at something and think, I’m this old and just now learned this.
One more thing. Just remember the three “C’s.” Cause, Coverage, and Cost and you will in most cases, be able to adjust most claims.
Jim Lakes, RPA
National Catastrophe Director
RAC Adjustments, Inc.
866.241.6574
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Old_dog
Registered User
Username: Old_dog
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 11:31 pm: | |
Super topic:
1) Treat every loss like it was your home or how you would expect your spouse to be treated.
2) You can never learn anything with your mouth open.
3) Do "IT" right the first time. |
DoniLynn
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 63.94.41.254
| | Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 10:44 pm: | |
Great thread. I would like to answer this one from the perspective of a newbee, the only one that I have right now.
First, the most important thing, whether it be job or personal, is to treat others the way I want my self and my family to be treated. I hear stories of adjusters that didn't even go on the roof to inspect it, or just climbed up on the ladder and looked at it from the top of the ladder, then denied the claim! Then they only spent 10 min or less telling the insured that they would get a copy of the inspection in the mail. That isn't the way I would want to be treated.
Second, Education. I know right now my education is limited, and I plan to get as much as possible, but even people in other professions, such as my husband, a paramedic, has to stay up on the new treatments and changes. We have to stay current on ALL the aspects of our job. I know that it isn't going to be easy, but in order to be perceived by the insureds and our employers, we have to know what we are talking about. We also have to educate the insured. Not everyone takes the time to try and decipher the lawyers writings, and that is something that we sometimes have to do for them. We also, mainly you veterans and carriers, need to help educate us newbees. This isn't an easy field and we need all the help we can get. We need to be taught right, not just the Joe Blow school of insurance adjusting. We need the real deal. If we aren't trained in the proper way of adjusting claims, then we will do it wrong and then we make the whole profession look bad, no matter how good our intentions.
Third, Communication, just like Cecelia said. Communication takes listening as well as talking. My aunt used to say, God gave us two ears so that we could listen twice as much as we talk. Whether we are really interested in what the insured has to say, that person must have the perception that we care. In my life, I've learned that a person is much less likely to complain if they feel that they were heard.
I want to do my best in this profession, and I am doing everything that I can to educate myself so that I accomplish that goal, and I will probably never stop looking for more study material and more areas to improve myself. That is a way of life if you are a professional. |
Cecelia
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 205.188.200.44
| | Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 9:17 pm: | |
1. STAY EDUCATED. Continue to learn and try to anticipate where the industry is going. Do not assume that the way you adjusted a claim 6 months ago is the way it will be adjusted today or the way the policy will be interpreted today. Things can change on a daily basis.
2. COMMUNICATE. Communicate with the insured, with the agent, with your staff manager and with your independent manager. Explain everything 3 times to the insured. That way you might only get ONE additional call from the insured to explain it all again. And I know this is a foreign idea to many of us, but LISTENING is a very, very important part of communication. How many of us have tried to explain why there is no coverage or why there could be a problem with some portion of the claim only to be interrupted and asked questions that do not relate to our explanation? The person is not listening. We must not behave the same way when the insureds are explaining something to us.
3. TAKE TIME. Don't walk into a loss, run around taking photos, measuring and tossing a copy of your scope sheet at the insured as you head out the door. This makes #2 impossible. It also irritates insureds who would like to think that you are spending a LITTLE time with them.After all the years they've paid all those premiums they would like to think they aren't part of your treadmill day. They might BE, but cut yourself down one or two scopes per day so that you can appear to offer sympathy and appear to care. Some of us don't, but can APPEAR to. Others of us can't hide the fact that we are trying to get in and out as fast as possible. One of the complaints I hear the most when I do reinspections is that "the first adjuster was only here for 10 minutes (or 5, or 20)". I'd like to think that they are mistaken, but when I see the same name over and over and hear the same story over and over I tend to think that it might be true.
Good subject, Jim! |
TomS
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 152.163.197.194
| | Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 8:29 pm: | |
IMHO, The 3 most important things we all could and should do is 'CONTACT',CONTACT,CONTACT. Those 3 things will eliminate "SO" many phone calls, Now when I say Contact, # 1-Insured--2--Cat Manager 3--Carrier or Their Rep. If all those have all your phone #"s, ie, cell,office,home,pager,email,icq,fax and whatever, that way they always can contact you.
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Russ Doe
| | Posted on Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 9:50 am: | |
1.Put the CUSTOMER first and understand the relationships that make up the "CUSTOMER".first priority has to be CONTACT THE INSURED,customer #1.Customer #2 is your employer.You have two jobs that are equally important,keep CUSTOMER #1 FROM CALLING CUSTOMER #2 AND CUSTOMER #3(Carrier). Understand that your Employer has to answer to both 1 & 3 and how you handle the claim reflects on both, you as the Adjuster, your Employer, and the Carrier.
2.Educate the Insured.Take 5 minutes before you scope and explain the claim process and what they can expect from you. Answer any policy questions.
LOOK FOR COVERAGE!! Dont assume the Insured knows where all his or her damages are.
3.Be timely, understand that the minute you receive a file, the clock starts ticking. The Carrier wants files closed,your Employer wants files closed properly. know your limitations.Know what it takes to be able to inspect as many claims properly and still be able to turn in files every day. |
Greg Scott (Gregs14)
| | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 3:26 pm: | |
1. Have an open mind - never be afraid to learn something new or to teach it to someone else EVEN if that means finding a NICE way but SOME way to let a carrier know when he is wrong. If done properly, he will eventually respect you more and you will be his "go to" guy.
2. Don't generalize - never classify an entire group of people, homeowners or an entire industry as good or bad. Just as we can never adjust one claim on the evidence gathered at another, we must not set about our business with an attitude that says, "I know everything" - My personal example for today? I learned that U.L.997 is already being incorporated into most shingle manufacturers shingles and that they had already been working on a newer sealant. I didn't know that yesterday but today I do.
3. Treat EVERY claim as if it were on your own Mom's house and stick to PRINCIPLES, not rules.
What goes around WILL come around. In reading one of the hardware threads about whether to buy extended service policies on our laptops, I saw several of us use the phrase "beats having to hassle with an adjuster". How telling. JMHO Greg |
JimLakes (Jimlakes)
| | Posted on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 2:46 pm: | |
I would like to hear from everyone, since we now have some time on our hands, and to have everyone think about the following question and then respond.
I would like to know what you as an adjuster feel are the three (3) most important things that we could do that would improve, extend, and present a more professional perspective of our profession and at the same time better our own lives and help protect our existance?
Please try to stay on the subject and give your most honest answer listing the number one item as the most important to you.
I have my thoughts at this time, but would perfer to reserve them for a later date.
Jim Lakes
National Catastrophe Director
RAC Adjustments, Inc.
866.241.6574 |
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