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Friday, January 28, 2011

License to Learn: Adopting Consistent Standards in the Adjusting Industry
By host @ 4:22 PM :: 1000 Views :: 3 Comments ::

:: In Your Business

Recently, www.catadjuster.org featured a post on the topic of training and apprenticeships that included the following statement: "I strongly believe that receiving an adjuster's license DOES NOT make somebody an adjuster and a license should...not entitle an inexperienced person to do claims. I believe it [is]...a license to learn!"

Well said! The adjusting industry—particularly the independents—has long seen adjusters come and go as catastrophes and economies ebb and flow. But for those who make a career out of adjusting, gaining a license should be the start of their education, not the end.

The above comes from an Article in Claims Advisor Magazine by Jeffrey T. Bowman / President and CEO of Crawford & Company, click here to read more.

Comments

By josh @ Tuesday, February 08, 2011 10:14 AM

While I do agree that a higher standard of professionalism is needed I do not agree that more training needs to be developed to accomplish this. There are already plenty of certification and training programs out there that work just fine if someone wants to take the time and effort to complete them. More organizations trying to standardize their training program just feels like more people wanting to get rich off of young kids trying to break into the business.

By hooked4reel @ Saturday, February 12, 2011 10:31 AM

I disagree.
I am a claims auditor and work for a vendor manager that manages P & C for large carrier. The problem files that I see (about 80%) have more to do with the adjuster not knowing construction standards and or the software being used to produce the estimate. Since getting a license only deals with the “Department of Insurance requirements” side of an adjuster, if the adjuster does not know how to write the damage in front of him or her correctly, the file will only keep coming back. This only frustrates the insured and causes ongoing problems for the carrier.
Having a standard certification process that deals with the whole adjusting process will only make our industry stronger. I do think that one company controlling this process is in itself the answer the problem. No, but this needs to start somewhere. If all the “for profit” schools where teaching a standard process (start to finish), or this was part of licensing, our industry would only be more professional as a whole. Just because you have an AIC behind you name doesn’t mean that you can adjust a property loss. I wouldn’t want my doctor operating on me just because he has a license that only taught him the legal side of being a doctor. It would be nice to know that he knows all the parts he looking at and how to use the tools of his trade properly.
One last thought; putting aside any constraints put on the adjuster by the carrier standards…. If the adjuster could determine coverage correctly, scope the loss correctly and had the knowledge to correctly write an estimate and back that up with knowledge of the total process, would there be a need for 80% of the supplements opened due to a contractor or public adjusters having the insured file a claim for additional damages? They wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

By followapc @ Sunday, February 13, 2011 6:04 PM

I do agree with your comment. I was not referring to state licenses that adjusters can obtain. I was referring to Xactimate classes, AIC, HAAG and all of the classes that vendors offer to make an adjuster proficient. These things already exist. Even if vendors start accepting this PTC certification adjusters will still have to obtain carrier certs. to demonstrate knowledge of individual carrier policies. So what is really accomplished?

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