Yea Jeffry know how you feel about the adjuster numbers. I was a staff adjuster for 16 years and did not know there was a differance between a commercial loss and a dwelling loss until I got my adjusters number. Worked for the same vendor for 9 years and was never ask if I had worked a commercial loss, but roof thumping was very good to me, just not as good as it could be.

Actually, Ray, sometimes things work out the way they are supposed to.

Just to relay a currnent experience, We just had a huge hail storm here in my area, and two friends from the local Lions club were talking to me about their adjusters. Both with the same ins company, both adjusters probably from Pilot. The prop adjuster was an auto appraiser on his first prop deployment, the other was a prop adjuster that got sent out on auto. Neither new what they were looking at.  As it happens, my friend with the property guy adjusting his auto, owned a local body shop for about 20 years, and the friend with the auto guy looking at his property, owns a number of rental propertys. Both ennded up getting way too much for their claims. The auto guy actually handed my friend his computor and asked him to write the estimate.

And we wonder why adjusters sometimes get a bad rap.

JWG

To give a little hope to those out there not working presently.  This is a recent article about how the 1st quarter of this year has been for catastrophes.  the most active in the last 10 years.  hopefully the trend continues.

AP
Report: Insurers face $3.35 billion in claims for 1Q
Tuesday April 29, 12:58 pm ET ISO reports insurers face $3.35 billion in claims for damage in the 1st quarter

I am thinking of getting into the adjusting career. This statement does not look to promising. However I have looked at the declared FEMA disaster areas. There seem to be at least two every month. How can  people be out of work? Am I not seeing something?

Just for grins I went back for the last 5 years, its like this list every year.

To me just based on this list of areas that were delcared disaster areas would seem there is enough work for you to have a very lucritive

career.

Again am I missing something? I would hate to enter a career that I could not make at least, at the very least make 150,000 a year as a independent adjuster.

Number	Date	State	Title	DFRNs	Designated Counties	FOIA
1795	09/23	Indiana	Severe Storms and Flooding
1794	09/22	Mississippi	Hurricane Gustav
1793	09/18	Arkansas	Severe Storms and Flooding associated with Hurricane Gustav
1792	09/13	Louisiana	Hurricane Ike
1791	09/13	Texas	Hurricane Ike
1790	09/12	Vermont	Severe Storms and Flooding
1789	09/10	Alabama	Hurricane Gustav
1788	09/09	Maine	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes
1787	09/05	New Hampshire	Severe Storms and Flooding
1786	09/02	Louisiana	Hurricane Gustav
1785	08/24	Florida	Tropical Storm Fay
1784	08/15	Vermont	Severe Storms, a Tornado, and Flooding
1783	08/14	New Mexico	Severe Storms and Flooding
1782	08/11	New Hampshire	Severe Storms, Tornado, and Flooding
1781	07/31	Idaho	Flooding
1780	07/24	Texas	Hurricane Dolly
1779	07/18	Nebraska	Severe Storms, Straight-line winds, and Flooding
1778	07/15	Vermont	Severe Storms and Flooding
1777	07/14	Michigan	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1776	07/09	Kansas	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes
1775	07/09	Oklahoma	Severe Storms and Flooding
1774	07/09	South Dakota	Severe Storms and Flooding
1773	06/25	Missouri	Severe Storms and Flooding
1772	06/25	Minnesota	Severe Storms and Flooding
1771	06/24	Illinois	Severe Storms and Flooding
1770	06/20	Nebraska	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1769	06/19	West Virginia	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides
1768	06/14	Wisconsin	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1767	06/13	Montana	Severe Winter Storm
1766	06/08	Indiana	Severe Storms and Flooding
1765	05/30	Nebraska	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1764	05/28	Mississippi	Severe Storms and Tornadoes
1763	05/27	Iowa	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1762	05/26	Colorado	Severe Storms and Tornadoes
1761	05/23	Georgia	Severe Storms and Flooding
1760	05/23	Missouri	Severe Storms and Tornadoes
1759	05/22	South Dakota	Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow
1758	05/20	Arkansas	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes
1757	05/19	Kentucky	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides
1756	05/14	Oklahoma	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1755	05/09	Maine	Severe Storms and Flooding
1754	05/09	Oklahoma	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1753	05/08	Mississippi	Severe Storms and Flooding
1752	05/05	Oklahoma	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1751	03/26	Arkansas	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1750	03/20	Georgia	Severe Storms and Tornadoes
1749	03/19	Missouri	Severe Storms and Flooding
1748	03/12	Missouri	Severe Winter Storms and Flooding
1747	03/07	Illinois	Severe Storms and Flooding
1746	02/21	Kentucky	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding
1745	02/07	Tennessee	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding
1744	02/07	Arkansas	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1743	02/06	Hawaii	Severe Storms, High Surf, Flooding, and Mudslides
1742	02/05	Missouri	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
1741	02/01	Kansas	Severe Winter Storms
1740	01/30	Indiana	Severe Storms and Flooding
1739	01/11	Nebraska	Severe Winter Storm
1738	01/08	Nevada	Severe Winter Storms and Flooding
1737	01/04	Iowa	Severe Winter Storm

Posted By richard martinez on 26 Sep 2008 03:50 AM

How can  people be out of work? Am I not seeing something?

Just for grins I went back for the last 5 years, its like this list every year.

Just because a "Catastrophe" is declared does not mean that it overwhelms the resources of an Insurance companies own staff to deal with them.  The "big 3" Insurance companies have over 1,000 staff each, dedicated to Catastrophes.  They run the phones, mobilize, manage, etc.  wherever they are needed. 

They will hire independent's as needed, but it will be the "first tier" adjusters who have paid their dues that will get the call to work.

Right now, the recent hurricanes have provided plenty of work for everyone. If you have experience as an adjuster and know what you are doing you can make money at times like today. If this is a new field to you, it is better to climb the steps of "daily claims" that occur as normal homeowner claims, and learn the policy, coverages, and estimating software.

The high volume of storm claims does not = high volume of pay if you don't know what you are doing. It can be learned, but it's not like flipping a light switch.

Quoted from above

Again am I missing something? I would hate to enter a career that I could not make at least, at the very least make 150,000 a year as a independent adjuster

End quote

This makes me wonder what career you are in now, since you do not enter careers in which you would make less than $150,000 dollars a year.  If you make $150,000 a year at the moment, why are you looking to get into cat adjusting.

If you mean $150,000 a year, every year, after expenses.  Then you might consider a career elsewhere.  Say you have made the jump into cat adjusting back in Katrina and you survived and made your $150,000 in 2005.  Most beginning adjusters, which is what you would be after one storm, did not work in 06 and 07.   So to meet your average, you would need to clear $450,000 this year on Gustav/Ike claims.  This is a tall order.

I would venture there are very few IA's, except the Applebee's parking lot guy, that average $150,000 a year in this business.  I have been in this business since 1988, (Estimating software, IA cat adjuster, IA vendor president/manager,  and now a few local claims, with a focus on my computer business), and I have never met anyone face to face that claims to average that amount of money.  I have however, been told by many a guy that knows a guy that knows a guy that made $750,000 in Katrina, or Andrew, or Hugo, or the 4 in 04.  And whoever that guy is that made all that money, I bet he too hangs out in the Applebee's parking lot.

But there are exceptions for every rule, you could be the one.

Jeff Goodman

www.goodmanadjusting.com

www.jeffthecomputerguyva.com