Way to go old pro. I did ask this question. No all was a DVD player and a bunch of tapes @ retail and locks for the tool box. But I was able to tell these folks the correct answer, or ask the right questions to get the answer instead of "i dont know anything about cars I am a catastrophe adjuster only" haha

On CV and DVD down this way we pay 25% of new cost and the rest when replaced with LKQ.

I can not say enough of good things about the State Darm auto company or the fire company. I have worked for both as an hourly temp many times for many years in a local branch office assit as an IA. I always came away as a better street adjuster for all things I would see on a daily fasis.

Larry, I always figured State Farm has about a zillion claim more than I and I could learn something. I always did.

Hot Darm!!

I worked with some very impressive adjusters when I was at the Farm. My first supervisor there was one of the most astute people I have ever met in this industry. My problems have arisen out of the team approach I have encountered as a State Farm policyholder. I get the concept -- making sure a claim gets handled because there is a whole team working on it. But, in actual practice, I have experienced less sense of ownership by the individuals to whom I talked. One of them didn't even give me her name when I asked for it point blank, just told me to ask for team six.

I use a team approach as well, but mine looks like this: I assign an independent adjuster to inspect, appraise the damage, and gather information for the rest of the team. I also give the IA a copy of all relevant portions of the policy so they can get an idea about coverage (even though I will make the final decision). I assign a separate person or firm to handle replacement of the contents. I make that assignment at the same time I make the IA assignment so there will be no delay.  If there is a business interruption aspect, I assign a CPA right out of the gate. If there is salvage we also assign a salvage vendor. If there is need for an engineer, I assign an engineer. These are coordinated by the IA, but all report directly to me. I own the file until it is properly closed. The claim file does not belong to my team; it belongs to me.

That approach works pretty good, Steve...as long as the IA on the structure & the IA (or other vendor) on contents understand their roles and keep them separate.  Sometimes, you get some overlap and it can become a little messy if one is saying clean/repair and the other saying replace.   CPA's, if needed, rarely present a problem since they just count the beans from afar based on history & projections.

I'm not actually using an IA for the contents most of the time. I'm using a replacement vendor like National Vendor. That means they rely on information coming from the IA to complete the inventory. Of course, there are also some of our brethren and sistren out there who specialize in contents and I would love to find an opportunity to use that option as well.

I recently used a contents inventory company, Enservio. They did a wonderful and speedy job. Kinda pricey (around $9,000) for a $200,000 inventory. I do beileve they saved the carrier many thousands of $$ due to the accuracy of their inventory.

Contents inventory companies can be great on certain losses. I haven't tried Enservio, but I know National Vendor also does that work and so does Stoner and Company (which is primarily a salvage firm). I had a claim at a dollar store on one of my assignments. If you can imagine the tedium of compiling an inventory for 45,000 items that wholesale for 20 cents to 71 cents you can imagine how much I appreciated Stoner and Company helping out.