Xactware and ServiceMaster have teamed up to offer insurance carriers a contents estimating service.  Now the carriers are using restoration contractors to handle contents claims.  Pretty soon there will be nothing for property adjusters to do except review and pay contractor invoices.  Seems to me the ServiceMaster estimator is practicing adjusting if he starts valuing inventories and settling claims with insureds and would need a license in most states to be able to do so.  It must be the carriers will use inside adjusters to manage these claims (paper pushers with little or no adjusting expericence).

John you are now beginning to sound like an old sore head adjuster (Trader) that says insurance carriers do not care what they pay on losses as its all part of the rate structure; but the adjusting expense is not.

I just heard something last week which warmed the cockles of my heart.

I had assigned three claims to an independent.  He called me to discuss coverage before writing up the claims.  I told him to make sure each building was properly separated with the correct O and P and tax included in each building and the contents written separately rather than lumped together.  I went on to tell him that it was a difficult process in Xactimate, but I would walk him through it if he wanted.

He surprised me by saying that he could do the extimate in Xactimate if I wanted him to, but that his company had chosen to use Simsol and he had just installed it.  I went on to congratulate him for hooking up with a wise company.  And I told him to please go ahead and try Simsol because the separations I was asking him to make could be done so much easier in Simsol.  That was Friday afternoon.  All three of the estimates he was writing up were in my inbox when I walked in on Monday morning. 

I'm so used to adjusters telling me that their companies make them use Xactimate, that it took me by complete surprise to find a company encouraging their adjusters to use another product.  My policy here at the property department at ICW is to look at how good the adjuster using the product is rather than what product they're using.

In my opinion, Service Master will only be offering the Adjusting Firm a transitional step in pulling the contents loss adjustment from the adjuster.  Once they see how the kid at Service Master is knocking out those contents lists, the light bulb will come on.  The Adjusting Firm owner will think, heck I can pay my niece $10/hr to surf ebay and do Contents Loss for me........

It may appear as though I posted this at 2 am and have nothing better to do than surf CADO till the wee hours of the morning....but actually I'm sitting in the office in Northern Iraq and its only 10 am....ha. 

Logged onto Webce.com and catching up on CE hours.  Hoping to come home soon!

Scottie

If any of you Xactimate users thinks that company cares about you, you better think again. Their goal, in my opinion, is to cut us out of the adjusting loop and control everything. The only decent entity out there is Simsol. They are people who have and do work in the field and care about the adjusters who work their tails off to support their families.

I want to see how Exactware is going to handle thousands of inventory claims when a large cat hits. There are not that many water suckers out there and they will not be able to handle that many claims. Like John and Ray have said, and now me, how can they work claims without an adjusters license. MSB has finally destroyed DDS and unless their new program can drag them into competetion, they are useless.

I would love to see them handle a claims I have right now. A welding shop that has equipment in it that many people have not even heard of. I was raised on a farm with a father who was an outstanding welder/fabricator and am familiar with all the equipment. Even at that, I have spendt at least 9 hours on the phone to get prices for repairs, replacement and clean up. Will I be paid fairly for the work done on this file, I think not, but it will be done right and the insured will be made as whole again as possible.

This industry is suffering terribly. Rates are high, service is terrible, and adjusters just cannot make a good living at this anymore.

I 'bought' Xact for $3,000 in 1994. Lifetime license, but that changed and the licence is useless as it does not extend to the new version(s) IMHO, it is no longer an adjuster friendly program. However, it now has an underwriting check list and no statement of loss.  :-)  A friend just returned from a vendor seminar. To receive and acknowledge a claim electronically he had to go through 15 windows. This has to be done on every claim. No kidding.

It is my understanding that Xact prices come from submissions/input/surveys from contractors. However, that does not preclude a carrier from creating a price list with different unit costs. A contractor version of Xact is still available. I do like Xact for large losses but it is overkill for the average claim.

P.S. I worked a hail claim on your sister in laws's home during the great Orlando hail storm of 1992 when I was staff for Farm Bureau. My, thing have changed since then.

This industry is suffering terribly. Rates are high, service is terrible, and adjusters just cannot make a good living at this anymore.

Tom,

You forgot to mention record profits.