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family question - 8/16/2006 2:44:55 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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hi everybody,
I was wondering if any of you have some good advice for someone like me, a young person with a young family, wanting to get into this business.
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 2:52:42 PM
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inverse121
Posts: 57
Joined: 8/29/2005
Status: offline
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Get a staff job with some stability and benefits.
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 2:56:26 PM
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texas dave
Posts: 26
Joined: 7/21/2006
Status: offline
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get and read all the training material you can get your hands on. after you read it once cover to cover then start over again. get all the certifications offered to you . learn the estimating systems . there are some good ones out there . go to powerclaims and get yourself a copy of their software for free install and try it out using your own house for practice. this is what i did in becoming an auto adjuster ,i would go and write estimates on wrecked cars at a friend's body shop and let him compare mine to his . taught me alot.depending on where you live maybe you can find an adjuster willing to let you tag along for a day and see for yourself what there is to the job. ask at the local insurance companies .an above all don't get discouraged by all the stuff you will read and see here . some are excellent and some are jerks. i quess they forgot what it was to start out and what it is like to help someone new. but like i say most on here are excellent at answering questions. so do alot of reading on here .
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 2:58:12 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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actually, I have a great income right now and my job is flexible so I can travel and work from anywhere. My husband was thinking of doing this and I could travel with him and do my job on the road but from reading through some of these posts it seems like I would be silly to think it would be easy to take a family on the road. I love the idea of the travel and seeing new places, helping people etc. but I also see the down side.
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 3:00:32 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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Thanks Texas Dave,
That's a very nice answer and very unselfish. How long have you been doing adjusting?
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 3:11:09 PM
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texas dave
Posts: 26
Joined: 7/21/2006
Status: offline
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a little over two years now as an independant auto adjuster. i have a cousin who works for all cat claims and her son also .so if they get busy i will go and help them but i stick mostly to automotive and work for 6 different companies now . so i stay busy .
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 3:59:13 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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WOW! you do sound busy. How is the mom and son team? Do they get deployed to the same states?
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 4:55:55 PM
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texas dave
Posts: 26
Joined: 7/21/2006
Status: offline
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no my cousin is at home here in texas . her son is in kansas working hail claims as we speak supposedly be home in about 4 to 6 weeks .me busy working daily auto claims.
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 4:57:12 PM
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texas dave
Posts: 26
Joined: 7/21/2006
Status: offline
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as an auto adjuster not that bad look at about five or six daily .
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 5:53:36 PM
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ranger
Posts: 186
Joined: 11/20/2004
Home base: Bonham, Texas
Status: offline
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I have worked Georges, Ivan, Katrina and Wilma and it would hurt you finanacially unless the spouse is able to write estimates or put together a file using the adjuster spouse's scope. While on cat assignments I try to be at my first assignment at 7:00 AM and I will work in the cat office until 10:00 PM that night and this does not leave time for the non-adjuster spouse. Days off are used to catch up on assignments. If I had my spouse with me I would have to stay in a nicer place and stop at 6:30 PM everyday. This would cost me at least $400.00 a day.
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 6:01:52 PM
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givemeroofs
Posts: 301
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Houston, Texas
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: inverse121
Get a staff job with some stability and benefits.
What he said.
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RE: family question - 8/16/2006 8:12:42 PM
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ranger
Posts: 186
Joined: 11/20/2004
Home base: Bonham, Texas
Status: offline
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I agree that it would be best to start out as a staff adjuster and maybe end up retiring as a staff adjuster. I do not know any property insurance company that will hire you as an adjuster trainee unless you have a four year degree from an accredited university or college.
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RE: family question - 8/17/2006 2:41:30 PM
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malvi
Posts: 52
Joined: 5/25/2006
Status: offline
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Hi Ce-des
It all depends how improtant it is to you to spend time with your family on a daily basis. I don't mean if you like to see them every day because we all do (atleast I hope we do), but how much family time are you willing to sacrifice, and is your partner in agreement with your decision?. Last year we left home in July and did not come back until January of 2006. That is a long time to be away. I would have never done it when my children were young and my husband working full time for a company. My family is much more improtant than any career or profession. I started out 20+ years ago as a company adjuster handling first party auto (windshield claims). I stayed with a company and worked my way up from there. Two years ago my husband took early retirement (still steady income from a pension) and our "baby" was in her junior year of college so we decided that was the time for us to go on the road as a team. We have been fortunate to have work year round (cat and daily claims) Thank God we eat every day, and the bills are getting paid on time. But we are in a point in our life that we can do such a thing. We are young enough to work and old enough that we do not have daily family obligations. So think about it long and hard. Whatever you decide make sure it is a joint decision with your spouse and that the subject can be re-visited as the need arises.Careers can wait children and spouses do not.
_____________________________
malvi
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 7:59:47 AM
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adjustermm
Posts: 4
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Dayton, Tennessee
Status: offline
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Please be very careful before making such a potentially life changing decision. My sons were about 9 and 12 when I started. I can't tell you how much of their growing up I missed. Fortunately I am married to a wonderful woman who was there with the boys all the time and managed to make every sporting event and activity. I have seen countless families fall apart because one spouse or the other is on the road all the time. The boys are grown now and one of them is working as a Cat adjuster and doing really well. My wife travels with me now and we live in our motor coach full time. She is also an adjuster and makes as much as I do most years. This business has been a truly wonderful opportunity for me and my family, but it can be devastating to young families.
Mike
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 9:54:19 AM
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mcmoore
Posts: 27
Joined: 4/27/2004
Home base: Leesburg, FL
Status: offline
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When I first went into cat work full time I was single and was on the road 6 to 10 months a year. I even gave up my apartment and rented a room in a relative’s house because there was no point in keeping up the extra expense. I believed that in order to keep working in both the slow years and the busy ones I had to never turn down an assignment. All those years on the road and working with numerous carriers and vendors allowed me to make some very good friends in this business. These friends are priceless to me because eight years ago I met and married a woman who was widowed with three young sons (yes, I was temporarily insane) and we have since had a daughter together. That drastically changed the way I looked at work and the time I spent away from home. I did not want to miss my kids growing up and they deserved an attentive father. I’ve had to make numerous adjustments in my career to be with my family that would have not been possible without the support of the friends and colleagues I made during my early years of cat adjusting as well as my wife who is willing to carry the full load during the times I have to be on the road. Fortunately due to my network of friends in this business I’ve been able to work fewer months a year and still make a sufficient amount of money.
The point I’m attempting to make is that I don’t believe I would have been successful if I entered cat adjusting already married with young children. I’ve watched many friends and colleagues marriages end in divorce solely due to career related stresses on their relationships. Obviously I know nothing of your circumstances and you may be able to balance it successfully but my experience tells me that this is a job best left for the couple that can travel and work together or the single/retired individual that does not have a family back home that is relying on him or her to be there for them.
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 7:15:54 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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I appreciate all the advice. You are all so nice to take the time to read this and give your opinions. I have been reading through some of these forums and it seems like a lot of the adjusters have some resentment against new people trying to get into the business. There is a lot of talk about people hearing about Katrina and about how much money all the CAT adjusters were pulling in from this huge disaster and wanting a piece of it but that's not me so let me tell you the short version of my story: I am a mortgage broker with a 3 year old son and a 2 month old baby. I started doing mortgages when my son was little and that was a sacrifice to leave him with the babysitter (although my family) and go to work 9-5 but it was worth it because now 3 years later I still make good money and have a great style of life. However, I am the type of person that wants to keep moving up and looking for new opportunity. My husband has been the general contractor building our house for the last year but now that project is finished and he is looking for a good job. We both agreed something real estate related since that is what we love so we started searching for good opportunities. My brother is already a real estate agent so that is taken. His father is starting an insurance company so maybe not that either and then we remembered the adjuster that came to our house with his son (also an adjuster) to handle our claim. This was one of the nicest people I had ever met and he told us his story of how he got into the business and how much he loved it. My husband wasn't looking for a job at the time but now we started to research adjusting and it really appealed to us. We love to travel and we love to work together. I was thinking that I could help with some of the paperwork and he wouldn't have to take too many assignments since we wouldn't need it as our main income. It would be nice maybe 3 months out of the year give or take some. Since our kids aren't in school we could all go together and then if it went really well we could do the motor home life later. Well, my story went longer than I thought but we are both ambitious and able to handle anything put in front of us. We work well under stress and work well together. With all that said, any other thoughts?
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 8:35:03 PM
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jsg121850
Posts: 5
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline
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I am an adjuster with 4 sons. The oldest is 14 youngest is 3. My wife is the rock in our family. She handles everything while I am out in the field, including scheduling my appointments. Yes, it is a sacrifice being away for months at a time, but when I am home in the slow season, I am really home and there is nothing taking my attention away. We spend alot of quality time together in the slow times. When possible she will bring the kids and come spend a few days, which generally only happens after things slow down. If you have a strong marriage and you are commited to making it work you can. We make it work and we do just fine. We really appreciate the time we have together. There are alot of people who can't make it work, but we are lucky. The only thing that I would say is the moment it looks like it is causing problems, you may have to look at making a change. It is not worth losing your marriage over.
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 9:07:10 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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how many months out of the year are you usually gone or is that totally up to you?
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 9:13:53 PM
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claims_ray
Posts: 39
Joined: 8/8/2006
Status: offline
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It varies depending on the amount of work, adjusters working, and skill level/ knowledge.
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RE: family question - 8/18/2006 9:19:24 PM
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cedesc220
Posts: 13
Joined: 8/16/2006
Status: offline
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I have also seen quite a few husband and wife teams or more common a father and son team. What is the benefit to this? Would you both most likely be deployed to the same state? I guess I am mostly confused about the pay to a husband and wife team. Would each one have their own assignments and the spouse could just go along to help so there would actually be two incomes?
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