by jlovett185 » Tue Sep 02, 2008 04:33 am
i have been in construction all my life and am considering becoming a licensed insurance adjuster. i know a lot of people that do it as part time during times of natural disaster. they seem to make a lot of money when they are gone. i have checked into courses to help get my license but am curious still on what i do after i get it. if i was to take off to a recent hurricane do i have to be employed with one insurance company or would several companies use one person like a sub contractor. thanks for your help
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 08:30 pm Post Subject: Upcoming Training Seminar
ICR Group Claims, Inc. is hosting a traing seminar for candidates interested in becoming a licensed property adjuster. The seminar will cover the basics of adjusting, Xactimate certification, Haag course instruction, as well as the TX licensing course and exam. If you or someone you know is interested in attending please respond back asap to leighann[at]icrgroupclaims.com.
Best Regards.
E-mail deactivated for your privacy reasons
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:08 am Post Subject:
Would there be charges in attaning the seminar? Do I have to enroll beforehand?
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:38 am Post Subject:
In response to the training question and the price, I went through this about 3 months ago. Most places do seem to charge about $500 online, however.. I consider myself a good googler and I found a couple of them charging $299.00. I used 1st choice certification because they had it online. Most of the other 300 dollar ones only had classroom stuff and I just don't have the time nor patience to sit through a stuffy classroom at my age.
It wasn't so bad. I was able to take the state exam through them at the end of the course. I come from a background in management so I didn't really know too much about the insurance field. The material in the course was easy enough for me to grasp a hold of (even though I had to take the exam 3 times before passing).
The one thing I liked is that even though I'm not from Texas, my state accepted the texas process.
Now my question is, Does anyone have any info or links on some good books to read for adjusters? I've learned a lot in the little experience I have had with a local company so far but I would rather be as prepared as possible.
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 10:31 am Post Subject:
Now my question is, Does anyone have any info or links on some good books to read for adjusters?
A couple come to mind that I read years ago, sorry I can't remember the authors. One title was How To Negotiate Anything, the other was Win Win, both are good books on negotiation. Which frankly is a big part of the job.Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 07:20 pm Post Subject: PA/IA
If you want to join the IA ranks or the PA ranks, it would be a good idea to go the staff route for 5 years or more. This is where you will get proper training regardless of which side of the industry you decide to join. Going in with only a crash course is a bad recipe, especially in the Public Adjuster realm.
A Public Adjuster is hired by a property owner for the knowledge and experience. The customer is usually in a situation where they feel that the offer from the carrier is not appropriate. Keep in mind that the carrier desires to limit the financial exposure of the claim. This can be explained and verified by a quick google search for "ccpr 1996" or "McKinsey and Allstate" and click a couple of links. Therefore, the job of the Public Adjuster is to obtain a proper settlement to indemnify the policy holder adequately. A PA without an extensive background can not serve the customer properly.
As far as the comments stating that PA's are not well thought of in the adjuster community, well that is subjective. Consider two things:
1) A good staff or IA will appreciate having an experienced person involved with the claim to expedite the process and adequately settle the claim. In my experience only the lesser experienced adjusters were not happy about a PA's involvement. When I worked as a Staff Adjuster and later as an IA, I appreciated the involvement of a PA.
2) Although some adjusters are not happy about the involvement of a PA, I have never seen a customer that was not completely satisfied and gracious at the conclusion. There is an exception to every rule but I have yet to experience that. I would suggest a long term goal of serving the community in the claims process and not the carrier after considering this.
I would consider the following outline if you want a carrier in claims:
1) Get a job with a major carrier for at least 5 years.
2) Get licensed as an IA and work with a large vendor for an additional 5 years. Also work NFIP claims as well.
3) After gaining substantial experience, consider serving the general public as a PA. You will find it very rewarding.
If you follow this outline you need not worry about paying for a license. The carrier will help you through this process and you will begin with an income. If you go straight to the IA side you may not work until a major event occurs. At that point you may get claims but also remember that it is common to go months without payment. Inexperienced IA's are most commonly forced into other lines of work due to the unpredictable nature of the claims volume and lengthy periods of time between performing the assigned task and recieving payment.
One more thing to consider. Your construction background is very valuable and somewhat uncommon in the claims business. I worked in several different trades and I believe that having this background provided me with a valuable tool. The best way to explain this is that adjusting claims without having ever performed the trades would be comparable to writing a book report on a book you had not read. I would suggest that a customer may not be well served by depending upon an adjuster without a construction background to settle the property damage claim.
If you want to discuss this any further or have more questions relating to this field, feel free to email me at info@adjusterfighter.com.
W. J. Dees
Public Adjuster
Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 04:38 pm Post Subject:
something for ur information from TX DOT SITE http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/licensing/agent/agpubadj2.html
he Public Insurance Adjuster Law (SB127 of the 78th Legislative Session) became effective on June 11, 2003. Article 21.07-5 Section 3 (a) requires that: "A person may not act as a public insurance adjuster in this state or hold himself or herself out to be a public insurance adjuster in this state, unless the person holds a license or certificate issued by the commissioner under Section 5, 15, or 16 of this article."
* Examination: There is no provision in statute that would allow Public Insurance Adjusters (PIA) to qualify for license by taking a prelicense course. Such courses may or may not be useful to prepare for the PIA License Qualifying test. Get information about testing, get a license application, or schedule an examination by contacting Prometric. You may do this on the internet, or call them toll free at (866)267-0455.
* Bond Form: A Public Insurance Adjuster must have a $10,000 Public Insurance Adjuster's bond.
* The statute: Click here to review the statute (Senate Bill 127).
* The rule: Review the Public Insurance Adjuster rule.
* Public insurance adjusters charge fees to help negotiate claim settlements with insurance companies. The public insurance adjuster fee is normally a percentage of the claim settlement and therefore is paid out of settlement monies received from an insurer.
* If a claim is settled within 72 hours of the date the loss is reported to the insurance company, the public adjuster is entitled only to reasonable compensation for time and expenses.
* The public adjuster's fee may not exceed 10 percent of a claim settlement and must be disclosed in the public adjuster written contract.
* Public adjusters may not give legal advice.
* The public adjuster may not participate, either directly or indirectly, in the reconstruction or repair of damaged property that is the subject of a claim adjusted by the public adjuster.
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 05:12 am Post Subject:
how much would you expect to make as an adjuster in houston tx working for an insurance company?
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:16 am Post Subject:
It depends...in my area, coming in with experience, I'd expect, some where oh around 50k without any experience, I'd expect 30-40k.
Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 08:08 pm Post Subject: felony
my daughter has a y class felony and is interested in being a insurance adjustor, will this stop her from being able to do it?
Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 08:57 pm Post Subject:
The Federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (18 USC 1033, 1034) governs who may not work in the insurance industry. Under certain circumstances, the Commissioner/Superintendent of Insurance in the licensing jurisdiction may grant a waiver allowing the individual to be licensed.
Each state has its own set of regulations governing who may or may not be granted a waiver. Contact your state's Dept of Insurance to find out what they are.
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