My "First Storm" will go down for me as the most stressful and frustrating four weeks of my life! There is absolutely nothing that will prepare you for your first storm as an adjuster. You may think you're ready. You may think you know every thing you need to know to be a successful adjuster. You may have taken education classes about adjusting and using the estimating software, or been in the construction business all your life, but when you experience your first storm you are going to rapidly realize just how much you don't know. And it's not so much from a lack of knowledge, but rather not knowing what to expect!
My "first storm" took me to the area of Fairfax, Virginia just west of Washington, D.C. where Hurricane Isabel took it's toll in Sept of 2003. Damages pretty well ran the gauntlet from severe to slight. After attending the storm orientation in Raleigh, NC and finding out where the majority of my claims would be, I proceeded to the Washington, D.C. area not realizing that I had already been assigned 48 claims and all of these had been given my contact phone number. After stopping at motel after motel to find them all full, I finally found a Super 8 Motel near Manassas, VA which was about 20 miles east of the area where my claims were concentrated. I discovered later that I was the only adjuster in that Motel. (FIRST MISTAKE - I didn't realize how important it is to stay somewhere where there are other adjusters to share ideas and information with.)
After getting checked into the motel and getting my office set up it was nearing 11 PM. I decided that I needed to download my 48 claims and check my voice mail for messages. This was when panic struck. I had received 33 calls from the 48 insureds that dated back to the day before orientation. (SECOND MISTAKE - I did not check my voice mail while driving to Virginia and returning some of those calls.) I immediately began to feel the stress. I stayed up the rest of the night printing out "loss notices" and setting up files and making diary entries for those 48 claims.
I began returning those 33 calls and setting appointments beginning the next morning. (THIRD MISTAKE - I hadn't contacted all 48 claimants and priortorized the claims from severe down to slight damages and already had inspections scheduled beginning the next day for the next four or five days). Most insurance companies require that the insured be contacted within so many hours of receiving their claim. Needless to say, I was unable to contact all 33 of those claimants much less the other 15 and it took the better part of the day to contact those that I did. The middle of that afternoon I decided to check my voicemail again hoping that some of those original 33 had received my message that I had tried to return their call and call me again leaving me a new contact number. To my dismay, I had received another 28 voice messages, very few of which were from the original 33. That's 61 insured's, all of which were wanting to know when I was going to be out to inspect their damages. I didn't recognize most of the names of those 28 new voice messages so I checked for new claims and low and behold I had been assigned another 26 new claims that morning. That's 74 claims assigned to a "newbie" or a "first storm" adjuster. (FOURTH MISTAKE - I hadn't set aside several days to do nothing but contact all the claimants.) Panic doesn't come close to describing how I felt by then. I was absolutely overwhelmed the second day on the job and hadn't even inspected the first claim. I even began to feel like I was being set up for failure!
Let me interject this. First, there is no way the person from the insurance company receiving a call from an insured who is filing a claim to know the extent of the damages to that property other than what the insured tells them. Secondly, the person at the insurance company dispatching the claim to the adjuster has no way of telling the extent of your training or knowledge of adjusting nor do they know the extent of the damages. You're nothing more than a number to them. That being said, don't expect, on your first storm, for any one to give you a break with smaller claims or less number of claims. That doesn't happen. All adjusters are treated equal, whether you're a rookie or a seasoned adjuster.
However, you are not alone on your first storm. There are many people out there to help you get through your first storm. You will be assigned an Administrative Manager and a Field Support Manager (commonly referred to as a TA). Your admin manager is there to help you with all the paper work involved on the storm. He reviews your written claim and advises you of any corrections needed and pushes your written claim through the file examiners. Anything administrative he can help you with. Without a doubt, the most important person that is there to help you is your Field Support Manager or TA. All of these people are seasoned adjusters. They know what they are doing and they know what you are going thru. They have all been through a "First Storm". They can be of immense value and help to you. Don't be afraid to use them. That's their job and that is what they are there for. Most cat companies will have "help rooms" set up in your area that are staffed with seasoned adjusters. Unfortunately, most are understaffed, but they can be a valuable asset to you getting through your first storm.
Well, there I was on my first storm already feeling absolutely stressed out and frustrated with all the phone calls from insureds and no inspections completed. I began my inspections and the more I completed, it seemed like the worst they became. Damage wise that is. From slight damage to moderate to severe. I began to see that some of these more moderate and severely damaged properties would take much more time to write the claims. As the days went on and I completed more inspections I wasn't getting any claims written or closed. I failed to schedule any "paper days" (days to stay in and write claims). I thought I could write these in the evenings when I got back to the room (BIG MISTAKE - SEE FOURTH MISTAKE). Claims to be written began to stack up on my desk.
After about the fourth or fifth day I started receiving calls from my admin manager and storm manager wanting to know why I hadn't sent in any closed claims. This compounded the stress and frustrations to the point that I thought I could not do this job. I thought about packing my bags and going home. One day I received a call from my admin mgr to discuss some of my claims. He could tell I was struggling and offered to pull some of my claims and re-assign them to another adjuster. I wasn't aware that he could do that. That relieved a little of the pressure. Then I contacted my TA and told him I needed some help with some of these claims. He arranged for me to come to his motel room one evening. When I arrived, I found six other adjusters sitting around the edges of his bed with him standing up in the middle of the bed with a pointer in hand moving between adjusters and using his pointer. I found that to be a little humorous but he certainly was dedicated to helping everyone including me. I will never forget that first encounter with my TA. There were many other times that he spent with me going out to the field on inspections and many other nights spent in his motel room until the wee hours of the morning. After about the second week on the storm and many nights with my TA I began to feel like I was going to make it through the storm. I began to learn how to write these claims, with his help, and actually began to write and close some of them on my own. I owe my "first storm" TA such a great debt of gratitude for helping me get through that "first storm".
I made it through my "first storm", thanks to my TA, and was released exactly 30 days to the date of my arrival. Upon my drive back home I had a great sense of achievement, but I had just experienced the most stressful and frustrating situation I had ever experienced in my lifetime.
As I mentioned at the beginning, nothing or no one can prepare you for your "first storm". It is something you have to experience yourself. Every seasoned adjuster has been there and knows what I am talking about. Just remember that as a rookie, you're not alone. There are others there in the same boat, others there that have been where you are, and others there to help you. I can honestly say that I have never met an adjuster who was not willing to help me. One of the most rewarding aspects of this business is that you become a part of a family. And you will meet new people on every storm that you can add to that family list. And believe me, after that "first storm", your next storm will be a piece of cake!
Jerry Barnes