Dear robby,
I apologize for not being more specific. What I meant was the catalyst for PA retention is an” uninsured loss” ( i.e a flood, mudslide, etc.) or an “underinsured or coinsurance application.” In the case of catastrophies many carriers put “storm troopers” on the scene whose entire mission is to get the scope of the loss and money to the insureds as soon as practicable. The actual finalizing of claims and reconciliation of the full amount due often takes months. In those apparent rare instances (based on the comments in this thread)when a competent PA is involved the documentation in a logical format assists the resolution of the claim.
A properly documented and presented claim will always yield a more complete recovery. As a PA, I would never over-inflate a claim because my client would then expect to collect for things that the insurance carrier would NEVER agree to. It would make me look like I was not doing my job. Adding extra kitchen sinks make you look unprofessional and delay the negotiation process…and at the end of the day you won’t get paid for them anyway. I know Ron (the author) and he is a good adjuster…and, a good negotiator. Obviously, conflicting opinions abound in the real world as to the need for a PA. Personally, I would hire a PA and pay the fee to handle the management of my claim, regardless of whether the numbers go up. It is a time-consuming and frustrating process…there is value in having someone competent manage the claim so you can deal with other matters.
wow John, if I had to guess, I’d guess you are a public adjuster. I consider myself a fair and open minded person and I’ve been in claims for over 10 years now. And I’ve never seen a good public adjuster who honestly earned their 10% without bordering on making false claims.
I have read the comments from the PA article and of course I agree with its pro PA undertones, but you can tell the ones coming from the insurance industry pawns. There seems to be a trend with some companies being anti PA and vigorously fight against them. I used to be a PA and I was against one of these companies that was not taking care of the client, and that’s why I was hired in the first place
How many times has a PA been called in because an agent or carrier has falsely denied a claim? How many times has a comp. adjuster left out advice to a client when entitlements were due? How many times has a comp. adjuster belittle a claim or left obvious things out and make the insurer grovel for what’s due to settle? Get off your white horse.
Steve, first of I believe the saying is “get off your high horse” not white horse. The difference changes the meaning.
I won’t speak for the other adjusters out there but I can tell you that I don’t pull any of the stuff you mention. You know why, it’s not because I’m a great guy it’s because I don’t have the extra time to mess around with the crap that happens if I did the things that you mention or that I have seen PA’s do. No adjuster I know wants to keep files open. The only good file is a closed one and the best way to close one is to be up front with policyholder, pay what is owed and do what is right. Then the file gets closed and I can move on to the next one.
If I try to short change an insured there are too many people looking over my shoulder to be able to pull that off. Policyholders, agents, contractors, company supervisors etc. It’s not worth it. Sure I make mistakes, but I never intentionally short an insured, again it’s not worth it. I don’t make my money by inflating estimates and other claims like I see PA’s try.
Dear fighting saints, I stand corrected once again. Get off your high horse. I worked for the carrier for several years and the unscrupulousness of same on especially large claims can be mind boggling, I have had good relations with some IA and some not so much. I too am a straight shooter and that can expedite the process and I work hard at getting the client everything there entitled to. The carriers don’t like that.
Dear fighting saints, I stand corrected once again. Get off your high horse. I worked for the carrier for several years and the unscrupulousness of same on especially large claims can be mind boggling, I have had good relations with some IA and some not so much. I too am a straight shooter and that can expedite the process and I work hard at get
This is not in defense of PA’s but to say all PA’s are bad is as incorrect as it is to say all IA’s are good.
Sorry but your example of an inflated claim was not the best choice because of the very nature of the “Appraisal Clause”, which means the insured must accept an appraisal from a third party chosen by the INSURER.
Hence the reason that the PA industry is lobbying Congress and throwing money around to fight that clause, that clause effectively shuts out an insured’s legal right to dispute a claim with any chance of recourse, Do you disagree FightingSaints ?
We are all professionals whether IA/SA/PA and there are some on all sides that make us look bad .
I was a staff adjuster working for a good sized insurance company. Currently I’m a supervisor and supervise other adjusters for this company. Our company’s philosophy is that we are to pay the insured every penny they have coming, but not one penny more than they have coming. At the same time we are also told that if we are going to error, it is better to error on the side of the insured. Our company pushes customer service and a big part of that is that when the claim is closed that the insured would recommend us to others who are looking to purchase insurance. We are evaluated on our performance and the biggest part of our performance is our customer service. We aren’t paid more for shorting customers. There is no bonus at the end of the year. It is much easier to over pay a claim, than to underpay a claim and then deal with an upset customer and attorneys. I guess there must be bad companies out there, but I’m not familiar with any of them. So here is the problem. If I’m trying to pay my customer exactly what I owe, not too much and definitely not too little, where does the PA’s 10% come from?
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Dear robby,
I apologize for not being more specific. What I meant was the catalyst for PA retention is an” uninsured loss” ( i.e a flood, mudslide, etc.) or an “underinsured or coinsurance application.” In the case of catastrophies many carriers put “storm troopers” on the scene whose entire mission is to get the scope of the loss and money to the insureds as soon as practicable. The actual finalizing of claims and reconciliation of the full amount due often takes months. In those apparent rare instances (based on the comments in this thread)when a competent PA is involved the documentation in a logical format assists the resolution of the claim.
A properly documented and presented claim will always yield a more complete recovery. As a PA, I would never over-inflate a claim because my client would then expect to collect for things that the insurance carrier would NEVER agree to. It would make me look like I was not doing my job. Adding extra kitchen sinks make you look unprofessional and delay the negotiation process…and at the end of the day you won’t get paid for them anyway. I know Ron (the author) and he is a good adjuster…and, a good negotiator. Obviously, conflicting opinions abound in the real world as to the need for a PA. Personally, I would hire a PA and pay the fee to handle the management of my claim, regardless of whether the numbers go up. It is a time-consuming and frustrating process…there is value in having someone competent manage the claim so you can deal with other matters.
wow John, if I had to guess, I’d guess you are a public adjuster. I consider myself a fair and open minded person and I’ve been in claims for over 10 years now. And I’ve never seen a good public adjuster who honestly earned their 10% without bordering on making false claims.
I have read the comments from the PA article and of course I agree with its pro PA undertones, but you can tell the ones coming from the insurance industry pawns. There seems to be a trend with some companies being anti PA and vigorously fight against them. I used to be a PA and I was against one of these companies that was not taking care of the client, and that’s why I was hired in the first place
How many times has a PA been called in because an agent or carrier has falsely denied a claim? How many times has a comp. adjuster left out advice to a client when entitlements were due? How many times has a comp. adjuster belittle a claim or left obvious things out and make the insurer grovel for what’s due to settle? Get off your white horse.
Steve, first of I believe the saying is “get off your high horse” not white horse. The difference changes the meaning.
I won’t speak for the other adjusters out there but I can tell you that I don’t pull any of the stuff you mention. You know why, it’s not because I’m a great guy it’s because I don’t have the extra time to mess around with the crap that happens if I did the things that you mention or that I have seen PA’s do. No adjuster I know wants to keep files open. The only good file is a closed one and the best way to close one is to be up front with policyholder, pay what is owed and do what is right. Then the file gets closed and I can move on to the next one.
If I try to short change an insured there are too many people looking over my shoulder to be able to pull that off. Policyholders, agents, contractors, company supervisors etc. It’s not worth it. Sure I make mistakes, but I never intentionally short an insured, again it’s not worth it. I don’t make my money by inflating estimates and other claims like I see PA’s try.
Dear fighting saints, I stand corrected once again. Get off your high horse. I worked for the carrier for several years and the unscrupulousness of same on especially large claims can be mind boggling, I have had good relations with some IA and some not so much. I too am a straight shooter and that can expedite the process and I work hard at getting the client everything there entitled to. The carriers don’t like that.
Dear fighting saints, I stand corrected once again. Get off your high horse. I worked for the carrier for several years and the unscrupulousness of same on especially large claims can be mind boggling, I have had good relations with some IA and some not so much. I too am a straight shooter and that can expedite the process and I work hard at get
Hey FightingSaints
This is not in defense of PA’s but to say all PA’s are bad is as incorrect as it is to say all IA’s are good.
Sorry but your example of an inflated claim was not the best choice because of the very nature of the “Appraisal Clause”, which means the insured must accept an appraisal from a third party chosen by the INSURER.
Hence the reason that the PA industry is lobbying Congress and throwing money around to fight that clause, that clause effectively shuts out an insured’s legal right to dispute a claim with any chance of recourse, Do you disagree FightingSaints ?
We are all professionals whether IA/SA/PA and there are some on all sides that make us look bad .
I was a staff adjuster working for a good sized insurance company. Currently I’m a supervisor and supervise other adjusters for this company. Our company’s philosophy is that we are to pay the insured every penny they have coming, but not one penny more than they have coming. At the same time we are also told that if we are going to error, it is better to error on the side of the insured. Our company pushes customer service and a big part of that is that when the claim is closed that the insured would recommend us to others who are looking to purchase insurance. We are evaluated on our performance and the biggest part of our performance is our customer service. We aren’t paid more for shorting customers. There is no bonus at the end of the year. It is much easier to over pay a claim, than to underpay a claim and then deal with an upset customer and attorneys. I guess there must be bad companies out there, but I’m not familiar with any of them. So here is the problem. If I’m trying to pay my customer exactly what I owe, not too much and definitely not too little, where does the PA’s 10% come from?