What qualities are looked for when choosing an adjuster? Assuming technical proficiency, is there more that determines the preferred adjuster? How will the adjuster work with the insured? How will the adjuster behave with me?
A survey was recently conducted by an independent market research firm in California to find out what insurance claims examiners valued above all else when it comes to independent claims adjusters.
The top three results were:
- Honest
- Skilled
- Well-mannered
As this information came in, we wanted to look at why these points in particular would be so valuable to an examiner. This led us to our case studies where we realized we had some excellent examples on hand!
An Honest Claims Adjuster…
In The Case of the Uncooperative Witness and the Stolen Street Signs our Los Angeles Adjuster had to track down a witness to a vehicle accident. Not only was this an infamous East L.A. neighborhood that had seen multiple shootings, but on the night of the appointment our adjuster drove to the neighborhood only to discover that all the street signs had been ripped from their poles. This made it extremely difficult to locate the witness’s apartment.
If this adjuster had been just a little less honest he could have said it was impossible to find that apartment. However, undaunted he began to ask anyone he could find on the street as to the location of the building he was looking for. He questioned 17 people that night, including several gangbangers who were heavily wallpapered with tattoos, and even several L.A. police SWAT team members before finally finding the apartment.
A Skilled Claims Adjuster…
In The Case of the Maze and the Reluctant Witness we were asked to serve a subpoena by a defense attorney on a witness. Our adjuster arrived at the address and there was a man who fit the witness’s description working outside the home on a car. After denying that he was the witness, the adjuster was not satisfied he was being truthful.
Had this adjuster been a little less skilled in trusting his instincts he would have left. But because he knew what he was doing when our adjuster saw a young boy riding his bike around in the area a subtle inquiry revealed that the boy was a neighbor of the man working outside on the car. Further inquiries revealed that the man was in fact the witness.
A Polite, Cooperative Claims Adjuster…
In cd our adjuster was assigned to obtain a statement from a witness who could only meet him during work hours. The unique problem was that the witness worked inside the ultra-high-security vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of Los Angeles and told our adjuster that it would therefore be impossible to meet with him.
Our adjuster persisted and learned that it WAS possible to gain access to the building providing he was willing to go through a lengthy pre-screening process to ensure he was who he said he was and without criminal connections. The adjuster answered a lengthy list of personal questions and provided a huge amount of information and accreditations so that background checks could be run.
Being of good and honest character, and willing to do the security checks, the adjuster was granted access to the building.
These are three qualities we ensure every adjuster on our team has. Our adjusters routinely deliver top notch products and go above and beyond what we ask of them! All of this leads to you being able to grow your business, because when you know your claims is being done correctly you can focus on expansion.
Let us help you get more claims done smoothly by providing frustration-free investigations! Please reach out to us at 877-840-6277, info@churchill-claims.com or send assignments directly to assignments@churchill-claims.com or submit them online.
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