As Hurricane Ina approaches, now is the time to review Gulf Coast Claim handling Guidelines

No time like the present to brush up on the claim handling guidelines on the Gulf Coast with Hurricane Ina approaching.

Claims Magazine has an outstanding section on claims handling guidelines by region. Here is a link to the section on the Gulf Coast and Atlantic border regions:

http://www.claimsmag.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/ClaimHandlingRegulations/ClaimHandling_Gulf_States.pdf

Crawford and Company Education Fair coming 12/9/09 in Atlanta, GA

Crawford Educational Fair Coming in December – Details below.

Do you fit in one of the following categories?

1. Are you a claims professional who is interested in obtaining your professional designation (such as an Associate in Claims, an Associate in Risk Management or Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriting)?

2. Are you contemplating a career as an adjuster in 2010? Are you thinking of diversifying your current administrative abilities by obtaining a professional designation in 2010?

3. Have you wondered how training provided by Crawford Educational Services could potentially benefit you and your career?

If so, then you should plan to attend the Educational Fair sponsored by Crawford Educational Services in conjunction with Operational Compliance on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. The Educational Fair will be held at the Crawford Corporate Headquarters in Atlanta. Refreshments, door prizes and giveaways will be provided.

The Educational Fair will spotlight self-paced training, continuing education opportunities, the tuition reimbursement policy and on-line learning opportunities provided by Crawford Educational Services. In addition, this year there will be an opportunity to earn free continuing education credits from select vendors.

More details to follow – please stay tuned.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elise-quadrozzi-cpcu-aim-au-arp/3/586/bb

*********************

I strongly encourage anyone with the time and expense funds available to attend this Crawford and Company Education Fair. We will definitely try to be there. We have strongly recommended their online classes at www.KMConDemand.com (knowledge management courses) as well as all of their field classes at their headquarters in Atlanta.

Hurricane Ina is now a Category 2 with winds at 100 mph as it enters Gulf Coast

Here’s a breaking news alert just received on Hurricane Ina as it enters the gulf coast on Sunday based on the noon update stating it is now a Category 2 hurricane. We are receiving copies of all kinds of adjusting firm standby alerts we are posting in the ClaimSmentor forum so you’ll know who is looking for adjusters in addition to the rosters you may already be on:

Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 18:58:37 -0000
From: newsalerts@cfnews13.com
To: subscribers@dataswitch.com
Subject: Breaking News

Ida now Category 2 Hurricane entering Gulf of Mexico. Western Florida Panhandle under hurricane watch.
 
Tune to Central Florida News 13 or log on to www.cfnews13.com for
more information.

Claims Magazine has their 2009 Claims Salary Survey Results Up!

We’ve been following the annual claims salary survey results on Claims Magazine annually for years now and have the ones from the past few years all posted here on our blog.

Here is a link to the 2009 Claim Salary Survey results posted in their magazine in October 2009 while I was out.

If you missed the new salary survey results from Claims Magazine’s Claims Salary Survey for 2009, here is the link!

http://www.claimsmag.com/Issues/2009/OCTOBER-2009/Pages/Salary-Survey-2009.aspx

I have the 2007 and 2008 also posted on ClaimSmentor in the forums as well as here on the blog if you want to compare them! Just enter survey or salary survey in the search function to locate them!

We will be back up and running come Monday 11/9/09

Thank you to our many followers who have written over the past few months wondering where we’ve been!

We will be back up and posting about claims industry topics this coming Monday 11/9/09.

Thank you for your patience…see you Monday!

Carrier Certifications- Exchange of Information between ClaimSmentor members and participating adjusting firms

We have postings in our carrier certification forum on ClaimSmentor up now that we are approaching the beginning of the peak months of hurricane season for participating adjusters to reply to each topic by carrier if they have obtained the certifications for various carriers so our participating 72 adjusting firms can go directly to a pertinent carrier’s forum topic to download resumes of those now qualified to work claims for a carrier.

 We hope this exchange of information between our member adjusting firms and participating adjusters (now at 1150 plus members!) will be a valuable exchange of catastrophe assignments for the adjusters and a pool of candidates for participating adjusting firms as we begin the busier months of hurricane season!

Thus far we have up a forum topic to post if you offer certification testing for a firm or have certified with a firm for the exchange of info on the following carriers:

Allstate, American Family, Citizens of FL, Farmers, Homewise, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, NFIP, Royal Palm, State Farm, Tower Hill,  TX Windpool,  and USAA (alpha order). If you know of others requiring certification training or firms offering any of the above, please let us know for the most valuable exchange of info between independent adjusters and independent adjusting firms. Thanks!

If you are not yet a  member of ClaimSmentor, you can join us today once we receive the required registration information found here:

http://www.claimsmentor.com/register.php

We have received numerous registration requests while we were closed the month of July 2009 and will be getting those all caught up by Monday so there is no need to send a duplicate request if you already sent your information in. You will receive an email confirming your registration along with a private login id to participate once we have registered you.

Colorado storm of July 20, 2009 estimated at 350 Million/ 50,000 plus claims

The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association is reporting that the July 20, 2009 hail and wind storm is the 2nd most costly storm in Colorado and is reporting claim losses exceeding 50,000 losses. For complete details, refer to this bulletin posted on their site:

http://www.rmiia.org/News_room/catastrophe%20news/2009_07_27_Colorado_Wind_Hail_Cost.html

The June hail/wind storm isn’t far behind at 161 million!

I imagine many of you have received assignments out there. Be safe on those steep roofs while out there!

Best Job Opportunities for Claims Adjusters found on the web!

We highly recommend those searching for staff adjuster and for some independent positions as property adjusters and auto adjusters create a search job alert at www.indeed.com which is the best website we have found for locating claim career job opportunities.

Indeed posts jobs found from many employment opportunity search engines such as Great Insurance Jobs and newspaper ads nationwide combining them into one search engine for you! What a time saver rather than running to Career Builder, Great Insurance Jobs and many other web sites those looking for claim job opportunities when Indeed has already combined those newly posted for you!

Here is an example on the results for a search for Florida Claim job opportunities so you can see the many sites they pull in information from:

http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=claims&l=fl&fromage=last&rq=1

For more information about the career search engine Indeed.com, here is a link to their about us info:

http://www.indeed.com/intl/en/about.html

Save the Date- January 11-14 Austin TX is location of 2010 NACA (National Assn of Catastrophe Adjusters) Annual Conference with CE credits for adjusters

SAVE THE DATE—-  The 2010 NACA Convention will be held January 11-14 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, TX.  Details will be on our website soon!

 

NACA – National Association of Catastrophe Adjusters, Inc.

PO Box 821864

North Richland Hills, TX  76182

Phone – 817-498-3466

Fax – 817-498-0480

Website – www.nacatadj.org

Kmc on Demand (division of Crawford and Company) adds 6 more courses to online claims classes

Email reprinted with permission of KMC on Demand as an online sponsor of ClaimSmentor. Kmc on Demand is the online training arm of Crawford and Company adjusting firm:

Friday, July 10, 2009 3:06 PM

From:

“Elise_Quadrozzi@us.crawco.com” <Elise_Quadrozzi@us.crawco.com>View contact details

To:
DKMoroy@dimechimes.com

Dear Deborah:          ,

I hope this email finds you doing well.  I wanted to let you know that we have just added 6 new courses (31 modules) to your KMC demo for your review. They are:

• Advanced General Casualty I  
• Advanced General Casualty II  
• Commercial Trucking  
• Insurance Ethics  
• Negotiations
• Personal Liability

You can view a complete description of these courses in the attached PDF, or on the KMC web site at:

http://www.kmcondemand.com/newcourses

We encourage you to review the content and pass it along to the relevant experts within your organization.  

We will continue to add and improve courses while enhancing the KMC technology, and welcome any comments, feedback, or ideas you may have for future development.

Sincerely,

Elise Quadrozzi CPCU, AIM, AU, ARP
Knowledge Management Account Executive
 
KMC On Demand
Crawford & Company
1001 Summit Blvd.
Atlanta, GA 30319
Phone: 404.291.1893
Email: Elise_Quadrozzi@us.crawco.com
Website: http://www.kmcondemand.com 
 

We will be closed June 26th-July 5th, 2009- See everyone July 6th

We wish everyone a great July 4th holiday.

Our office will be closed June 26th-July 5th for the holiday as we attend a family reunion.

Be safe in your travels through the holiday!

Several news stories relate that if Gov Crist in FL signs new regs that State Farm may stay in FL- See articles/ See info on Delay in Exit decision until July 15th and AMBest rating changes for carrier

The Insurance Journal today sent out a breaking news story on this today and I’m also linking to the Miami Herald article stating that State Farm may reconsider departure from the FL insurance market if Governor Crist in FL signs new regulation on rates:

Here is the Miami Herald news story:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090623/ARTICLE/906231038/2055/NEWS?Title=If-Crist-relaxes-rules-State-Farm-hints-it-may-stay

Here is a link to the Insurance Journal article:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2009/06/22/101618.htm

Here is a link to the  Insurance Journal info on AMBEST downgrading of their rating for State Farm of Florida:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2009/06/18/101518.htm

Here is also a link to delays in a decision until July 15th per another Insurance Journal update:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2009/06/15/101413.htm

Should they stay this might provide substantial reconsideration by independent adjusters thoughts about working the Citizens of FL claims if they feel opportunities will exist into the future to work State Farm Florida claims when a major disaster strikes.

“Our Fathers Who Art in Heaven”..a tribute to our dads who have passed away….and Happy Father’s Day to all of our Members

Father’s Day 2009- in quiet reflection thinking about my dad who passed away in December of 2000 and missing him immensely.

While searching for good thoughts to reflect on his honor today, I ran across this blog entry by the author of ” Our Fathers who Art in Heaven” by Gerry Murak  and thought the story quite interesting. Also make sure to note on the right column of this entry that they are looking for contributors for Volume II by those reflecting on their great dads and contributions that they made in their lives. I hope you’ll take the time to read and share this with others missing their fathers today.

http://murak.blogs.com/ourfatherswhoartinheaven/2005/05/a_very_memorabl.html

My father was my best friend, mentor, cheer leader, and hero and I do miss him beyond belief not just today but every day.

 ClaimSmentor (see tribute on our About us page) was created and dedicated in his honor (William Robert Kane, Sr) as was the name Dimechimes which I use in my business and social networking sites. It represents the 10 of us in our family- how they ever raised 8 children on a limited military income is beyond me yet through my father and mother’s great hearts, the dimes we had did make a difference in the lives of others. My dad’s dimes have taken care of my mother very well since he passed away which he had often expressed was so important to him before he left us from diabetic complications just 3 short weeks after beginning kidney dialysis. ClaimSmentor was dedicated in his honor as my mentor, friend and best supporter.

We wish you all a very happy Father’s Day and hope you appreciate every single minute today with your fathers who are with you. Don’t ever take one minute, one conversation, or one piece of advice from them for granted. They are memories you will treasure forever.

To those in the claim industry who are out on assignment working the many hail storms across the midwest, we appreciate the sacrifice you are making to serve the insured public on their storm losses while missing today, Father’s Day 2009, with your families.

In Loving Memory of  William Robert Kane, Sr on Father’s Day 2009

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.~ Henry Ward Beecher

 

Colorado Storm Preliminary Storm Damage Stats In from storms beginning 6/7/09

Just a ClaimSmentor moment link to Colorado preliminary storm damage statistics and claims for the numerous storms last week beginning 6/7/09:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2009/06/17/101433.htm

National Hurricane Center Changes the way the Saffir Simpson Scale will be used due to Storm Surge stats

This was a very interesting article about the 2009 changes to the way a hurricane is categorized using the Saffir Simpson Scale due to problems with the storm surge and hurricane categories. For instance, the article indicates Hurricane Ike came in as a category 2 but the storm surge was equivalent to a category 4 hurricane at landfall. Most interesting are the arguments for and against the proposed 2009 changes in the comment section of this article:

http://weatherblog.abc13.com/2009/06/save-the-saffirsimpson-scale.html

For more details from NOAA National Hurricane Center on the 2009 changes here is a link on the storm surge component of the saffir simpson scale and reasons for the changes:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml

Chinese Drywall Claims Making Their Way through the Courts- Guest entry by Attorney Thomas Little

Attorney Thomas Little has joined our Dimechimes ClaimSmentor Claims Industry group at Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/dimechimesclaimSmentor . He provides an update on the hot topic on the Chinese Drywall Claims Litigation here on his blog. We appreciate you sharing this information for our claims group and we pass it along for others as well since this is such a hot topic:

http://alabamainsurancedefensereport.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/chinese-drywall-coverage-litigation-working-its-way-through-courts/

Claim Class Updates and Carrier Certification Class Updates for July 2009

We have updated the ClaimSmentor forums with the following upcoming classes:

Day and Evening online Live Class for Florida Condo Unitowners and Master Policy Claim Handling Classes- July 2009

Day and Evening online Live Classes for Additional Living Expense Claim Handling for Homeowners Insurance Claims- July 2009

You must be a registered member of ClaimSmentor to attend these classes.

Today we also posted field classes coming up in July with numerous adjusting firms for:

NFIP- special class FREE in AL for Standard Flood Policy coverage and form completion seminar

Nationwide Certification class- FREE in ALabama

USAA Carrier Certification classes- 3 different adjusting firms offering these in July 2009 from no cost ranging to 50.00 per course depending on vendor offering them

State Farm Auto and Property Certification classes in August 2009

To register for ClaimSmentor, here is the registration link so you can view these topics for complete details in our Carrier Certification forum, Roots and Wings Training Forums for our Live ALE and Condo class info and much more:

http://claimsmentor.com/register.php

FloodSax- New product to combat flooding- replaces cumbersome sandbags for flooding

This new product looks quite promising for combating flood damage- called FloodSax:

Here is the link to the firm’s June 3, 09 Press Release announcing this product:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2485034.htm

Tracking Hurricane Ike Claim Litigation in Southeast Texas drives home the need for Errors and Omissions coverage for adjusters

This website posts newly filed insurance claim lawsuits for southeast TX several times each week.

http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/

Click on any of these links to find not only the suits against TWIA but other carriers as well. You’ll note that many of the cases against TWIA include the adjuster and the adjusting firm named in the complaints filed here is just one example:

http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/219283-latest-hurricane-related-insurance-suits-filed-in-jefferson-county

You can track the cases going all the way back to the month Ike hit.

This should drive home the seriousness of carrying E and O these days. We have two other posts on this blog with advice fromwww.cplic.net who specializes in carrying Errors and Omissions coverage advising adjusters should be carrying their own E and O coverage and not relying on coverage by the adjusting firm.

http://dimechimes.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/errors-and-omissions-coverage-guest-bloggers-dale-moore-client-relations-director-for-cplic/

FEMA considering use of Foreclosed homes for large catastrophe in Florida

Now here is an option that sure would work well when looking for Additional Living Expense housing for insureds as well if they would be available for short term rentals for storm victims:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/03/fema-considers-placing-florida-storm-victims-foreclosed-homes/

In another update on FEMA housing, the Obama Administration is considering a Katrina Fema housing transition and sale of Katrina trailers for $1.00 to $5.00 per trailer. Read about that here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203897.html?g=0

 

Here is also an update on the sale of FEMA Trailers in another move