CAT Resource CenterHurricane Season 2023

Yes! While there are 16 states that still do not license claims adjusters, the majority of states do. Employers, either insurance carriers or Independent Adjusting Firms, need adjusters who can work a multitude of claims in a variety of areas. You will give yourself the best chance for employment by obtaining your home state, or ‘designated home state’ license, and then getting reciprocal licenses so you can work in other states as well.

After a large scale catastrophe, insurance adjusters are often hired en masse and quickly deployed to the affected area. Being ready to go before the storm hits can make all the difference in whether or not you get hired. Our Co-Founder, Dan Kerr, wrote a great blog article called ‘Ready for the Storm: What Every New Adjuster Needs to Know‘ that explains the steps you need to put yourself in the best position to find work after a disaster.

The bottom line: the more licenses you have, the better. Whether it’s an insurance carrier or an independent adjusting firm, employers need adjusters who can work whenever and wherever claims happen. And you can only do that if you have the proper license for that state.

For example, employers may need to send hundreds of adjusters to Florida after a hurricane. The company checks their roster and adjusters who hold a Florida license are first in line for deployment. But the large number of adjusters sent to Florida leaves holes for the daily claims that will still need to be handled in states like Georgia and Mississippi. So now they need to find adjusters who are licensed in those states to come in and work. You get the idea….

Bottom Line: being licensed in multiple states will make you more attractive to employers, increase your revenue, and allow you to help wherever you are needed.

Just because your home state is reciprocal with another does not mean you can just hop across state lines and begin working claims. You need to apply for the reciprocal license and pay the state’s fees. Obtaining reciprocal licenses will cost you anywhere from $55 – $175 per state for the application fees, plus the time it takes to complete all the necessary paperwork; usually about a day or two. Most states’ applications can be completed and submitted online from either NIPR or Sircon.

Xactimate, created by Verisk, is the industry’s most popular claims adjusting software. Adjusters no longer have to write claims by hand, reference pricing books, and use calculators to perform a complete estimate. The Xactimate platform has automated most of those tasks, enabling the adjuster to perform inspections and adjustments much faster.

The software was designed specifically for construction professionals, restoration specialists, and claims adjusters. Xactimate helps adjusters:

• Save time and money in creating estimates
• Create more accurate, detailed, and professional-looking estimates
• Access the most up-to-date and reliable pricing information
• Sketch complicated roofs, rooms, layouts, and structures
• Automate and streamline your estimating processes
• Organize and manage your projects
• Overcome language barriers in preparing estimates

See a complete list of features at Xactimate.com

We’ve trained tens of thousands of adjusters over the last decade, and it’s become clear that proficiency in Xactimate is the single most important technical skill a new adjuster must acquire. In fact, “are you familiar with Xactimate?” is one of the most frequently asked questions in interviews and on applications. Knowing your way around the software not only sets you ahead of the curve in the employment line, it means you can get to work adjusting claims immediately once you’re deployed. You’ll be able to work through inspections and adjustments faster and with more accuracy, which is truly money in your pocket.

The spike in insurance claims after a major storm means that it will be very hard to fill every spot needed to meet the demand. Remember, insurers are on a strict time table when it comes to claims. They still have to contact, inspect, settle, and pay claims within a certain time period or face financial penalties and potential public relations issues if they can’t meet their policy obligations.

And when a mass of adjusters are deployed to an area to handle disaster claims, they leave open jobs all over the country where daily claims or smaller storm claims still need to be handled. Hurricane Harvey was a good example of this. As thousands and thousands of adjusters were deployed to Texas and Louisiana, there were far too few adjusters left to handle claims elsewhere. Our IA firm partners were reaching out to us not for help with Harvey, but because they had no adjusters left to handle claims in places like New York, Oklahoma, and Michigan.

And while there is a large number of licensed adjusters out there, but many do not use their license all year, some only work certain areas or claims, and some never use it at all. And every year adjuster licenses aren’t renewed for a number of reasons. It’s also important to note that the insurance industry is losing employees from every department at record numbers as baby boomers, who make up most of the industry, are retiring.

It can be challenging for new insurance adjusters to learn the actual job duties until they’re ON the job. But there are a few things you can do to set yourself up for success.

• Our newest course: Construction 101 for Insurance Adjusters is a great course for those with little to no experience in the construction or building industry. It’s also the perfect course to take before Xactimate Training. We partnered with AdjusterPro Alum and veteran adjuster Matt Daniels to create this training for new adjusters who want to hit the ground running. This course, (one of the most requested, by the way,) covers basic and commonly found materials, taking you from foundations to framing, from siding to roofing, and from interior flooring to finishes throughout the home. Read more about Matt’s story and the course in Construction for Insurance Adjusters.
• We recently partnered with veteran adjusters John O’Brien and Peter Gaetano to launch a one-of-a-kind new training course: The Adjuster Success Method. The course goes beyond licensing and policy to address how to get hired and what tools you’ll need to do the job. From the starting point of being handed your first claim to getting paid and understanding when a claim is truly closed, the course will walk you through every step. The ASM course teaches a system that will not only help you close your first claims, but establish the foundation for a long-lived, successful career. If you want to read more about the course, read John’s Adjuster Success Method blog article.
• Learning Xactimate is something you see us recommend again and again for new adjusters. AdjusterPro Co-Founder Adam Gardiner wrote a great blog article about his first deployment experience that explains why it’s vital to get a handle on the software before you go into the field. Good Xactimate training, like AdjusterPro’s, not only helps you learn the program itself, but it walks you through how to scope a claim. Then you can take your knowledge and practice in your own home, your friends’ and neighbors’, so you are ready to work fast during a CAT deployment.
• Getting your home state or designated home state license is always the first step to becoming an adjuster. During a catastrophe, the demand for adjusters skyrockets so employers often have to pull in large numbers to meet it. That means they will also typically ramp up their carrier-specific trainings, many of which are required before you can adjust claims for that insurer. (The State Farm Property Adjuster Certification, for example.) But the only way you will be notified or invited to these trainings is to be on their rosters…and you can only be on their roster if you hold a license.

In almost any scenario, most companies prefer someone with job experience over someone brand new, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get hired. But you do need to put in the work. Get licensed. Learn Xactimate. Apply to rosters and take advantage of the trainings offered by IA Firms.

The hardest part about getting started as an independent adjuster is usually getting training with a firm and landing that first deployment. During a large catastrophe, the demand is so great they often have to immediately pull a large number of adjusters in to meet it and that often includes new or inexperienced adjusters. During these spurts, companies will also typically ramp up their training, making it easier for you to meet managers, get training, and be assigned claims. The immediate need for adjusters plus increased training opportunities, combined with the massive numbers of disaster claims usually result in storms offering new adjusters a peak chance to break into the field.

It’s important to note that right now, the insurance industry is losing thousands of employees in all sectors to retirement. So while catastrophes are well known for offering new folks great opportunities to get hired, it is by no means your only chance.