Do Contractors Make Good Adjusters? In my opinion, contractors make great adjusters.
Why?
Adjusters that come from the contracting industry have some distinct advantages over adjusters coming in from other fields.
# 1 They are already familiar with construction and the materials used, and the terms or descriptive phrases.
# 2 They already know know what IS damage and what IS NOT damage, and the operations involved to repair or replace damaged items.
# 3 They & # 39; re used to the physical labor, and are familiar with ladders and ladder safety incorporating roofs.
# 4 They are already familiar with necessary tools.
# 5 They have the home town advantage ... a job that you can fall back on when working as an adjuster. (I know many adjusters that are roofers, and they adjust during hurricanes and tornados and work as roofers during hail season ... some some will even adjust during hail season.)
Some of the important differences that must be taken into into the change, you will be a learning curve in the beginning. account are:
A)
Most talking appearance or form. Most contractors will write an estimate and a contractor 's estimate is very different in appearance. For example a roofer & # 39; s estimate might say R / R 20 yr 3 tab comp shingle 30 sqs, X amount of dollars, price includes all fees and debris haul off. Everything included in the replacement of that roof is reflected in the lump sum price (all material, labor, O / P, taxes etc).
This work of the replacement will not be worked for the roofer, this type of estimate will not work in the broken down estimate that clearly shows and details the tear off (labor operation only) and then the replacement of the SAME type of roof (no upgrades). The replacement will include materials, and labor to install.
Some carriers will ask for be broken down further to component for a true component estimate (example: shingles, felt, valley metal, drip edge, pipe flashings, ridge and hip shingles ... ALL separate line items). The material tax will be added on the end of the estimate, which will give the end price.
B)
Most insurance carriers will frown on blue jeans and tennis shoes. You can have docker type dress pant and if tennis shoes are worn, they have black or a dark color. Company shirts and caps will be required (no fishing / hunting caps allowed).
C)
Organization will be different, you will be calling insured, setting apps for your inspections, inspecting the loss and writing the estimate for the settlement with very little lag time.
D)
Is this damage the result covered? Is the damage the result of the storm event? One of the hardest things for a contractor to do is to stop and put that into perspective. In the insurance world though, you can not do that. I am afraid that I can not have it.
Same goes for maintenance issues. (If the soffit and fascia are rotted, or the windows, it's not damaged by the event you can not replace it. there is NO COVERAGE. The Policy is NOT a maintenance policy. It is for coverages that are mysterious and incidental, and the result of specific perils that are spelled out in the policy.
