Catching up with Lora Warren
Date: 4/19/2005Contact: Joan Barrett/800-690-0070
It’s a treat when a conference and exposition provides a chance to catch up with people who have left the Sacramento area and that was just the case with PLRB this year in San Antonio and the chance to sit down with Lora Warren, formerly manager of property claims for Mercury Insurance in Northern California.
Lora and her husband left the Sacramento area in 2001 for greater opportunities in Austin TX. She still misses Sacramento, the weather and the people although some 13 or so of the Mercury employees from California have followed her to Austin. The affordable cost of housing in Texas has been a major factor in recruiting experienced and competent adjusters. There are 3 large colleges within the area and Mercury regularly employs graduates from University of Texas, a huge campus that is a city unto itself; Texas A&M and South Texas State in San Marcos.
Adjusters in Texas are licensed and although Lora passed the licensing test easily, she feels that is a good thing to require insurance people to keep their skills and knowledge levels at peak through required CE credits.
Mercury now has 3 regions -west of the Mississippi, east of the Mississippi and California. "California”, Lora says with a laugh, "is it's own region." Mercury is now writing business in 13 states and is growing. There is a Mercury culture that tends to keep their employees- (Lora has 15 years in on this leg of the Mercury journey- she left once and returned to the company after a 10 year absence)- and says that once she presents an employee with a 3-year pin, she kids acceptance means they will be there until they retire.
Principally an auto policy provider, Mercury has branched out into commercial auto and liability and Homeowners in a few markets.
Lora says that the reason that the Texas citizens move and speak more slowly was evident to her on the first 95-degree and 95% humidity day in her new home. "They speak slowly because they're chewing the air just to breathe", Lora jokes. She and her husband live 20 miles from Austin and do get frustrated with the traffic in Austin. ‘Keep Austin Weird’ is a slogan taken seriously by the citizenry and she shakes her head at examples she can’t even explain. Lora finds that the legendary Texas state pride is real and pervades every aspect of living in Texas. The people she's met are friendly and she has learned to expect a wave from everyone she passes. " I think it's just taking the time to acknowledge that you're there and that you matter." The children are more polite than she’d been used to and many of her friend's children address her as "Miss Lora" as a courtesy. "Texas will get into a person,” she allows. She also says the weather is “spectacular”; she loves the thunderstorms that rumble through (although could do without all the hail claims they generate).
She and her husband have no current plans to retire in Texas when that becomes a possibility. They have 3 grown children still in California and a wedding coming up in Sacramento in June so they may consider returning in order to be closer to their family at some point.
Her best experiences have been the ability to be part of the building process of the Mercury products in Texas and the chance to view her teams' accomplishments.