Ron Oates on Total Loss Contents
Date: 7/12/2005Contact: Joan Barrett/800-690-0070
Most vendors are painfully aware of the reduced claims volume throughout the country but many are at a loss as to how to make the changes that will allow them to stay in business. Some of the hardest hit are the independent adjusting firms that rely on the carrier’s overflow claims situations in order to keep their workload pipeline full. With sometimes not enough claims to keep their own adjusters working, the independent adjusters became the first casualties of the carrier’s red pencil. As independent adjusters diversify and leave the insurance business, the industry is losing some of the most qualified and experienced adjusters to other fields.
Ron Oates, a highly respected and talented independent adjuster, has been in the insurance business for 32 years, as a carrier adjuster with The Hartford, a rebuild estimator and an independent adjuster. He worked for Don Glaze and Dean Beyer at D.L. Glaze before striking out on his own in 1995 with the Heritage Adjusting Company. He credits all of his prior experiences with teaching him to view the components of a loss from all sides, and particularly the human side.
Ron says that he took his firm Heritage Companies to a new service level almost accidentally. His largest client, Unigard, was excited about the possibilities of a software program that would catalog inventories and figure the depreciation and ACV of thousands of commonly damaged household items. This would significantly reduce the time that their adjusters had to spend poring over the inventory lists submitted by policyholders and Ron thought that he should have the same software so that his reports would be consistent. Shortly after purchasing the inventory software, he found other carriers were faced with the same problems and was able to utilize his new purchase often enough to give the service some serious attention. Now in the seventh year of the inventory service, he finds that technology supplies solutions that were impossible in the early property adjusting days.
Ron cites the example of how their accurate and documented inventory saved the carrier $65,000.00 on one loss that looked as though it would exceed policy limits. “There are countless others that, even after our bill for services was paid, the actual cost of the total loss inventory was well below the original demand submitted by the insured or the public adjusting firm.” He went on to say that they could be most effective when they are called in first and have the opportunity to assess the contents before it becomes a debris pile.
Sometimes the inventories submitted to the Heritage Companies are lists created by restoration companies when their crews are onsite to do a packout and they are asked to do the total loss inventory as well. In these cases the cost of creating the inventory is paid from the policyholder’s contents coverage. Conversely, Heritage Companies is paid as an expense for creating a more accurate list without the potential conflict of interest. “We also save a lot of time in our inventories by making allowances for expensive specialty items and estimating food and drugs without itemizing every single kitchen or bath item. Our experience makes that kind of detail unnecessary and can take up pages of inventory and who knows how much time.” Ron said. “We can complement the work of the restoration company and free the restoration crews up to do the work they do best.” he added.
Besides Sacramento, Heritage Companies has crews in the Bay Area and Redding with plans to extend operations to San Jose and Santa Rosa. Ron and his people see the inventory part of the business growing since carriers are putting more emphasis on the ‘total loss’ contents part of the claim.
Most vendors are painfully aware of the reduced claims volume throughout the country but many are at a loss as to how to make the changes that will allow them to stay in business. Some of the hardest hit are the independent adjusting firms that rely on the carrier’s overflow claims situations in order to keep their workload pipeline full. With sometimes not enough claims to keep their own adjusters working, the independent adjusters became the first casualties of the carrier’s red pencil. As independent adjusters diversify and leave the insurance business, the industry is losing some of the most qualified and experienced adjusters to other fields.
Ron Oates, a highly respected and talented independent adjuster, has been in the insurance business for 32 years, as a carrier adjuster with The Hartford, a rebuild estimator and an independent adjuster. He worked for Don Glaze and Dean Beyer at D.L. Glaze before striking out on his own in 1995 with the Heritage Adjusting Company. He credits all of his prior experiences with teaching him to view the components of a loss from all sides, and particularly the human side.
Ron says that he took his firm Heritage Companies to a new service level almost accidentally. His largest client, Unigard, was excited about the possibilities of a software program that would catalog inventories and figure the depreciation and ACV of thousands of commonly damaged household items. This would significantly reduce the time that their adjusters had to spend poring over the inventory lists submitted by policyholders and Ron thought that he should have the same software so that his reports would be consistent. Shortly after purchasing the inventory software, he found other carriers were faced with the same problems and was able to utilize his new purchase often enough to give the service some serious attention. Now in the seventh year of the inventory service, he finds that technology supplies solutions that were impossible in the early property adjusting days.
Ron cites the example of how their accurate and documented inventory saved the carrier $65,000.00 on one loss that looked as though it would exceed policy limits. “There are countless others that, even after our bill for services was paid, the actual cost of the total loss inventory was well below the original demand submitted by the insured or the public adjusting firm.” He went on to say that they could be most effective when they are called in first and have the opportunity to assess the contents before it becomes a debris pile.
Sometimes the inventories submitted to the Heritage Companies are lists created by restoration companies when their crews are onsite to do a packout and they are asked to do the total loss inventory as well. In these cases the cost of creating the inventory is paid from the policyholder’s contents coverage. Conversely, Heritage Companies is paid as an expense for creating a more accurate list without the potential conflict of interest. “We also save a lot of time in our inventories by making allowances for expensive specialty items and estimating food and drugs without itemizing every single kitchen or bath item. Our experience makes that kind of detail unnecessary and can take up pages of inventory and who knows how much time.” Ron said. “We can complement the work of the restoration company and free the restoration crews up to do the work they do best.” he added.
Besides Sacramento, Heritage Companies has crews in the Bay Area and Redding with plans to extend operations to San Jose and Santa Rosa. Ron and his people see the inventory part of the business growing since carriers are putting more emphasis on the ‘total loss’ contents part of the claim.