AICA Joe Hendren of Americlaim

Date: 10/15/2006
Contact: Joan Barrett/800-690-0070

Joe Hendren joined his wife, Gina about 9 years ago in their own Independent Adjuster shop, Americlaim. Gina had gotten the engine warmed up for Joe to jump in when her position at Transamerica was eliminated and she started the adjusting business by aligning with Americlaim, a network of Independent Adjusters all over the US with some 70 offices. By the time that Allstate’s Northbrook division was sold to St. Paul, Gina needed some help and Joe felt the time was right to leave his 18-year position in the corporate world and assist Gina in expanding their offices in the Arizona and Southern Nevada territory that they are responsible for.

Now Gina runs the office and Joe does the inspections in Arizona and oversees the offices they have opened in Tucson, Kingman and Las Vegas. Working together each day hasn’t been a challenge for the couple and they love the opportunity to be home with their twin boys, now 9 years old and starting soccer. Joe looks forward to the time when the boys can climb the ladder to inspect the roof for their dad and says “ After we get them through school, we may have another generation of adjusters coming up.”

The challenges in the Independent Adjuster world are the way that the carriers are now using the contractor network to do the work that adjusters used to do in the past. “Now”, Joe states, “some carriers only assign the claims to independent adjusters that don’t fit into their contractor matrix. Typically if they have coverage issues or mold they are inclined to send them to the adjusters to handle.

Another challenge for the independent adjuster field is finding people who were trained as multi-line adjusters. This is especially true when you are looking for someone to run a small or one person office.

Joe feels that the Arizona Insurance Claims Association is a great networking opportunity and he regards highly the ability to share ideas and creative approaches to problems. “It is an economical way for the carriers to provide training to their adjusters and it is not well-utilized.” Joe prefers the evening meetings and finds the evening gatherings are more relaxed without the time constraints of the lunch meetings. The PLRB conferences are a good option for continuing education, but Joe finds that running your own business delivers a lot of unexpected challenges and he often has to cancel attendance at these events.

Vacations are difficult for small business owners. There is not anyone to take the losses and handle calls in their absence, so they opt for long weekends on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico (Rocky Point.) At a 4-hour drive, they can relax and recharge without being away from the office for an extended period. They enjoy camping while visiting family in Northern Missouri, Joe’s birthplace, and the boys like the fishing and 4-wheeling opportunities that abound in the area, when they can find the time to make the trip.