Hail Adjuster, Victim and Benefactor of Chaos
(This is a chapter from Chris Stanley’s Amazon Best Seller, Hail Adjuster’s Playbook, Get a copy on Kindle, or a free copy of the Audiobook)
My purpose in writing this book is simple. I want to help you answer one question,
“Do I Want to be a Catastrophic (Cat) Hail Adjuster?”
If you answer “Yes!” at any point in this book, I want this book to also empower you to then act on that decision.
This is a question that only you can answer, but most people cannot answer it accurately. They are unaware of what being a catastrophic adjuster is truly like.
Many people have heard stories from the “glory days” of working Hurricane Katrina where adjusters could earn a six-figure income in a matter of months. While there are many true stories like this, this is not the norm and certainly not the start.
This book is giving you the inside story along with a step by step guide to getting & completing entry level catastrophe work. At $500 a day this income is nothing to snub your nose at, but it’s a far cry from the 6 figure incomes earned in 3 months described in the “glory days” stories.
You may be asking “Why hail?”
I have found that for myself, and many others, starting as an auto hail adjuster is the easiest way to get started in the catastrophic adjusting industry. The cat industry has many barriers for new arrivals to get started, but hail is still a relatively new field with less competition than property, flood, commercial, or total loss.
This low barrier certainly beats the traditional road map marked out by major insurance carriers. Most carriers dictate that to become an adjuster, you must get a bachelor’s degree, work an entry level trainee position, 3 years of hard work, and hopefully you can climb the ladder to be on a catastrophe team earning deployment pay bonuses and reaching $60,000 a year. This road is hard, grueling, and 52 weeks a year.
Getting your foot into the door as an independent auto hail adjuster can move you forward in that timeline, including skipping the bachelor’s degree, trainee position, and move you straight to the $60,000 a year mark working only 4 months out of the year. So, to answer the question of, “Why hail?” I say why not?
For 9 years, I have earned my living being an independent appraiser/adjuster or IA. I have focused solely on vehicles and for the last 5 years nearly exclusively on hail catastrophe work. This fast paced and exciting life challenges the preconceived notions we have of how our life, work, and family should operate. It offers an entirely new and exciting world.
As an example, receiving a call to be deployed is one of the most exciting and terrifying moments in a career. The rush of packing your bags, running out the door, driving 20 hours across country to earn in a day what most people earn in a week, is an adrenaline rush that you become addicted to.
The challenge of seeing thousands of dents, talking with customers, writing estimates, and balancing speed with accuracy, is as satisfying as it is challenging. Once you taste and see this new world it’s hard to go back to a life set in stone, where schedules are pre-determined, and where vacations are planned. You soon find yourself a victim and benefactor of chaos which is a fun thought in and of itself.
The grueling hours, 7:00am to 7:00pm, 7 days a week, is only countered by how we count the days, day $500, day $1000, day $1500. Yes, I’m talking about dollars.
I want to help you decide if this is right for you, so I hope this book help you accomplish that and serves as a guide to your new career.
(This is a chapter from Chris Stanley’s Amazon Best Seller, Hail Adjuster’s Playbook, Get a copy on Kindle, or a free copy of the Audiobook)
