Hurricane Harvey, The New Adjuster Gold Rush
Hurricane Andrew, Sandy, Katrina…… Harvey? Yes, this storm will be remembered, it may be remembered as the largest flooding event in U.S. history, for the devastation it caused, the people who were affected, and for the new adjusters that got their chance to experience their first catastrophe.
Five years ago, during Hurricane Sandy, many of my generation of adjusters got their very first chance to deploy to a large scale natural catastrophe. Seven years prior to that adjusters stampeded their way to the aftermath of Katrina. Many “adjuster stories” are told from these types of storms and many origin stories begin during an Adjuster Gold Rush such as we are experiencing now.
The insurance world has been in a desperate need of new, fresh, and dare I say YOUNGER adjusters to rise and enter into the insurance adjusting arena. The staffing pool is quickly drying up as millennials are not interested in the boring sounding world of “adjusting.” They would much rather be interested in their YouTube career, learning computer science, or recording their latest Snap Chat (did I spell that right?).
According to InsNerds.com’s book, Insuring Tomorrow, only 4% of Millennials want to work in insurance and the US Department of Labor is predicting we’ll need to hire 400,000 of them for the insurance industry in the next decade. More than 50% of the insurance industry’s current workforce is retiring in the coming years. This labor crisis the insurance industry is in, could it be helped by this adjuster gold rush?
Talking with adjusters who experienced both Katrina and Sandy, I’ve heard many stories of adjusters who get their start at a massive storm, get hooked on making “cat pay,” only to realize that this is truly a gold rush that lasts for just a few months. The hard reality sets in that there is gold, but you must work hard to find it.
In the coming months, these new adjusters struggle to find their out how they can earn a consistent living as an independent adjuster. Some people even quit their job to jump on the gold rush and find out that they gave up their steady income and find themselves in a situation that is anything, but steady.
It isn’t all doom and gloom. Many of these new faces in the adjusting world will be able to use this large-scale deployment, to network, make an impression, learn the ropes, come to understand what it really means to be a catastrophic adjuster (sleeping in your car maybe?), and will come out as an established name in the adjusting world.
The insurance industry needs the workforce to be replenished, but if another large scale catastrophe doesn’t occur for another 5 years, will these new faces remember this gold rush as a sweet first taste of a better life, or will it spoil them with easy money turning this time into a bitter sweet memory?
Only time will truly tell. If you are headed out to Texas for this storm and you aren’t sure what you are doing, you can visit IAPath.com/flood for a free flood template and information that will help you get started in this flood event. If you want truthful information about being an adjuster feel free to email me Chris@IAPath.com.
Be careful this isn’t for everyone and everyone seems to be headed to Houston.
Your Guide,
Chris Stanley
