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CAT Team Panel Reveals Difficulties
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 Lon Anderson queries April Anderson about some of the difficulties and potential dangers faced by CAT adjusters, particularly a single woman going into unfamiliar and less than desirable areas. |
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Moderator for the event, Lon Anderson, has a vast wealth of experience in handling catastrophe claims. Having spent time working many hurricanes over the years, Lon stated flatly that he’s at a point where he never wants to work another one. He discussed many of the issues faced by adjusters, and vendors, in going into devastated areas where people have lost everything, where even finding one's way around is often next to impossible with street signs destroyed, roads flooded out, etc. Panelist and CAT veteran restoration expert, Dan Ward, of American Technologies, spoke in detail about the harshness of life after hurricane Katrina. Just even getting in to the evacuated area proved a great challenge for Mr. Ward and his crew. Once in, things we all take for granted: food, water, electricity, gasoline, and such were scarce. The lack of food, together with the extreme humidity wrecked havoc, as Dan said he lost some 30 plus pounds in the three and a half months he was in New Orleans. "I have a love/hate relationship with New Orleans," he stated. "Love their people and the food, hate their weather." April Anderson, CAT adjuster with Crawford & Company, shared some of her experiences traveling into unfamiliar areas in Florida following hurricane Rita. Three months away from family, working alone in an unfamiliar area with devastation all around takes it's toll on you, she said. She also expressed the difficulties she faced in not knowing the vendors in the area. "Mold grows very quickly in Florida," she stated. "Insureds aren't alarmed about it like people in California," she added. Jim Nicholas, from FRSTeam by Custom Commercial, a textile restoration specialist, discussed more recent experiences with his firm working a immense number of claims in the San Diego area following the massive fire storms last Fall. "Establishing relationships long before a event like that goes a long way toward being able to respond," he said. "We were fortunate to have a local office with resources at our disposal more than most," he continued. "Still, it puts a strain on any business to be able to cope with all the aspects of what has to happen to handle the extreme number of cases all at once. A company must be in a position to handle the expenses and, in our case, have the faciilities to cope with the sheer volume of inventory." FRSTeam, he said, had some 300 losses with which to deal basically overnight. Carrier Property Claims pro Chris Devitto, 23 years with CSAA, gave perspective to dealing with catastrophes. Having worked the Oakland Hills fire back in 1991, forest fires, multiple earthquake claims, to the recent southern California fires, and others, Chris talked about working with the people, and dealing with the affects of it all on a personal level. "When there's nothing left it looks like a war zone," she stated. "It's very sad." She emphasized the value in walking room to room with the insured (assuming there are still rooms to walk) to help determine what they had that now lies in ruin. "The difference between an earthquake and fire loss is that there's (often) nothing left after a fire," Ms. Devitto pointed out. "There seem to be so many more disasters and severe losses than there used to," she noted. She also encouraged vendors to "know when to say no. Over-fixing a job can cause problems," she said. The panel touched on a lot of areas in their relatively short presention time allowed. Questions were aplenty from the floor, and all could see that working CAT duty is tough business.
Don't miss Paul Kayfetz and his Video Simulation presentation. |
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