So you want to be an adjuster… There are several things that you will need to do in order to be qualified for deployment with ECS.

Certifications
Licensing
Software
Experience
Schools
Miscellaneous Resources
FAQ

Certifications- One of our largest clients requires all independent adjusters to go through their certification process prior to working their claims. The property certification consists of two parts.

1. First you must attend the IDL Broadcast, which is a one daylong class offered once a quarter. The class is free of charge and is held in select regional office locations across the country. Registration for each IDL is posted on our web site as soon as it becomes available. After you register for the IDL, we submit your name to the client, so they may approve you to attend the IDL. They will then inform us of the attendees approximately 2 weeks prior to the IDL date. In turn, ECS will then contact you and confirm the date, time and location you are approved for. ECS will be glad to sponsor you for the IDL if you provide a resume to us. Please keep in mind that the registration deadlines are mandated by the client and are not negotiable. Once the deadline passes no more registrations will be accepted.
2. After you attend the Broadcast you must complete two tests, Wind & Hail and Basic Estimatics, in order to complete the certification. The testing is one day long, and is offered at our home office in Lakewood, CO. Testing fees are $50.00 and the study guide for the tests is $35.00.

We also work with other clients that do no require adjuster certifications at this time.

Licensing

We recommend all adjusters obtain an adjusting license. If your home state licenses adjusters you can obtain a license there if you wish. If your home state does not require licensing we suggest you obtain a non-resident Texas adjusters license. Adjusting licenses are acquired through the department of insurance of the state where you wish to obtain the license. This page, http://www.naic.org/state_contacts/sid_websites.htm contains links to all state departments of insurance in the United States. Most states have information available on-line about their licensing process

Software

Xactimate is the property estimating software required by all of our clients. The best way to learn the software is through a combination of field use and attending a class. Classes are offered through the company that sells the software (Xactware). You can view the locations and schedules for upcoming classes at www.xactware.com . ECS also offers Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Xactimate classes at our home office in Lakewood, CO.

Experience

All new adjusters must gain hands-on field experience before they can work their own claims. We require adjusters have two years of extensive training or field experience. If you have submitted a resume to us and are lacking in experience you have been placed on our training list. As training opportunities arise we will contact you. In addition to actual field training, obtaining certifications, licensing and software experience are excellent steps in acquiring the necessary training and experience needed.

Schools

There are many good adjusting schools, but the one we recommend the most frequently is Vale Training Solutions. They offer comprehensive courses for adjusters in many areas. You may reach them at 1-800-233-7095 or on the web at www.valetrainingsolutions.com . If you are interested in attending a class ECS can sponsor you. Please contact Tina Lehman in the Human Resources Department for more details at 303-988-6286 or at tlehman@eberls.com

Another good educational resource we suggest is the Insurance Institute of America (IIA). They offer a course that is part of their Associate in Claims program that is particularly valuable to adjusters in our line of work. The program is AIC 35- Property Loss Adjusting and it covers “, Preparing Estimates; Persons/Property Insured; Causes of Loss; Residential Construction; Arson & Fraud; Amount of Recovery; Merchandise/Time Losses; Loss Adjusting Procedures.” You can visit the IIA on the web at http://www.aicpcu.org/

Miscellaneous resources

National Association of Catastrophe Adjusters- www.nacatadj.org

Catadjuster.org- www.catadjuster.org

Property Loss Research Bureau- www.plrb.org

Claims Magazine- www.claimsmag.com

Bisys Education Services - www.bisys.com

First Choice Training - provide Texas licensing classes - www.1stceu.com

Dearborn Financial Services- variety of classes including Texas licensing - www.dearborn.com

FAQ

The first thing you should do is find out when the next IDL Broadcast is being held and if registration is available, register to attend. Since the IDL is only held once a quarter, we recommend you sign up for it as soon as you can.

You should also look into getting your adjusting license and learning Xactimate during this time. Ideally, by the time you go to the field to train you will have the certifications completed, adjuster license in place, and have some familiarity with Xactimate.

You can begin training at any time that you feel comfortable. We encourage you to seek out training with qualified adjusters. You do not have to train with us, however please do keep us updated on the details of any training you obtain elsewhere. Details to include are: storm site, type of claims handled, claim volume, software used and assignment duration.

Training opportunities with ECS generally arise between the months of April and November. However, occasionally there are assignments in the winter dependent upon storm activity. We recommend getting certifications, licensing and software experience prior to field training, in order to get the most benefit from the training and to be as helpful as possible to you trainer

Once you have accepted an assignment you will have 48 hours to arrive on storm site. You will check in at an appointed location to receive any pertinent information for the storm. Claims may have already been assigned to you when you arrive, but occasionally you will not receive claims for a day or two after arrival. During the storm you can expect to work 10-12 hours a day, usually 7 days a week, unless other arrangements are made. Assignment duration varies dependant upon claims volume. Most adjusters will be released upon completion of their assigned claims. At that point you will return home and wait for the next storm!

Yes. While you may have no difficulty with the scoping and estimating side of adjusting, we still require adjusters to have some training with a qualified adjuster prior to receiving their own claims. As with any profession, hands-on experience is really the best way to learn every aspect of adjusting. The main goal of our training program is to ensure your success and we believe the best way to do so is through field experience. You will find that it is difficult to get the job done properly, if you are not totally prepared prior to arrival at a storm site.

Most adjusters who have been put into the field without adequate training have regretted it. In this competitive field, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

In order to get a license in Texas, adjusters must pass a state approved proficiency exam. The exam can be taken one of two ways:

- You may test through Promissor, which is a third party education provider that Texas uses to administer their tests. To get more information about testing through them go to www.promissor.com

- You may also test through an independent approved Texas licensing course provider. These are schools/companies that are sanctioned by the state of Texas to administer the licensing test. Generally the testing is done through a weeklong course with the test given at the end.

Once you pass the test you will need to submit the required paperwork and documentation to the Texas Department of Insurance to receive your license.

Payroll is processed weekly, and checks/direct deposits are sent on Friday.

Adjuster billings that have been sent to Eberl's and paid by the client are processed on Monday/Tuesday, for payment on Friday. Advances/Draws are available after you've been on-site for 2 weeks. Upon deployment adjusters will also receive our Deployment Manual that will provide a more in depth explanation of our payroll system.

There are several ways to better your odds of getting deployed for training or on your own assignment . First and foremost; get those certifications and licenses! For trainees, obtaining them is a great way to increase your knowledge of adjusting. In addition, any adjuster that wants to work claims for a client that requires certification MUST have their certification. Next, learn the Xactimate estimating software. This is the only software our clients utilize, so you must become proficient with it. In addition, please update us on your training progress and the certifications you are working on, so we can consider you for assignments according to your current qualifications. Unless you receive a certification directly from us, we do not know you have it! Please remember to provide a copy to us for your file.

Another important step in getting called out is to keep in touch with us. Please keep us updated on your availability. When a storm hits and we need to deploy a large amount of people, it is much more efficient for us to focus our efforts on people that we know are available for work. You can update you availability status via our website here or contact our home office at 303-988-6286.