Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog : Florida Insurance Lawyer & Attorney : Merlin Law Group Law Firm : Tampa, Houston, Coral Gables, Gulfport

Since public adjusters are in the business of helping people, having a presence on various social media sites can make an impact on your business. Insureds get their information and share their information though sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In. Anyone can post a question, start a topic of discussion, or find your business by posting on a social site. It might take a few seconds or a few minute,s but almost instantly the user has various answers posted from people the user “knows,” trusts and values. When it comes to needing help with an insurance claim, insureds are likely reaching out on social media sites. When something goes wrong, people tend to want to talk, text or type about their problems. Public adjusters need to make their services visible on social sites to help clients find out about their services. Social networking and social media sites are an easy way to spread the word about public insurance adjusting.

Also, satisfied clients who hire a representative and then post about their positive experience hit a large a demographic of people who might not otherwise learn about the work of a public adjuster.

In addition to being a tool to get business, social media outlets should also be considered by public adjusters who are assisting policyholders who have an ongoing claim with an insurance company. The public adjuster should remind policyholders that the postings they share with “friends” may also be reviewed by the insurance company. When trying to learn more about a person or a claim, insurance companies are “googling” the names of their insureds and easily seeing profiles and postings that give an inside glimpse into a claimant’s personal life. Personal photos posted on social media sites are often intended only for friends, but they eventually make their way public. Sites have different privacy settings for photos and typed postings, and a user may be unaware that they are required to perform an extra step to secure photos from public view.

The February edition of Claims Magazine explains more about social media in an article called “Speaking Of: Social Media Intelligence.” This article acknowledges that claims investigations do include an inside look into the policyholder’s life via social media:

Increasingly claims professionals and attorneys (among others) are turning to social media to conduct research for their investigations. Whether the intended purpose is to examine the validity of a claim or gauge the veracity of a plaintiff, investigators are finding new ways to leverage the information accessible on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Information obtained from social networking sites can provide useful material used to attack the credibility of a person or it might provide an investigator/ adjuster a closer look at the insured’s personal life. Browsing profiles may allow an investigator to learn what motivates, scares, or pushes the insured’s buttons before ever meeting your client. It is naïve to think that an insurance company is not using this information for its benefit. Of course, policyholders are often frustrated during the claims process when the process seems to take too long or the policyholder begins to realize that they may not be getting the all the benefits of the policy. Posting negative information about the insurance company’s actions or just spouting off on a public site will not help get a claim resolved and may give the insurance company a negative impression of a otherwise model policyholder.

If you think that insurance companies are not cyber-investigating policyholders, I encourage you to look at another article in Claims Magazine. “15 Questions to ask a Claimant about Social Media Usage” provides a detailed list of questions for insurance investigators to ask insureds about their social media usage. However, just as interesting as the article, are the comments posted about cyber-sleuthing.

One comment said:

I utilize internet [sic] sleuthing in claims investigation but hadn't thought about some of the other resources you suggest. I like those suggestions but question the "Ask the Claimant for this Info" approach. Unless it's something that may sought via subpoena later, I don't want to give the claimant any indication we're cyber-sleuthing. He/She may then do something like set privacy settings in Facebook, instead of having pictures and info available for people to see, which hurts rather than helps.

In response, another comment was posted that explains that if an insured changes information on a social site, it is a red flag for the insurance company:

There is always a risk that, by asking cyber-screening questions early in the investigation, the claimant might be tipped off; however, without having the claimant’s identifier information it is often impractical for insurers to perform a timely and effective open-source cyber investigation. Social networking data almost always can be obtained later by subpoena, if the claim goes to litigation. The insurer’s discovery request for production of this data should include all changes that have been made to the website, which can also provide useful evidence. The insurer can also seek discovery of the data even earlier, during the claim investigation, in an examination under oath.

While many may have thought of cyber investigations were being reserved for auto or workers’ compensation claims, property adjusters are taking advantage of the social media storm too.

Michelle Griffin is the Executive Director of the Windstorm Insurance Network and is quoted extensively about the upcoming conference. She explained a number of new and expanded opportunities for training and study will be offered:

We are excited this year to have many new speakers and topics that focus on issues adjusters, lawyers, and companies are confronted with daily. We are also excited to have the American Bar Association's Tort and Insurance Practice Section (ABA/TIPS) panel discussion on concurrent causation.

We have added a few new classes that are more focused to agents and underwriters, allowing them the opportunity to earn CEs at the conference. There is now a WIND Professional Appraiser Designation class as well, which is proving to be popular in registrations to date.
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WIND's educational events and CE offerings are constantly evolving to meet industry and attendee needs and interests. The more than 40 educational sessions available this year are completely revamped and refreshed, but still include many of our popular topics. We have also successfully added many new states and professional organizations to our CE offerings.

Two years ago, we developed a one-day WIND Regional Symposium, which is essentially a mini-conference offering some of our most popular classes. We have covered Houston and Dallas, Tex., and are now venturing to Atlanta in May. These regional symposiums are the perfect venue to introduce WIND to various locations and professionals, while still offering an important line up of classes and much-needed CE credits.
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WIND is excited to bring our conference to the Lone Star State, the most recent area to be affected by a hurricane. As a result of Hurricane Ike two years ago, we feel there is still a tremendous need for educational sessions and CE offerings from a type of conference such as ours.

We will offer various sessions on case law, appraisal issues, claim handling, large loss issues, as well as claim software training programs, the NFIP Flood Certification, and the popular WIND Umpire Certification classes. (emphasis added)

As more and more insurance disputes being resolved through appraisal, those in the industry should not miss the opportunity to obtain the Wind Umpire Certification or the new Wind Professional Appraiser Designation. Both are valuable assets and the courses are taught by seasoned appraisers and umpires. They are unique programs worth the price of admission -- even if they were the only classes offered.

Those involved in the insurance claims business have a duty to policyholders to be the best they can be. Policyholders and society depend on us to get our jobs done right. For those involved in hurricane and other windstorm catastrophes, the points I made in The Windstorm Conference: A Claims and Insurance Law Conference That Cannot Be Missed, cannot be overstated.

I hope to see everybody who reads this blog on a regular basis in Houston for this event. Heck, if you come by my law firm's exhibition booth, I'll make certain you get a complimentary massage to help reduce the stresses commonly suffered by those of us in the insurance claims business.

This point was emphasized again in a blog by Ronald D. Kent, Lawyer Cannot Testify as Expert in Bad Faith Case Where Lawyer’s Background Is Not Relevant To Issues in Case, where he noted a bad faith case Butler v. First Acceptance Insurance Co., 652 F. Supp. 2d 1264 (N.D. Ga. 2009), He quoted the significant part of the Court's ruling:

Mr. Jenkins is not qualified to provide expert testimony on the standard of care for a claims adjuster receiving a time limited demand letter. Mr. Jenkins is an attorney who has represented parties in personal injury and insurance litigation for over 30 years. He is co-author of Georgia Automobile Insurance Law, Including Tort Law. Mr. Jenkins was retained as an expert in a Georgia state court case involving a tortious failure to settle claim. The court notes, however, that Mr. Jenkins has never worked in the insurance industry, nor has he litigated a tortious failure to settle case. While an expert may be qualified based on "knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education," the court finds that Mr. Jenkins' extensive background is not relevant to the legal issues here. Mr. Jenkins' experience relates to personal injury and insurance claims in general. Mr. Jenkins admitted that he never litigated a tortious failure to settle claim and therefore his background does not match the subject matter of this suit. Further, because Mr. Jenkins lacks the qualifications necessary to opine in a tortious failure to settle case, Plaintiff cannot explain how Mr. Jenkins' experiences lead to the opinions he has offered in this case. Nor can Plaintiff show that Mr. Jenkins' testimony would offer the jury any more than what Plaintiff's counsel could argue in closing arguments. Finally, the court notes that the great bulk of Mr. Jenkins' proposed testimony sets forth legal standards for insurers under Georgia law. The jury, however, is not to receive its instructions of law from a party's expert, rather it receives them from the judge. For these reasons, the court concludes that Mr. Jenkins is not qualified to offer his opinion in this case because his area of experience is not relevant for the issues in the litigation and will not aid the trier of fact. (emphasis added)

I disagree with the Court regarding the jury instructions because experts can help prove the legal duties of claims adjusters and insurance companies which should be part of the jury instructions. As I indicated in Claims Magazine and the CPCU Designation are Worthy Educational Investments for Claims Professionals:

Imagine you wanted to find out how insurance adjusters are supposed to do their job. Insurance company attorneys argue an adjuster’s job is a legal duty, and not for determination by the adjusters. Their argument is circular and flawed: how does the law know what an adjuster is supposed to do without knowing the standards and duties from adjusters themselves?

The American Institute for CPCU provides the most recognized and important designation for claims professionals. The Society, with materials from the American Insurance Institute, has an intense learning process dedicated to a high standard of ethical and policyholder centered claims treatment. The Claims Magazine article notes that claims professionals "are often called upon to testify in legal proceedings."

Our firm often cites to CPCU educational materials as proof of insurance industry standards and interpretation of contracts.

Still, the opinion is warning about the types of experts needed in a bad faith case. Experienced Claims Adjusters May Make Better Insurance Claims Experts Than Attorneys. I have suggested to a number of experienced adjusters that they should study and apply for a CPCU designation so they could be more easily considered as an expert witness.

Hartwig said that since the middle of 2008, employment in the P&C insurance industry has hit a record low as a result of the economic downturn. As a whole, he said that employment in the P&C industry was down almost five percent since the recession began, nearly matching the 6.1 percent decrease in employment in the overall U.S. economy.

For claim professionals, however, the news was grimmer, as statistics show the adjusting profession is taking the biggest hit.

"We have seen a very, very sharp drop in the claim adjusting area, the sharpest drop of all P&C positions in percent terms, around 14 percent since the recession began," said Hartwig. "I do not know precisely what the driver of this is at this point, but the number of people employed in the claim adjuster position today is roughly where it was in 1995."

So, what can you do if you are in the claims industry and want to stay there? I am asked career advice from a number of adjusters, regardless if they are company, independent, catastrophe or public insurance adjusters. Except for experience and reputation, the single most important and easiest thing any claims adjuster can do is prove dedication and passion to this noble business through education. The claims insurance industry "calling card" that everybody recognizes is the CPCU designation. If you enjoy what you do as an adjuster, I strongly suggest you watch this video and then sign up for the courses needed to become a CPCU: