I received a comment on the post, “RoofCON a Big Hit—USAA a Winner!” from a seasoned public adjuster reacting to a carrier rating that surprised him. His response was candid, experience-driven, and something many public adjusters quietly nod along with. I am quoting it in full because it deserves to be read carefully, not dismissed or sanitized:
I too am surprised to see the high rating for USAA. What used to be a very fair carrier (pre-2012) has undergone dramatic change for the worse, at least here in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where I practice. Reminds me of the change in Allstate after McKinsey’s ‘Zero-Sum-Game-Theory’ CCPR in the early 90’s, which is by far the worse thing to ever happen to property insurance – in my opinion. I find USAA increasingly aggressive in practice in recent years – absurdly low offers, adjusters ignoring files for months on end, ROR’s for illegitimate reasons, the list goes on and on. Nearly every USAA case I handle now winds up in appraisal or litigation. And sadly, nearly all carriers are the same these days. Even Chubb, who I am insured with personally, is not the same as they were just ten years ago. Yes, they are still the best, but not compared to the pre-Ace Chubb we all loved to deal with.
There is a lot of truth in that statement. There are also lessons hiding inside it that public adjusters ignore at their own peril. Let’s start with what this adjuster gets right.
Carriers have changed. Anyone who has been in this business long enough has watched once-trusted brands shift their claims cultures. What used to be adjuster discretion has been replaced by desk reviews, severity controls, vendor influence, and institutional delay. The reference to post-McKinsey Allstate is not nostalgia. The broader property insurance claims industry has pivoted.
USAA, Chubb, and others are not immune to those pressures. Many excellent public adjusters are seeing more lowball offers, more silence, and more reservation of rights letters that seem designed to posture rather than clarify. That frustration is earned. But that is where the mindset becomes dangerous.
The comment quietly normalizes an outcome: “Nearly every case winds up in appraisal or litigation.”
That sentence should make every public adjuster reflect upon how a claim is prepared. If escalation becomes your expectation, it will become your strategy whether you intend it or not.
The great and most successful public adjusters I have seen do not document claims for appraisers, umpires, or judges first. They document claims for the adjuster and examiner who are evaluating the file today. When frustration drives the process, files subtly shift from persuasive to prosecutorial. Positions harden early. Negotiation gives way to inevitability. That is not a carrier problem. That is a strategic one that public adjusters can control.
The best public adjusters I know succeed today because they adapt faster than carriers expect. They understand how claims are actually evaluated inside modern insurance companies. They speak the internal language. They anticipate desk-level objections before they appear. They build documented files that survive supervisory review without theatrics. And they use disciplined negotiation methods, such as Christopher Voss’s tactical empathy, calibrated questions, and labeling, to move stalled claims without unnecessarily escalating them into litigation or appraisal.
Just as important, they develop meaningful relationships with insurance company adjusters. This is the part that too many public adjusters dismiss as “soft.” It is not.
Claims are not decided by logos. They are decided by people working under pressure, audits, and internal constraints. A public adjuster with a strong reputation for accuracy, professionalism, and reasonableness gets heard differently than one known for posturing and brinkmanship. Relationships do not mean rolling over. They mean credibility.
When a respected public adjuster pushes hard, it lands differently. When that adjuster asks, “What would your supervisor need to see to move this file?” the question is answered instead of ignored. When silence sets in, it triggers a callback and not a file burial.
Burning bridges may feel righteous in the moment. It is expensive over a career. Frustration is understandable. Letting it define your approach is optional.
Elite public adjusters treat reputation as an asset. They protect it. They invest in it. They understand that today’s desk adjuster may be tomorrow’s supervisor reviewing their next ten files. They play the long game, even when the short game is infuriating.
The deeper lesson in that comment is not that carriers are worse. Many are. The lesson is that nostalgia is not a strategy. Mourning the “old days” of property claims handling does not help policyholders get paid today. I suggest that all of us need to conduct ongoing, honest self-assessment to ensure we are keeping up, improving, and adapting to the demands of our trade.
The public adjusters who master modern claims handling still resolve claims quietly, efficiently, and more often without appraisal or litigation. They find their success not because carriers are kinder, but because their files, their adjustment techniques, and their reputations make resistance harder to justify. That is professionalism and mastery.
Thought For The Day
“Reputation is like fine china: once broken, it’s very hard to put back together.”
— Abraham Lincoln
