New Standardized Independent Adjuster Competency Exam Announced

When an adjuster walks into your auto body shop to write an estimate, the decisions they make can affect the repair from start to finish. If your number and their number don’t agree, it can lead to an avalanche of supplements and potentially open up a tug-of-war between you and the insurer.

How qualified is the adjuster and can you rely on their assessment of the vehicle in question? A test score could help shops strip out a lot of question marks across the board, and be confident of an accurate sheet.

AdjusterTV.com and IAPath.com have partnered to create a new company, Adjuster Score, offering a standardized independent adjuster core competency exam, the first of its kind in the independent claims industry.

Adjuster Score will provide secure, fully proctored multiple choice and practical claims testing for new and experienced property and auto adjusters. The exams will test key competencies including but not limited to basic computer skills, policy knowledge and application, estimating knowledge and application, building construction and vehicle knowledge, damage identification and customer service skills.

“It’s important that we test applicants not only on how well they can build a diagram in the estimating software, but also how well they can use that software in the context of a claim,” said Mathew Allen, Adjuster Score co-founder and owner of AdjusterTV.com.

“We feel that Adjuster Score scratches several important itches in the claims industry,” Allen said. “It will provide adjusters with a narrow roadmap for building their skills and equipment, and will calibrate third-party adjuster training companies to the skills that firms and carriers need new adjusters to have. It will also provide IA firms with an objective measure of an adjuster’s skills, knowledge and equipment.”

“We want IA firms to be able to assess an applicant at a glance---similar to a credit score or a standardized test score like the SAT or LSAT,” said Chris Stanley, co-founder of Adjuster Score and owner of IAPath.com.

A user’s Adjuster Score will have an aggregate total score that is then broken down into specific scores for soft skills, technical skills and policy skills, among others. In addition, adjusters will be able to gain points every time they get a new license, certification or important piece of equipment. This will help firms and carriers to know who’s ready to deploy.

Adjuster Score is rapidly gaining traction with insurance companies and the collision repair industry, as well as with both fledgling and veteran adjusters.

Insurance claims adjusters play a vital role in the insurance industry. They are often called upon to conduct interviews, study police reports and inspect damages, among other duties. It can be a fast-paced career that has its financial rewards, and there are a number of different areas an insurance claim adjuster can work in.

But education and licensing requirements vary state to state, so without a standardized national test, no one can quantify someone’s skillset definitively.

A test levels the playing field and offers a number everyone can use to measure and compare, as well as offering that much-needed peace of mind to insurance companies and consumers alike.

Ed Attanasio

Columnist
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco.

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