Insurance adjusters stop in Waco before heading to Gulf Coast , insurance, training, hurricanes, storms, employees, gulfs, computer software, property, business, equipment, floods, weather, hotels, lightning, lakes, roofs, people, evacuations, cars, jobs PAGE_TITLE=Insurance adjusters stop in Waco before heading to Gulf Coast PAGE_URL=/news/stories/2005/09/01/20050901wacadjusters.html PAGE_URL_LEVEL1=news PAGE_URL_LEVEL2=stories PAGE_URL_LEVEL3=2005 PAGE_URL_LEVEL4=09 QUERY_STRING=[NULL] SITE_COLOR=#6699CC SITE_DOMAIN=wacotrib SITE_GROUP_NAME=cni/communities SITE_ID=5401 SITE_NAME=wacotrib SITE_URL=www.wacotrib.com TOOL=content TOOL_CLASS=news/stories/2005/09/01 URL=http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/09/01/20050901wacadjusters.html YEAR=2005 ======================================================== Site Properties From Property Manager: ======================================================== color_leftnav_tell_me_how=#000000 newspaper_name=The Waco Tribune-Herald color_one=#336699 feedback_URI=kkennedy@wacotrib.com color_leftnav_links=#FFFFFF color_two=#6699CC search_name=wacotrib ======================================================== Look & Feel Properties (default): ======================================================== CHANNEL_HEADER_TEXT=channeltxt_default STYLESHEET=default ========================================================== Look & Feel Properties Access Point overide (news): ========================================================== news/content/shared/tx/legislature_STYLESHEET=legislature CHANNEL_HEADER_TEXT=channeltxt_news *** VARIABLE-TRACE-ENDS ************************************ --> Insurance adjusters stop in Waco before heading to Gulf Coast By Matt Joyce Tribune-Herald staff writer Thursday, September 01, 2005 With the devastation of Hurricane Katrina mounting, hundreds of insurance adjusters converged on Waco this week to gear up for months of assessing property damage in the storm-stricken Gulf Coast region. Adjusters filed into the Wardlaw Claims Service training center on Wednesday to update their computer software and study the insurance laws of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana before mobilizing to deal with the hurricane's aftermath. “We're accumulating the information and making sure the people we send out know what they're doing and try to take care of the policy-holders in a good, professional way,” said Dicky Anderson, training director for the Waco-based claims company. Wardlaw, which was founded in Waco in 1965, works with “several thousand” independent adjusters across the nation, company officials said. The company serves as a liaison between insurance carriers, which don't keep enough adjusters on staff to deal with catastrophic events, and the itinerant adjusters. “It's feast or famine in this business,” Anderson said. “When the work is there, there's plenty of it. When there's no weather, the work is pretty limited.” The adjusters pay their own expenses and use their own equipment, while Wardlaw lines up the work and provides the insurance companies with qualified adjusters, company officials said. On Wednesday, the adjusters' vehicles packed the Wardlaw training center on Kelly Street, near the corner of Lake Air and Waco drives. Several vehicles had out-of-state plates, including Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma, and many carried ladders for assessing roof damage. Inside the Wardlaw building, where the halls are adorned with posters of lightning strikes and tornados, the adjusters installed computer software to enable them to electronically file claims with insurance carriers. During downtime, the adjusters discussed the conditions they would soon face, such as hour-long lines for gasoline and a shortage of hotel rooms. Many said they were stopping in Waco for less than 24 hours before heading south. Todd Martin, an adjuster from Abilene, said he did not know when he would be able to enter New Orleans, where he is assigned to work auto insurance claims. As of Wednesday, the city was ordered to be evacuated, and its phone service was out. He said he expected to be on the job for at least two to three months. “I worked 80-something claims in Ivan,” said Martin, referring to the 2004 storm that hit the southeast United States. “That's going to be real minor compared to what we see here.” Matt P. Fatheree, a Wardlaw co-owner and an independent claims adjuster since 1965, said the company stresses that the adjusters use “compassion and patience” as they deal with claims holders. “We're going to see the most widespread total destruction of homes and commercial buildings that the industry has ever seen,” Fatheree said. “Obviously, the extreme flooding and water damage in New Orleans will be unprecedented.” mjoyce@wacotrib.com 757-5735 Quelle "Insurance adjusters stop in Waco before heading to Gulf Coast" : Yahoo_News Main page for "Insurance adjusters stop in Waco before heading to Gulf Coast"