"A woman can never be too rich, or too thin." That line was uttered by none other than Babe Paley, the icon of glamour, style and grace, whose (second) marriage to CBS founder William Paley put her at the pinnacle of New York (and even European) society from 1947 until her death in 1978. Sadly, her witty quote is, to this day, mistakenly attributed to Wallis Warfield Simpson, duchess of Windsor, a woman not only adept at stealing quotes, but also kings.

Babe could have said, "… can never be too rich, too thin, or too well educated," which would have provided me the perfect segue, for this tome is all about the value of continuing education for the claim professional. We all know how one can become "too rich" (you're born into money, you marry into money, or you earn it, aka, "self-made") and "too thin" (it's in the genes, in the diet, or, sometimes, in the liposuction). "Well educated" is a different, and in your case, often more difficult achievement. The opportunities are there, but too often, the resources are tightly held by corporate honchos who wear blinders when it comes to the value of efficient customer service through expedient claim handling.

If the last two hurricane seasons have taught us nothing else, they've certainly taught us the value of the claim adjustment processes and protocols. Cat teams have constantly stressed the "time is money" admonition in dealing with hurricane devastation. Fire losses and wind storm damage? Same thing!