Although the business world and society at-large have always been concerned about financial ethics, the issue has come to the forefront of discussion in the post-Enron world. The insurance industry has certainly not escaped scrutiny, and a watchful eye has been on claim practices in both everyday settlements and in disaster response.

This recent heightened sensitivity to financial misdealings rightly should be seen as an opportunity for all adjusters to reconsider what their ethical obligations are and to whom they are owed. Although bad faith and dishonest practices certainly exist in the claim profession (as in every sector of the business world), many times adjusters with good intentions can go astray by losing their sense of balance and overemphasizing one duty or obligation at the expense of another.

The classic dilemma in Greek mythology was that of the tandem perils of Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla, a fearsome six-headed, serpentine-necked monster, was cursed by an enchantress and stuck fast to a rock in the perilous straits between Italy and Sicily. In close proximity in the channel lay Charybdis, another horrible creature whose cavernous jaws created deadly whirlpools that sucked down any seafaring vessel that sailed within its path. Often thought to be the origin of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place," these mythical creatures came to symbolize the classic dilemma — one in which either choice would result in certain injury. In the real world of adjusting, competing parties can present analogous difficulties to those who have not fine-tuned their ethical senses. Fortunately, there are some guidelines that ethicists both inside and outside the insurance industry have provided that can make the sailing a bit smoother.