Sadly, tension often characterizes relationships between claim adjusters and underwriters. There is unfortunately a professional enmity that develops between these two departments and functional areas within an insurance company. Both need each other and must function at a high level for any insurer to succeed. A symbiotic relationship exists between adjusters and underwriters.

Adjusters often see themselves as orphaned stepchildren of the insurance hierarchy, while underwriters get all the money, prestige, and glory. They may also feel as though they inherit the boneheaded underwriting decisions made by those who decide which accounts will be written and which ones will be declined. Some adjusters bitterly quip, "Doctors bury their mistakes; underwriters simply pass theirs on to the claim department."

Underwriters have their own retorts. In their eyes, adjusters are often knuckle-draggers who would never write any risk if it wasn't totally pristine. They often see adjusters as the "bulls in a china shop" able to demolish positive relations that the underwriter has taken years to foster with key brokers, agents, and policyholders. One contentious exchange on a claim can undo months or years of good will.