In addition, our industry needs engaged employees to prosper, and one of the keys to producing engaged employees is providing learning and development, including practical designations that permit immediate use of knowledge. It's important that an adjuster or estimator see an immediate return on his personal investment of time and effort.

Performance-based training equips claim professionals with the ability to deal with the technical aspects of claims. Having technical skills and knowing the right verbiage will make the job less daunting and enable better performance. This is particularly relevant to the growing segment of inside adjusters who typically have little or no technical experience.

In this mobile society, portability is also key. A portable certificate is mutually beneficial to employee and employer, and an industry-recognized certificate is a benefit to the adjuster since it can travel with him to a new position.

The PTC designation will be a validation of knowledge that will mean more efficient recruitment and better retention of quality employees. Ultimately, it should improve the bottom line with properly settled claims. For the insured, it means more effective claim handling conducted by better informed and prepared claim personnel, and accurate settlements that save on costly disputes and protracted claims.

What kind of response are you getting from insurers and independents that are participating in your pilot program?

The response has been overwhelmingly supportive from insurers, independents, and contractor networks. Everyone I have consulted with on this idea — from top insurance executives and independent advisors to technical advisors — has said it is timely and it is needed. Independents and contractors like the idea that the whole industry will study and master the same material, so onsite claim discussions should go more smoothly from a technical perspective. That is also the goal of our chief technical advisor, Dri-Eaz Inc., who sees this as a great boost to adjuster/contractor relations. It is imperative that this becomes an industry program and reaches and appeals to all our constituents.

In the July pilot, we'll be measuring knowledge transfer with pre- and post-mastery tests, user interfaces, and skill set tests. We will also be validating content and studying the tests themselves. There are three PTC levels and we'll test PTC I in the pilot.

How does this designation differ from other certifications, such as the CPCU and AIC?

Those are very worthy designations for foundational knowledge. PTC differs from them in that we are focused on property technical issues that have practical claim-handling value today. What we teach and what the adjuster learns is immediately applicable to improve and standardize performance. When your performance is held to a higher level, you deserve recognition not just from your employer, but also from the industry. People should know that your knowledge can be relied upon by everyone in the field.

When will the PTC program officially launch for public consumption? Do you have plans for an auto component?

We intend to pilot from July to September, then study our findings and launch to the industry at the end of October. We have put huge resources into content development these past two years; our tried and proven Learning Management System under the KMC umbrella will record and report on all transactions. We will also offer a corresponding Performance Support reference file for all the courses that the adjusters can gain access to 24/7 if they need to review some of the content. Because continuing education (CE) credits are such a huge requirement, we will offer CEs for all adjuster-required states for all PTC courses. In fact, adjusters can use our Compliance Genie database to keep track of their CE requirements by state, but we do all the necessary state filings for them.

We have plans as well for Auto Technical Certification (ATC) that we are collaborating on with I-CAR and hope to launch in the near future.