It is all about relationships. Carriers once were able to manage working with 100 vendors; now they want to work with ten. Claim handling has become more complex, yet the clients still require good service and they want to control costs. That could be difficult for independent adjusters, who cope with a varying claim volume.

Customer service and speed are the two main things at which both the insurer and policyholder look. Policyholders demand more service and our clients require us to be efficient, lean, and cost-effective. Those forces are often in opposition.

We could improve the quality of service by improving the pool of talent. Unfortunately, many adjusters moved to other sectors within the insurance field or are completely out of insurance. The uncertainty of the business and our dependence on major weather events make claim adjusting feel too unpredictable. There is little to make fresh college graduates view this as a potential career. Additionally, the move to cut costs and become leaner forced most companies to put training on the back burner.

Managing new software, coping with different client needs, not to mention navigating the ever-changing regulatory climate, all play a role in the difficulties we are facing in the industry.

You stated that IAS is ahead of the game as compared to competitors when it comes to technology implementation and integration. What do you mean?

At IAS, we can integrate systems from first notice of loss (FNOL) to analytics and outcomes from the claim process. Policyholders rarely use the phone to make claims. They get on the Internet. We can take claims that way.

We work from the ground floor with a carrier. We work with them from the inception when they are looking at ratings all the way through the claim handling portion. We consult with them and handle the claim side of the house.

Our expertise is not only responding to the claim quickly, but also gathering the results and the end data. That's valuable for our clients. It allows them to price the product in a more accurate manner. It is more efficient and cost-effective.

Carriers are experts at underwriting, pricing, and selling insurance. We're the experts at getting to the claim, customer service, and providing analytics back to the carrier. It is expensive for carriers to be experts in handling claims.

What technologies do you see becoming essential for the independent adjuster of today? How about tomorrow?

Cloud computing is today's tool. It replaces the multi-million dollar cost of maintaining a legacy system. It allows clients to leverage our flexible technology into new markets at a reduced cost. Our predictive analytics helps the claim side of the clients' business while giving the underwriting side tools to make real-time decisions. It also allows agents on the front lines to give real customer service to their clients.

How does the retirement of older adjusters/Baby Boomers factor into your plans? How do you hope to attract new talent?

We plan to create an employee-centric culture to demonstrate that independent claim adjusting is a profession and it will continue to remain a profession. The industry has processes and procedures, yet professionals want to be allowed to think on their own and not have a canned approach to how each claim is handled. They want to be recognized for doing a good job by having the opportunity for more training and the ability to earn professional designations. It has always been pushed on the underwriting side but it has fallen off on the claims side, and that is because of cost.