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Litigation and court decisions: Adjusters as judge, jury and litigation manager - Part 2

The decisions adjusters make today can have far-reaching consequences tomorrow.

By Ken Brownlee, CPCU | Updated on January 13, 2015

Many decades ago, beginning adjusters often heard the phrase, “it’s a jury question,” meaning that the facts were not clear enough to decide if the insured was responsible for what happened or the claimant was at fault. What this really meant was that there was not yet enough information to make a correct decision and it was necessary to “go dig some more,” with documentation, photos, diagrams, statements, data and details. Why? Because it is too expensive to litigate every claim.

Only when adjusters dig as deep as possible into the facts and lay them out logically in a report, will the kind of decision a judge and jury make be the result. Judges and juries don’t always get it right, and neither will adjusters. But if enough research has occurred, the odds for correct decisions increase. If an allegation of coverage, liability, damage or injury is not valid, a wrong decision to settle will be expensive. But a wrong decision to deny a valid claim will be even more expensive if it results in litigation.

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