ARLINGTON - After the Tuscaloosa, Ala. tornado, the Joplin twister and one of the most widespread hail storms to hit North Texas in the last decade, there's a surge in insurance claims and a shortage of insurance adjusters, experts said.
"That's not real hail damage, but we tried to do what we could to give them a sense of what they would see in the field," said Trent Massey, an instructor at Vale Training Solutions, as he showed off a mock-up of a damaged house used to train students.
Vale Training Solutions is a school that teaches students how to become insurance adjusters. It's just down the street from Cowboys Stadium.
"I'm seeing an increase of about double," Massey said of the number of students enrolled in his classes.
Last year, he trained an average of eight to 10 students. This year, Massey said, he has been at capacity in class with 16 people enrolled.
Experienced adjusters are the most needed, Massey explained. Ones willing to travel after disasters could make up to $90,000 a year.
Jerry Johns is president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, a trade group representing insurance companies, and agrees that there is a need for more adjusters. Some are lost through attrition, he said, but the spike in claims from recent disasters is also a factor in the rising demand.
State Farm opened a catastrophe claims center in Irving Friday for drivers with hail damage from this week's storm.
"We've got over 9,000 claims so far as far as the auto side is concerned," said Brent Hastings, a State Farm catastrophe claims supervisor.
The insurance carrier has 4,300 catastrophe claims adjusters, more than competitors State Farm said. Of that number, 400 have been dispatched to North Texas now.
Still, industry-wide, experts said the profession is in need as its faced with a growing number of claims and a limited number of adjusters.
E-mail: jwhitely@wfaa.com
