Training to become an average adjuster?

Shorebased Maritime Law
1

Hi! I want to become an average adjuster. I can’t really go to college for my bachelor’s degree, due to all the colleges near me being impacted. But I have 70 community college credits. I’m 18 years old.

Currently, I’m looking for an attorney to take me for law office studies in California, so I can take the CA bar exam, as I believe a solid education in the law is very important in the field of average adjusting, due to their intimate relationship.

During my law office studies, should I also prepare for the IIA’s Associate in Marine Insurance Management and the Associateship exam of The Association of Average Adjusters, so I can get a job as a trainee average adjuster with one of my Dad’s colleagues (Dad’s a leading marine surveyor, and he knows a lot of average adjusters both in California and across the world)?

I hope to eventually start my own average adjusting and maritime law practice after getting enough experience and passing the Fellowship exam of The Association of Average Adjusters. Eventually I hope to become eligible to take the Certified Marine Investigator exam of the IAMI.

How many claims does an average adjuster see per month? Dad said around 20, and the average value is $20,000. Since the average adjuster’s fee is 10%, wouldn’t my revenue be like $480,000/year? And since my overhead would probably be just a small office, a laptop, and a cell phone, my profit margin would probably be 60%, so I’d be taking home $288,000/year in profit!

Although I bet that would only come after a few years of experience. And I’d be working 60-80 hours a week, but hey, it’s a super cool job…you get to meet all sorts of people, and deal with really cool aspects of the law.

Thanks for advising!

2

Why just aim to be an average adjuster? You should strive to become an excellent adjuster.

3

I expected that joke! I hope to become an excellent average adjuster. You know, someone who practices in this profession: http://www.average-adjusters.com/AboutUs.htm#role

4

480,000 gross
<144,000> Fed, State, and local taxes
<48,000> in “commissions”, gifts, “referral fees” (thanks for the job, dude!)
<3,000> phone bill
<14,400> office lease
<15,000> auto lease, maintenance, insurance, gas, windshield replacement
<6,000> insurance
<5,000> liability insurance
<7,000> legal fees
<123,000> wife and girlfriend’s allowance
<24,000> alimony (80 hours a week?! You’re never home, you never think about ME!!)
<60,000> child support
<30,000> political contributions

$600.00

5

Capt A

how right you are

6

Well, yes, that is probably how much I’d be left with after all my personal expenses are over and done with. But I was talking about how much I’d keep after just my business overhead is done with.

Still, you’ve never answered my question: would doing what I said in my OP be a good way to get training to be an average adjuster?

Would getting an LLM in Admiralty Law be a good thing? I hope to do a combined practice of admiralty law and average adjusting.

7

Is it really possible in California to take the bar examination without going to law school? Also I’m confused about your not being able to get a bachelor’s degree because the local colleges have been “impacted”. What does that mean?

We’re primarily a community of professional mariners here, or people who like to watch ships go by on our AIS iPhone apps (while we still can, if some have their way, but I digress…).

Your questions, my guess is, will likely go unanswered unless someone here does what it is you aspire to do. Before your post appeared I had never heard of the term “average adjuster” in all my maritime career. Something about that fact tells me I have been fortunate, as it seems to me that if I had crossed paths with one I would have also been sitting at the green felt table with an ALJ on the other side.

Good luck though.

8

[quote=dougpine;25662]Is it really possible in California to take the bar examination without going to law school? Also I’m confused about your not being able to get a bachelor’s degree because the local colleges have been “impacted”. What does that mean?

We’re primarily a community of professional mariners here, or people who like to watch ships go by on our AIS iPhone apps (while we still can, if some have their way, but I digress…).

Your questions, my guess is, will likely go unanswered unless someone here does what it is you aspire to do. Before your post appeared I had never heard of the term “average adjuster” in all my maritime career. Something about that fact tells me I have been fortunate, as it seems to me that if I had crossed paths with one I would have also been sitting at the green felt table with an ALJ on the other side.

Good luck though.[/quote]

Impacted means there’s WAY too many applicants for WAY too few seats. So getting admitted is a crapshoot.

Yes, CA is one of only seven states in the US that still allow someone to qualify to practice law in the “traditional” way of apprenticing with a practicing lawyer or sitting judge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bar_of_California#The_different_ways_to_become_an_attorney_in_California

And I can’t believe you mariners haven’t heard of the profession of average adjuster. They’re the professionals who determine liability and insurance coverage in maritime accident cases or cases of general average.

9

[QUOTE=Protoman2050;25664]

And I can’t believe you mariners haven’t heard of the profession of average adjuster. They’re the professionals who determine liability and insurance coverage in maritime accident cases or cases of general average.[/QUOTE]

You misunderstood.

I said “I” haven’t heard of an average adjuster. It sounds like a claims adjuster for auto insurance. I’ve heard of those, so I’m not surprised to find them in the maritime industry.

I have a 17 year old son, a junior in high school with a 3.00 GPA and huge potential. If he came to me and told me that with his level of intelligence and potential he wasn’t going to bother to apply for college because it is a “crapshoot” I’d have to (lovingly) kick his ass and then ask him to convince me that his proposed weird end-run around college scheme actually made sense. It isn’t that I’m insistent on college, I have no degree myself and somewhat fewer credits at age 49 than you have at age 18.

Because I am the father of a young man near your age, I got curious about you, and googled your email address. One of the benefits of being a moderator here is that I can do that. It helps when I’m contemplating whether or not to ban someone. Yours yielded many hits, and very interesting ones. You’re obviously no slouch; someone very curious about many fields in addition to average adjusting. Medicine; lasers; C++; the universe. I find it troubling that you’ve given up on college when you have what appears to be a higher than average level of intelligence. 70 college credits at 18 years of age says a lot for that. If you want to man up and tell us you just don’t want to go to college, that would be fine. But to blame your decision on external forces is a rationalization that doesn’t fly with me.

Something about your posts and your questions just doesn’t have the ring of truth, if I may be blunt. What led you to choose gCaptain forum to post this question? There is nothing else here as far as I know on the subject. There is something you’re not sharing with us and I wish you would or, if you won’t, I wish you would just go away. Have you asked your question at http://www.average-adjusters.com/AboutUs.htm#role? If so, what did they have to say to you?

My short and sweet advice is this: Find your passion, follow your passion, whatever it may be. The world just might need another really good average adjuster. It might not.

Cheers,
Doug

10

[quote=dougpine;25668]You misunderstood.

I said “I” haven’t heard of an average adjuster. It sounds like a claims adjuster for auto insurance. I’ve heard of those, so I’m not surprised to find them in the maritime industry.[/quote]

Oh. Sorry. But while auto claims adjusters are overworked like slaves by insurers for $30K-$50K and are overloaded with claims, average adjusters, while still working very hard, get to select how many claims they work on by virtue of being self-employed, and make way more money due to claim amounts being much higher and them taking a percentage of the settlement as their fee.

And you need a lot more training. An auto claims adjuster just needs a license and some on-the-job training, which takes just two years. An average adjuster practically needs a law license and maritime insurance qualifications to be able to do their job properly. In fact, some countries require average adjusters to have a law license, or five years of education to be sworn in.

11

[quote=dougpine;25668]You misunderstood.

I said “I” haven’t heard of an average adjuster. It sounds like a claims adjuster for auto insurance. I’ve heard of those, so I’m not surprised to find them in the maritime industry.

I have a 17 year old son, a junior in high school with a 3.00 GPA and huge potential. If he came to me and told me that with his level of intelligence and potential he wasn’t going to bother to apply for college because it is a “crapshoot” I’d have to (lovingly) kick his ass and then ask him to convince me that his proposed weird end-run around college scheme actually made sense. It isn’t that I’m insistent on college, I have no degree myself and somewhat fewer credits at age 49 than you have at age 18.

Because I am the father of a young man near your age, I got curious about you, and googled your email address. One of the benefits of being a moderator here is that I can do that. It helps when I’m contemplating whether or not to ban someone. Yours yielded many hits, and very interesting ones. You’re obviously no slouch; someone very curious about many fields in addition to average adjusting. Medicine; lasers; C++; the universe. I find it troubling that you’ve given up on college when you have what appears to be a higher than average level of intelligence. 70 college credits at 18 years of age says a lot for that. If you want to man up and tell us you just don’t want to go to college, that would be fine. But to blame your decision on external forces is a rationalization that doesn’t fly with me.

Something about your posts and your questions just doesn’t have the ring of truth, if I may be blunt. What led you to choose gCaptain forum to post this question? There is nothing else here as far as I know on the subject. There is something you’re not sharing with us and I wish you would or, if you won’t, I wish you would just go away. Have you asked your question at http://www.average-adjusters.com/AboutUs.htm#role? If so, what did they have to say to you?

My short and sweet advice is this: Find your passion, follow your passion, whatever it may be. The world just might need another really good average adjuster. It might not.

Cheers,
Doug[/quote]

I’m not giving up on college…if California wasn’t in such a horrid budget crisis and randomly closing down colleges for days to weeks at a time, I most definitely would attend college. And the community colleges here are just hit-or-miss. Sometimes they’re excellent, other times they’re horrid.

Also, if I pass the California First Year Law Student Exam, I can get admitted to a California CBE-accredited law school as a special student, thus allowing me to earn my JD without an undergrad degree. That’s what I hope to do.

12

Wow - an average adjuster’s fee is based on a percentage of the settlement. Now there is a conflict of interest. Of course, lawyers working on a contingency fee do the same.

Good luck with your pursuit!

13

[quote=water;25674]Wow - an average adjuster’s fee is based on a percentage of the settlement. Now there is a conflict of interest. Of course, lawyers working on a contingency fee do the same.

Good luck with your pursuit![/quote]

Well, average adjusters are appointed by the shipowner, but paid by the insurer, so the conflicts of interests apparently cancel out. And besides, my job is to make sure the claim is valued properly…I don’t want to get sued, have my adjustment reversed, and ruin the reputation of myself and the profession.

14

http://www.usaverageadjusters.org/Contact.htm

http://www.usaverageadjusters.org/2007JMW.pdf

15

[quote=dougpine;25676]http://www.usaverageadjusters.org/Contact.htm

http://www.usaverageadjusters.org/2007JMW.pdf[/quote]

Thanks! I hope to get a response from the AAAUS soon.

16

OK, I got a reply from the president of the AAAUS. Apparently he knows my Dad.

He says that studying for the Associate in Marine Insurance Management would be a good way for me to prepare for employment in the average adjusting field.

He agrees that earning a JD and LLM in Maritime Law would be excellent preparation for taking the Average Adjuster examination.

He also says once I’m employed as a maritime insurance lawyer, I’ll need three-five years of mentoring by a Full Member of the AAAUS to become eligible for the membership exam.

Or, I could simply take the Associate and Fellow Member exams of The Association of Average Adjusters of the UK, since those exams are open to anyone. And I’d get to put the nice letters “FAAA” after my name.

I’m also going to try for being granted the title of “Proctor in Admiralty”, which will pretty much prove I am competent in my profession.

17

[quote=dougpine;25668]

I got curious about you, and googled your email address. One of the benefits of being a moderator here is that I can do that. It helps when I’m contemplating whether or not to ban someone.

Doug[/quote]

Now I finally know what a Super Moderator does…