Claims management leader Crawford & Company trains tomorrow’s adjuster talent

IN Partnership with

Located in Atlanta, Crawford & Company offers its own adjusters, as well as aspiring and current external adjusters, the opportunity to expand their skillsets and competence with applicable, qualified courses

WHEN IT comes to adjuster training, Crawford & Company strives to provide top-of-class quality. Its training is part of “a commitment to our adjusters,” said Christopher McDermott, regional property product manager at Crawford (AIC, CCP, PTC). It is “taken very seriously here. It’s deep in our heritage.” It requires a significant commitment, of course – time taken out of branches – but, in return, “It makes us better adjusters, and we can provide a better product to our clients,” McDermott said. Crawford Educational Services classes are instructor-led courses designed exclusively for the insurance industry, helmed by certified instructors who use engaging lectures, group discussions, and practice exercises to facilitate learning.

Crawford & Company is the world’s largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers, and corporates, with an extensive global network serving clients in more than 70 countries. The company’s shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbols CRD-A and CRD-B.

Find out more

“Adjusters can virtually walk through a burned-out building or a water-damaged home. You can look around at the scope of the damage, what would need to be repaired”

Christopher McDermott, Crawford & Company

Crawford offers the well-rounded educational experience at its Peachtree Corners campus in Atlanta (and additional training facilities in Allen, Texas). There are multiple training rooms that are set up for the sessions at both locations, with approximately 10 trainers available. Along with the expected classroom lectures and discussion, the ample material and hands-on exercises keep students engaged beyond the chalk-and-talk classrooms of old. “We have built mock-ups that people can look at,” said McDermott. “We have incorporated some virtual reality into the class. Adjusters can virtually walk through a burned-out building or a water-damaged home. You can look around at the scope of the damage, what would need to be repaired.”

There are 10 to 20 people per in-person class, with courses lasting anywhere from one to three weeks. Courses are offered both online and in person and run the gamut from basic adjusting for new hires to well-subscribed courses like commercial property training, which McDermott co-leads three times a year, for the more seasoned adjuster. Other courses include those focusing on subrogation, fraud, adjuster ethics, commercial and business owner policies, auto liability, advanced casualty, and stock and business income losses. The courses are offered to in-house Crawford adjusters, and (for a fee) to aspiring and external adjusters.

There is further training that goes on at branch level as well within the company, continuing up to the corporate level.

The pandemic impacted Crawford’s educational arm as, overnight, teaching had to be done entirely remotely. While this allowed for far more people to attend classes, there were the expected hurdles that came with trying to guide 50 people remotely through a course. While Crawford still offers online courses, McDermott said he was glad to get back to in-person learning after the COVID-19 pandemic. Advances in technology have made it easier for, say, a homeowner and an adjuster to communicate virtually, allowing the adjuster to obtain pictures or videos directly from the homeowner’s phone of additional storm damage to their property, saving the adjuster a three-hour car journey back to the property.

One area that he has seen change over the years is how new adjusters pick up knowledge along the way. Much of the

While McDermott makes it clear that he cannot speak on competitor training as he has never attended their classes himself, what he can say is that, having spoken to adjusters who have attended Crawford’s training along with assessing content that is offered by others, is that it provided “much more in-depth (information) and expertise,” he said. It was notably “a better education than what they had gotten somewhere else.”

A vibrant learning environment

Crawford: The gold standard in insurance education

Published 29 Jan 2024

Specialty

Best in Insurance

Resources

Risk Management

News

RSS

Sitemap

About us

Conditions of Use

Terms & conditions

People

Specialty

Best in Insurance

Resources

Risk Management

News

RSS

Sitemap

About us

Conditions of Use

Terms & conditions

People

Specialty

Best in Insurance

Resources

Risk Management

News

RSS

Sitemap

About us

Conditions of Use

Terms & conditions

People

Bringing real-world case studies to life

McDermott has been with Crawford for 34 years, 20 of them spent in training. He chuckled as he recalled, at the beginning of his career, in 1990, going to a local hardware store to see, in person, the cost of drywall, to develop unit costs – something that can now be done with the click of a button or tap of a screen. Fast forward decades later and the company is now in the middle of a pilot project using LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology on iPhones, which helps adjusters go out to a scene and create diagrams more quickly than via hand sketches.

“It’s always an honor for me to stand up in front of the classes that I instruct, and share my successes and failures and what I’ve learned from that”

Christopher McDermott, Crawford & Company

“It’s always an honor for me to stand up in front of the classes that I instruct, and share my successes and failures and what I’ve learned from that,” he said. People may say that knowledge is power – but McDermott adds that “knowledge is confidence. And if by providing instruction to an adjuster and sharing my experiences, both the good and the bad, it allows them to go out and have greater confidence in the field, that’s a feather in my cap.”

learning he did early on in his career was following up on overheard conversations on the other side of a cubicle, asking more experienced colleagues how they ended up handling a difficult file. As more people work remotely, there is less such opportunity, something he hopes and believes his classes can help with.

Source: Crawford Educational Services

Basic Casualty Loss Adjusting: February 19 to 23, July 22 to 26, and October 21 to 25 Advanced Casualty Loss Adjusting: August 19 to 23 and November 4 to 8

Upcoming instructor-led training sessions

Casualty

Adjuster interactions Adjuster safety Adjuster liability Casualty Claim law Ethics

Fraud Liability Property Risk management Transportation Workers’ compensation

Source: Crawford Educational Services

Despite its accessibility, not everyone can make it down south to Atlanta for training. For those who prefer or need a remote option, Crawford Educational Services offers its own learning management system, KMC OnDemand. Courses offered through this system include:

Learn online with KMC OnDemand

Commercial Property Loss Adjusting: January 22 to January 27, April 8 to 13, and November 11 to 16 Residential Property Loss Adjusting (three-week class): April 8 to 26, July 15 to August 2, and October 14 to November 1 All above classes held at Crawford Training Center, Atlanta.