Why the best claims work happens before a crisis
Griff Rogers joined Crawford & Company as a casualty desk adjuster for risk management services in July 2000, straight out of college. He never left.
He made claim supervisor five years in, picked up steady promotions through operational and catastrophe leadership roles, and is now VP, Southeast Regional Manager – Claims Solutions. Twenty-six years, one company, and what kept him there was the people. “At no time did I ever feel that I was on my own,” he says of his early years. Rogers still talks about “a Crawford family environment that's existed for 85 years and how critical that culture has played in the support of my growth with this company.”
The breadth of the work is also what kept him from ever seeking outside opportunities. “Crawford is not a run-of-the-mill company,” he says. “We have a wide array of product offerings in field operations (claims solutions), global technical services (our large and complex group), catastrophe response, third-party administration, and managed repair.” The recognition followed
along the way, including three winnings of the company’s Circle of Excellence award and a transportation service award named in remembrance of Steve Edmunds, who was one of Crawford’s leaders in this vertical.
Getting ahead of it When Rogers describes what a claims team should be to a client, he keeps returning to one phrase: “an extension of their own claims office.” This means really embracing their mindset, expectations, and claims philosophy in resolving the claims process. This approach really promotes outcomes where those involved in the claims process have a hard time distinguishing between the team and the customer they serve.
Rogers’ approach rests on prioritizing establishing trust between the claims team and the customer. “Trust is paramount within any relationship you have. Whether that is with a customer or anyone on your team, it has to be present. Trust should be the first thing you create in any new opportunity and should serve as the building block for any long-standing partnership.”
He reiterates this theme, noting that by the time a client truly needs you, it is too late to begin earning their trust. Rogers learned this through Crawford's commercial transportation claims handling, where he spent years managing auto liability claims nationwide. “The two things that really come to my mind,” he says of that work, “are the sense of urgency and overall responsiveness.” The exposure there is steep and the stakes are obvious to anyone who has driven past the plaintiff-attorney billboards staged on tractor trailers, which is exactly why “it’s imperative that we immediately get to the scene and report back to the client on any potential exposure.”
He is clear that the urgency is not unique to transportation. It is the standard everywhere, and it is what lets a claims team scale fast when a major catastrophic event hits, because the working relationship is already in place. “Our catastrophe response truly begins well before the moment a storm hits,” he says. “It exists in the day-to-day relationships we build with our customers.” Do that work early and the friction is cleared in advance, which means “faster ramp-ups and fewer surprises” when the real test comes.
Spotlight
Crawford has nearly a century of experience in the global loss adjusting space, with over 10,000 employees in more than 70 countries. We are the largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions globally. The world’s top insurers, brokers and industry-leading companies trust Crawford to adjust and manage their most complex accounts and claims. Wherever and whenever losses occur, Crawford taps into its vast network of employees and colleagues to form a customized, rapid-response solution with the appropriate level of experience needed for the most challenging scenarios.
Company Profile
40%
Board representation of minorities and women
16.4%
Black and African-American US employee representation
58%
Proportion of women across the company
10,000+
employees across the globe
$20bn+
claims managed annually
Bio
Spotlight
Milestones
Media
Accolades
Company Profile
Years IN THE INDUSTRY
26
Fast Facts
Married for 23 years to Jenny, with whom he has three kids, Tyler (19), Livi (17), and Lucy (12) and two dogs (Zoe and Rex)
Griff Rogers
VP, Southeast Regional Manager – Claims Solutions
As a claims solutions leader, Griff Rogers reflects on 26 years at Crawford & Company and why the strongest claims teams earn a client’s trust long before they ever need it
Read on
“Trust is paramount within any relationship you have. Whether that is with a customer or anyone on your team – it has to be present. Trust should be the first thing you create in any new opportunity”
Griff Rogers,
Crawford & Company
Share
IN Partnership with
2000
2002
2012
2016
2019
2026
Began his career in risk management services, where he spent four weeks in training before transferring to Phoenix, AZ
2000
Promoted to adjuster in-charge, Flagstaff, AZ
2002
Winner of Steve Edmunds Transportation Excellence Award (top office delivering customer service to transportation clients)
2012
Recipient of Crawford’s Circle of Excellence award (top three offices in the US)
2016
Promoted to president, US Catastrophe Operations
2019
Promoted to VP, Southeast Regional Manager, Claims Solutions
2026
Milestones
Published Sep 21, 2026
Find out more
Find out more
Fast Facts
Outside of work, he enjoys competitive mountain biking and currently coaches a high school team in north Georgia
“The importance of balancing professional execution in claims handling and emphasizing human connection and empathy cannot be overstated”
Griff Rogers,
Crawford & Company
Leading when it counts That readiness gets its hardest test in catastrophe response, where Rogers spent a stretch of his career leading and managing Crawford’s catastrophe services division. To demonstrate, he points to April 27, 2011, when more than 60 tornados tore across Alabama, causing catastrophic damage to properties and resulting in more than 250 fatalities. “That was the first catastrophe event that truly changed my perception – from simply servicing the claim, to shifting that balanced focus to the people involved in the communities as well.” Hurricane Helene’s flooding in western North Carolina drove home the same lesson. The takeaway?
The gap to watch With all the attention big events get, the challenge Rogers thinks the industry underrates – and that rarely makes headlines – is “the talent gap that we are facing, particularly with skilled claims professionals looking toward exiting the workforce.”
The numbers back the concern: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that roughly 400,000 insurance professionals will have left the industry through retirement and attrition between 2021 and 2026, draining decades of expertise with them.
Carriers are automating the lower-skill work and leaning on veterans for the complex claims, which holds up until a surge exposes how thin that bench has become. The fix, he says, is “a balance of skilled workforce
“The importance of balancing professional execution in claims handling and emphasizing human connection and empathy cannot be overstated.”
The decisions in moments like these rarely come with a precedent to lean on. “You really have to draw from your past experience while simultaneously anticipating the needs of your customers,” Rogers says. The leader’s job is to absorb the uncertainty so the team doesn’t have to: “You make it easier for your teams to do their job by providing structure and consistency regarding what they can expect.”
The instinct he guards against hardest is waiting for certainty. “It is much more important to make timely decisions versus perfect ones,” he says, because in a surge, hesitation only compounds. He frames much of his role as clearing whatever slows a team down, and he is precise that the obstacle is never a person. “It is more often the environment itself, due to the influx of claims volume, urgency, and the strong emotions that come with this kind of work. Everything is amplified during that time.”
What Rogers comes back to is composure. The trap, he says, is letting a challenging environment set your own emotional tone, which a strained team can read and take on instantly.
and the tools from a digital learning standpoint to satisfy the needs particularly involving lower-severity claims.”
His own version of that is less about programs than about proximity. “One of the things I’ve always really thrived on, and pushed my managers to do as well, is making sure that we connect with our employees,” he says – a discipline that has become harder through the pandemic and the shift to remote work. The needs he watches for “can be both personal and professional,” and he wants managers giving their own teams as much attention as they give their clients. After 26 years, that is still where he spends his energy: developing the next group the way the people before him developed him.
What the mountain bike trail teaches The same instinct shows up off the clock, where he advises everyone to find “something you enjoy that serves as a release valve from the daily grind claims brings.” Rogers took up racing mountain bikes after tearing his ACL for the second time playing soccer and now coaches a high school team in north Georgia. He values what the sport does for him personally, noting “out there, you really get to be and focus on yourself, allowing you to disengage from all of the outside noise.”
With the riders, the reward is often slower. His favorite stretch is watching a tentative newcomer “evolve into a biker with much stronger confidence that they can carry into not just riding a bike competitively, but other aspects of their lives.” For him, “there is a great deal of effort that goes into mountain biking, but like anything, the hard work turns into the comfort and satisfaction that comes from it.” Whether a young kid building their confidence, or a team having operational success in the workplace…. “it doesn’t always come easily, but practice, drive, and consistency it can begin to feel second nature.”
Rogers’ professional principles are mantras that he carries with him: be there before you’re needed. That's the standard he holds himself to as he builds a strong bench and works to earn trust long before the call comes. This principle holds great significance whether he’s interacting with a new adjuster, a catastrophe team, or a kid on a bike. The responsibility he feels is the same: give them the support they need, then let them grow into their own confidence and leadership.
This is also how Rogers approaches claims. The work starts well before the loss event occurs – exemplified through the relationships, preparation, and trust built ahead of time. It’s the principle that has taken him from an adjuster’s desk in Phoenix, AZ to being a leader of Crawford’s Claims Solutions division, and the one he helps his teams put into practice every day.
