AAPIA General Counsel, Richard L. Bush sought an immediate retraction upon reading the misstatements  that appeared in both print and online Claims journal publications.  (see e.g., Claims article link here).

To the credit of the journal editor they offered AAPIA the opportunity  to submit our  rebuttal.

What follows is a direct rebuttal to the Claims magazine articles, setting the record straight on the Value of Public Adjusters. 

June 6, 2012

Re: Rebuttal to Articles authored by Melanie Elias
Diverse Expectations Make for Diverse Careers; Adventures in Independent Adjusting Claims Magazine - May 2012
Independent Adjusters Must Be Agile, Responsive National Underwriter P&C Magazine - May 21, 2012  

Dear Ms. Sclafane, Mr. Rousseau and Mr. Daggett:

At the written invitation of Mr. Rousseau, I write to you as General Counsel of the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters ("AAPIA" www.aapia.org) to submit this rebuttal to the above referenced articles to appear in both the print and online publications that featured the articles authored by Ms. Elias. AAPIA's letter is a full rebuttal to address specific inaccuracies written by Melanie Elias and we request the full text of APPIA's rebuttal to appear in both the print magazines and online publications that featured the above-referenced articles by Ms. Elias.

In her original article, Ms. Elias stated:

"As previously mentioned, most states require independent adjusters to be licensed. Independent adjusters must adhere to certain rules and regulations that pertain to dealing with the public to protect the public's best interest. Initial contact with an insured, inspection, estimates, and payment must all take place within stringent timelines. It is critical that the independent adjuster prepare an estimate for repair of the covered damages that is comprehensive and fair. Public adjusters usually have no specific statelicensing requirements and may not have the background, training and experience of independent adjusters." (emphasis added).

As written in my previous letter to the Editors, and in the prior letter also previously submitted by NAPIA's General Counsel Brian S. Goodman, it is wholly inaccurate to state, as Ms. Elias wrote, that public adjusters usually have no specific state licensing requirements and they may not have equal background training and experience as independent adjusters. As we wrote earlier, public adjusters are fully licensed in 45 of the 50 States in the United States, and the District of Columbia. Contrast this state licensure of public adjusters to that of independent adjusters who are only required to be licensed in 34 out of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. It is our understanding from Editorial Director Rousseau that Ms. Elias' article has been changed solely to reflect the public adjuster licensure in 45 of the 50 States, to include the Editor's Note as follows: This article has been changed to reflect the fact that public adjusters are licensed in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

We also wrote in our prior correspondence to correct the following remarks by Ms. Elias:

"A third issue affecting independent adjusters today involves working with public adjusters. During the adjustment of claims, the independent adjuster often deals with public adjusters who represent the insured. While some adjusters serve the insured well, we find that, in most states, public adjusters are not held to the same standards as the independent adjusters. This standard variance is a major issue facing independent adjusters today". (emphasis added).

This foregoing passage has not been changed in the articles. We are specifically concerned that Ms. Elias has written that she finds that "in most states, public adjusters are not held to the same standards as the independent adjusters." The plain facts regarding licensure of public adjusters, as well as the continuing education and certification requirements, clearly undermine the credibility of this statement.

Rather than substantively change the foregoing passage written by Ms. Elias to conform with the facts, the revised article by Ms. Elias now concludes: "Even though public adjusters are licensed in 45 states and Washington, D.C., they still may not have the background, training and experience of independent adjusters (based on my observations in my 30-plus years as a claims professional)."

Regrettably, this remark illustrates the type of anecdotal opinion claiming non-factual information based on the experience of an individual with claims experience exclusively representing property and casualty insurers and third party administrators. Without asserting any potential for bias revealed in the articles, it is noteworthy that nowhere in the articles authored by Ms. Elias does she provide citation or discussion of any study or report that provides support for her anecdotal opinion about the respective standards of public adjusters and independent adjusters. Your readers should be made aware of this.

We would reference the January 2010 Report issued by the Florida Legislature, Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA), Report No. 10-06, which discussed the public adjuster representation of policyholders in claims insured by Citizens Property Ins. Corp. This report is found at: http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/reports/pdf/1006rpt.pdf. The report analyzed Florida's public adjuster law which is comparable to and in some cases more stringent than those of other similar states in public adjuster licensing requirements and various consumer protections. This report analyzed data for all claims filed with Citizens from March 2008 to June 2009 for a total of 76,321 claims, of which 21,545 had public adjuster representation, compared to a group of 54,776 claims that had either no representation or were represented by someone other than a public adjuster. For catastrophic claims the difference in payments was 747% higher and for non-catastrophe claims the difference in payments was 574% higher for those policyholders who used a public adjuster.

Additionally, many states have continuing education credits for public adjusters, for which AAPIA sponsors seminars to assure compliance. Also, AAPIA is an approved education provider in certain states for continuing education course credits required for licensed public adjusters. Our organization also daily monitors legislation in all 50 states, and has communications programs that educate and inform public adjusters and policyholders on ethical standards and professionalism. Once again, we are not aware of continuing education credits required for independent adjusters and, therefore, it is apparent that the representations made by Ms. Elias in her articles are simply not accurate.

APPIA has also been very active in the passage in 2005 of the Public Adjuster Licensing Model Act by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC"). The NAIC Model Act - that governs the qualifications and procedures for the licensing of public adjusters and specifies the duties and restrictions on public adjusters - has now been enacted in 14 states. The NAIC Model Act has also adopted NAPIA's Code of Ethics (found online at www.napia.com) as part of the statute. We are aware of no similarly-enacted Code of Ethics which applies to independent adjusters in any states. Ms. Elias' remarks that in most states, "public adjusters are not held to the same standards as independent adjusters" again are simply not supported by the facts or the law.

AAPIA appreciates the opportunity to provide this rebuttal to the inaccurate piece written by Melanie Elias in your publications and we are pleased to correct the record. AAPIA has been in existence for 8 years and is a 501(c)(6) organization. Our association is proud to serve the public as a consumer advocate as well as the public insurance adjuster industry through support, education programs, and assurance of compliance with ethical requirements. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Richard L. Bush
General Counsel
American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters

Summary:

AAPIA monitors legislation and news stories daily on a national level that may  have an impact on our industry. Where there are inaccuracies AAPIA is ready to respond to insure the Public Adjuster is represented favorably and accurately!

Please take time to read many other of our articles that appear on our web site www.aapia.org

Best in life always,  

Gene G. Veno  

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