Learning to adjust: Life as an insurance claims adjuster has its ups and downs

It's been said in times of crisis one's true character is revealed. Over the years Mary Clements has met some true characters.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of Clements's career as an insurance claims adjuster.

To many, an adjuster is nothing more than a company voice over the phone. Clements tries to be more than that. She will personalize the conversation and find out how her client's doing, aside from the obvious. She mostly deals with auto insurance and some homeowners' claims.

"We're not evil people and we don't think people are evil, committing fraud every day," she said, adding that people are paying for the reassurance that they will be covered if a need arises. "Obviously you don't go into insurance thinking, 'well gee, I'm going to hit somebody this afternoon.'"

Clements lived in Perryville until she graduated high school. She then moved to Cape Girardeau, where she got a job with an insurance company, and has worked there ever since. At her request, the company she works for will not be named.

"With this job you can't take a class that can tell you everything. There's no way," she said.

Clements's job is to contact the insured, find out how the accident happened and try to take care of any immediate needs. For instance, locate a rental if the vehicle is no longer drivable. She has appraisers who go out and examine the client's damage.

"Car accidents can bring out the worst in people," she said. "It is a very stressful situation and people handle stress differently."

Some worry, some get angry.

If the client's insurance covers the damage, he or she typically realizes that, in the end, the adjuster won't make matters worse, said Clements. After reviewing the coverage, the adjuster's job is to fix problems, as permissible.

Police reports hold some weight in the adjuster's investigation because the officer confirms what each driver said immediately following the accident. Then the adjuster speaks to the drivers to see if what they say conforms to the report. If there's a discrepancy, the adjuster makes the judgment call.

Some people don't understand their insurance policy. At times it's difficult for Clements to interpret the fine print. Denying claims isn't the most pleasant part of the job, she said, but it's the unfortunate side of the business.

"People don't like to be told 'no,' so you have to try to do it in a delicate manner and just lay it on the line for them," she said.

According to Clements, the job gets complicated. An adjuster needs to know medical terms when dealing with injury claims, legal terms when dealing with attorneys and car terms when dealing with mechanics.

On an average, Clements may have over 90 claims at once. She deals with maybe 25 to 30 people a day.

"When you pick up the phone you don't know who you're going to be talking to on the other end," she said. "It's a challenge every day." She added that it's a welcomed challenge for her.

"I don't know that I would trade it for anything in the world," she said. "I think I would be bored doing anything else."

The job of an adjuster is not 8 to 5. Clements said she might go into work before the sun's up and leave after it sets.

For example, she may deal with a student who plays a sport after school. "There is no mundane in this business. There is no typical day," she said.

Her most common cases are when people hit deer, but those situations are pretty clear-cut--the deer is never at fault.

Clements has had people hit owls and turkeys.

She once had a man who was hit in the face by another man with a fish. The insured had damaged teeth.

Another time a lady had gone through an automatic car wash with her dog in the vehicle. The dog got scared and tore up the leather car seats.

Clements had a young insured driver hit a utility box and blow out the power to nearly 30 homes, between two towns. She had to contact all the homeowners. There were people who lost televisions and had refrigerator problems.

In cases like these, one is thankful to be insured, she said.

"It's a time consuming job," said Clements, adding that she doesn't take it personally. "With experience you learn to just deal with it."

Other trying cases are school bus accidents. Clements has had to find out if up to 70 kids were hurt or not before.

With homeowners' cases, she mainly deals with the destruction of lightning.

"People don't like doing without TVs or computers," she said. She tries to handle those cases as quickly as possible.

In June, Clements will be 44. She's been working as an adjuster more than half her life. "I'm very proud of that accomplishment," she said.

"Sometimes I'll call someone and they'll go, 'I don't want any.' I say, 'no, I'm not selling insurance. You have it and I'm here to help you.' That's what I do is help people."