How much time does your staff waste dealing with the auto repair part of a file? It’s crossed your mind a few times so I figured I would give you that answer.  I had my survey staff conduct an experiment with adjusters nationwide who utilize multiple independent appraisal vendors and had them track their calls for a three day period.

All calls were divided into three basic categories. A. Outgoing and incoming status calls to appraisers  B. Incoming and outgoing calls to Collision repair shops.   C. Calls incoming and outgoing from vehicle owners. Our focus in the study was solely on calls related to the auto damage repair portion of the file.

The average adjuster in our survey spent  2 hours and 15 minutes per day working the auto damage appraisal portion of the  file. When breaking down the grand total of 135 minutes in total calls. 33% were regarding the multiple independent appraisal vendors, 49% regarding collision repair facilities, and 18% that dealt with the vehicle owner.

When discussing the calls with the adjusters, it became apparent that most were generated due to lack of communication between the vehicle owner, appraiser and repair shop. After reviewing the incoming calls and resulting outgoing calls it was determined 37% ( 50 minutes ) of the grand total 135 minutes of auto repair related calls could have been eliminated.  This would increase the productivity in an office of thirty adjusters by nearly six thousand hours a year! Each adjuster individually would have an additional 200 hours a year to actually work productively and close files instead of track down appraisals and call various independent appraiser for status.

This study shows that key to these exciting results are proper communication between all parties, a top quality auto appraisal firm which is proactive,and streamlined technology which can allow adjusters to track the process online vs. making status calls.  This basic survey only hints at the opportunity for increased productivity in other areas of the claims process for adjusters.