Titles to this weblog appear to have extra affect than the content material. Yesterday’s put up, HAAG Celebrates Being in Enterprise 100 Years—And It Stays an Unbiased Engineering Agency, had quite a few personal feedback asking why I used to be saying such good issues about HAAG. The first level of the put up was the title to this put up, and I attempted to make it by asking readers these questions:
Are you able to think about a situation the place a public adjusting agency acquires an engineering firm after which hires these engineers to find out the reason for a loss? Would any unbiased adjuster, firm adjuster, or insurance coverage firm legal professional readily settle for the skilled opinions supplied by that engineering firm? The reply is clearly ‘no.’
So, why ought to policyholders be compelled to simply accept engineering opinions from corporations owned, instantly or not directly, by unbiased adjusters? Surprisingly, there are a number of bigger unbiased adjusting corporations which have bought engineering firms and subsequently depend on them to supply experiences on losses.
Giant unbiased adjusting corporations appear to be on a revenue motive spree by retaining engineering firms they personal slightly than acquiring actually unbiased opinions from unbiased engineers. Engle Martin & Associates, Inc., a nationwide unbiased adjusting agency, acquired PT&C Forensic Consulting Providers, a frontrunner in forensic engineering. McLarens acquired Vanderwal & Joosten, a Dutch engineering claims firm with a workforce of adjusters and technical engineers. Sedgwick, a big unbiased adjusting agency, has acquired a number of engineering corporations.
One of the best claims observe could be the retention of the perfect unbiased and non-biased engineering consultants one may discover slightly than one whom the unbiased adjusting agency will earn more money from the money cow insurer consumer. Is the Sedwick unbiased adjuster actually going to harshly criticize the findings and report from its personal engineering firm? This new monetary association between the unbiased adjusters and the engineers isn’t good for the insurer consumer and the insurer’s policyholder.
Do you assume judges, juries, arbitrators, and insurance coverage regulators won’t be asking about this association when it comes time for crucial judgment about who is true or improper?
Thought For The Day
The time is all the time proper to do what is true.
—Martin Luther King Jr.