I firmly believe that education and training are essential for all insuranceprofessionals, and perhaps most importantly for claims adjusters because they are the ones who are the first inline to interpret insurance coverage language on the primary level.They have the initial opportunity to voice a “nay” or “yay” when aclaim is filed, investigated, and consequently accepted ordenied.

However, property and casualty (P&C) insurance issituational, which makes the correct application ofcoverage even more difficult and complicated. I am constantlyamazed when I see adjusters who are part insurance expert, partcontractor, and part legal expert (although of course they cannotoffer legal advice). They are the ones who best combine their yearsof training and education with the valuable knowledge that can onlycome from experience.

The FC&S staff has a lot of dialogue with its adjustersubscribers, some of whom can describe a plumbing system incomplete detail, using the correct terminology for all of thepipes, connectors, and other items that make up the system. Inaddition, there are those who know there was water damage butreally can't describe where the water came from or what caused theleak. Although the FC&S staff is first to proclaimthat each claim must be looked at in its entirety and the detailsof the situation considered, there are certain questions that areconsistently asked about by agents and adjusters—leading us toadopt certain general principles about these most frequent ofquestions.