Editor's Note: This is the fourth article in a six-part series on adjuster ethics.

Over the last five decades, major changes in the way property, casualty and marine claims are investigated have undergone many developments. Telephone adjusting arrived in the 1960s, once courts permitted telephone statements taken with permission to be admitted as evidence.

In the 1970s, there were new ways of settling claims, like “open-ended releases” and the use of rehabilitation. Auto damage appraisals came into being despite automobiles becoming more complex. This eliminated the potential fraud in “send in three estimates” adjusting. In the 1980s, as the personal computer was just beginning to show up on adjusters' desks, new methods of claim resolution such as structured settlements, came into being. Suddenly, adjusters spent more time at their desks than out in the field investigating claims.