Crash & Burn

Anyone even remotely associated with the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada is keenly aware of the current and deepening personnel crisis affecting that industry. The segment of the industry with which I am most familiar and where I believe the situation is most critical is claims — from top to bottom. There has been a great deal of discussion and some positive action is being taken. But the response is so far behind the curve, there will be a great deal of poor claims service — and with that, diminished consumer confidence in the industry–before there is any improvement.

Against this backdrop, I learned in early November 2009 that Showcase would later that month begin airing Cra$h & Burn, a new 10-part series based on the life of an insurance adjuster. At first I was excited about the program’s potential, believing — naively, as it turns out — that the show might be a positive vehicle by which to spread the word about the many positive elements of a career in loss adjusting.

DEPARTURE FROM REALITY

But my optimism quickly faded. As I reflected back on my 30 years in loss adjusting, I tried to recall aspects of my own professional experience that would cause television viewers to want to tune in for an hour each week to be entertained by leaking roofs, flooded basements and burnt-out kitchens in which the central issue is that the new cupboards don’t match the old ones. I soon learned that my experience as an adjuster in New Brunswick was not going to compare to the life of Hamilton-based adjuster Jimmy Burn, the central character in the Cra$h & Burn series. Not even a little bit. In fact, each of the three episodes I struggled to watch took me further from reality and deeper into a fantasy world that was not only completely detached form any sense of reality, it was not even remotely entertaining. Perhaps I was watching with a critical eye regarding the actual function of the loss adjuster. After all, adjusting is the premise of the show; if it is not at all realistic, then the whole thing could just as well be about plumbing or dentistry. Unfortunately the show’s producers, including Paul Gross of Due South, Men With Brooms and most recently Passchendaele fame, didn’t pick on plumbing or dentistry. How I wish they had!

I do not pretend to know the first thing about the entertainment industry, beyond the fact that it often produces things that are less than entertaining. But this is not intended to be critique of the entertainment industry. Therefore I will stick to my thoughts on the impact of Cra$h & Burn on the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada. My emotions on this have gone from the aforementioned excitement when I fist heard of the series to downright disappointment when I actually watched the first of the shows. That disappointment deepened with each successive viewing, to the point that I have admittedly only watched three episodes. I can only hope that others who were drawn to the program by the “adjusting” premise didn’t go any further than me. Fortunately the Cra$h & Burn depiction of the life of an insurance adjuster, complete with guns, mob figures and underhanded dealings, is so far removed from reality that anyone with the requisite intelligence to be an adjuster will see it for what it is and not be influenced by the wholly unrealistic portrayal of the profession. Dreamers who actually come knocking in quest of becoming a real-life Jimmy Burn — or worse, aspire to the role of Jimmy’s equally unreal boss Dick DiMaio — will be quickly redirected back to their video games.

THE IMPACT OF CRA$H & BURN

Thus I do not believe Cra$h & Burn will cause any negative impact on the effort of the industry to attract new people to a career in loss adjusting. But I am not so sure about the impact of the series on consumers in general and, in particular, on consumers who are predisposed to think the worst about all things “insurance” based on preconceived notions and misinformation. The overall impact of the show may be to make people more aware of adjusting; that will be a good thing, so long as most viewers see this show as an attempt to entertain rather than educate.

Every adjuster should be aware of Cra$h & Burn and be prepared to respond to the comments that are inevitably going to be made by insureds, claimants, cocktail party participants and even your friends. It is human nature to look for the worst in things; for the profession of loss adjusting, it does not get much worse than Cra$h & Burn. And yet, professional adjusters are the backbone of our industry. They should take pride in the important role they play in keeping the insurance industry viable. This series will soon fade into the darkness and with it will fade its negative impact on the honourable adjusting profession.

HONOURABLE WORK

The work of a loss adjuster is not glamourous. It is often demanding. It is definitely frustrating at times and can challenge even the most patient. At the same time, it is one of the most satisfying careers in any industry. Every day, adjusters are presented with new cases of distress and conflict. Working through those situations to produce amicable results is very satisfying; that is perhaps where the true nature of loss adjusting fails on the screen. Who would want to watch a program where there are almost always happy endings? For that, we are going to have to wait for a Disney production on the life of an adjuster. Surely dentists and plumbers are higher on their list. Until then, keep it real.

———

The work of a loss adjuster is not glamorous. It is often demanding. It is definitely frustrating at times and it can challenge even the most patient. Working through those situations to produce amicable results is perhaps where the true nature of loss adjusting fails on the screen.

———

Dreamers who actually come knocking in quest of becoming a real-life Jimmy Burn — or worse, aspire to the role of Jimmy’s equally unreal boss Dick DiMaio — will quickly be redirected back to their video games.