I was first licensed to sell life insurance in 1983. April of 1983, to be more precise, and I was one of those people you may have heard about who went from door to door to collect literally only a dollar or two to pay down tiny baby insurance plans that were started in the 1940s. Seriously, people bought policies that cost about three dollars a year, and I would go by their homes and pick up their change and/or checks for the amount, mark their books with a certain pen that nowadays could be purchased online, and they could mark their own books.
I've been in the insurance business or working in the industry in one form or another for most of my adult life, even when I was a paralegal or had other positions. I kept my insurance licenses up because retaking the test is a BEAR! I know; I've let the licenses lapse, and taking the test again was not fun. Well, I'm about to let it go for good now; the life, health, accident insurance, property, and casualty producer licenses. I'm keeping my adjuster license. I am an adjuster. I need it. I am licensed in about 12 states, and there are 17 more states where you don't need a license to practice, so I'm all over the place - in theory.
I've decided to let the producer licenses go because I won't sell insurance in the future. I will investigate it, subrogate it, and examine it, but I won't sell it. I don't have a need to. It's something I've thought of doing for about two years, but because my licenses are renewed in about a month, I've decided to simply not renew those. I took some time today to study for the last required credit hours needed for the adjuster's license today - I'm in compliance. I will renew the adjuster's license.
Laura, my middle kid, will take the adjuster's exam tomorrow, and when she passes, she, too, will be a property and casualty adjuster in the State of Oklahoma. She won't go to work with me, but she'll find a good company with good pay and good benefits. I'll help her do that, and we can share war stories because there are always war stories in this industry. It's the worst - and the best. It's a great industry, and it's very necessary to say the least. EVERYONE must have insurance on their homes and cars -- and other things.
I'm making a good living at the subrogation company I work for. If I ever left it, I would fall back on my Xactimate education and do actual adjusting, I'm sure. I don't need to now because I'm doing well as a subrogator. It's not hard; it allows me to have the freedom I have and want, and if I had any complaint, it would be that the benefits aren't as good as they could be. Maybe I could pay for a better plan, and I'll check into that. I hope the Rapture comes, and I don't have to worry about it.
The simple fact is that time has passed, and it's time to give up the producer licenses. I will forever investigate, and I will forever subrogate—I like this side of the equation. It makes me feel good to get into the mix, determine liability, and recover what should be recovered. I'm one of the fair subrogators, and if that sounds like an impossibility, you need to know there are a few of us. It's best to be honest - honestly...I'm not lying.
Photo Credit: livemint.com
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