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They tell you at onboarding. You’re ready to become a licensed North Carolina insurance adjuster. You will have to take a few other states as well for this position,  You sit down with your coffee and a quiet confidence and register for the AdjusterPro course.

Immediately, you feel accomplished. Professional. A person with a plan. You picture yourself assessing claims in sunglasses, maybe with a clipboard and windbreaker. You think, I will stride into disaster zones like a khaki-wearing superhero with a mileage reimbursement form.

Then you open the course.

The first slide cheerfully informs you that “insurance is the transfer of risk through a contractual agreement.” Cool. That sounds fine. Sensible even.

Then it says:

“Property insurance may be written on either a named peril or open peril basis.”

And suddenly your heart rate picks up.

You read it again.
And again.
And then you Google, “what is a peril in insurance and is it contagious?”

You scroll down, trying to find the part where it makes sense. It never comes. Instead, you are introduced to an army of strange, slightly threatening phrases:

  • Insurable Interest

  • Aleatory Contracts

  • Declarations Page

  • Tortfeasor (which, frankly, sounds illegal or at least rude)

You sit back in your chair and realize the progress bar says 0%.
Emotionally, so do you.

Welcome to Adjuster School. You’re in now.

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