She is lovelier than most models and
speaks quietly about her experiences as one of the first
wave of adjusters to volunteer to go to Florida to help with
the Catastrophe Teams after Hurricane Charley struck. Lisa
Kaestner has stoicism about her but wells up during
policyholder's tales of hardship and loss. "How well you
listen to the people will make the claims experience more
successful in most cases." Lisa states.
Lisa's company, Allied Insurance on the West Coast and it's
parent, Nationwide Insurance on the East Coast, has the
catastrophe business down to a science. On checking in with
the Catastrophe Center in Florida, she was assigned a Team
Leader, lodging, a computer and printer and a van with a
wireless card and plug-in capability to settle core claims
on the spot, right from the vehicle in a lot of cases. With
Allied/Nationwide's exposure in Florida at an estimated
75,000 auto, commercial, marine and homeowner claims, they
are counting on their 'cat teams' to close as many
of the files as possible during their
3 to 6-week assignments. Each of the 16 regional claims
centers around the US has supplied adjusters to the Florida
catastrophe and will continue to do so as long as the claims
remain at catastrophe level. Lisa feels that the experience
was very gratifying and found such wonderful camaraderie
with her fellow adjusters from around the country. They all
helped one another when they could during their long days
with work stretching into the evenings most times. Her team
was as prepared as possible for loss of power when the
second hurricane Frances hit, but was fortunate that the
damage to the area they were staying in was minimal and they
did not have to evacuate.
The West Coast adjusters had some
adjusting of their own to do, the unfamiliar terms 'pool
cage' and 'lanai' had to be absorbed since most of the
screened 'pool cages' that enclose pools from bugs and
critters will have to be re-screened if they still exist.
The effects of the hurricane winds inside a house are
amazing, Lisa said, with debris and tree branches from
blown-out windows being whipped around inside the house
causing damage wherever they hit. Major hurdles for the
insurers are code issues since codes have been adapted since
Hurricane Andrew to make the buildings safer during
hurricanes. Many times the house has to razed as a result of
the new requirements, driving the cost of replacement
through the nonexistent roof.
The general devastation of entire areas is hard to describe,
Lisa admits, but her photos of the area she worked along the
East Coast in the Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte regions
tell the story. She relates how the weather conditions of
heat and high humidity make it difficult to work on rooftops
that won't see a contractor for repairs for weeks if not
months. Power loss means that a lot of telephones are out,
making it impossible to schedule appointments with
policyholders so the adjusters just drive by and hope to
catch someone at the house. When she did make contact with
the policyholders, Lisa was amazed at how nice and
cooperative the hurricane victims were and she wonders if
the situation will change when she returns to Florida for
another tour of duty with the beleaguered Floridians.
Love will enter into Lisa's plans as she and Scott Elliott,
also on the Allied Insurance Company's staff, will be
married in Minnesota in October. She has informed the
company of her wedding date and has been assured that the
management will make every effort to accommodate the
newlyweds before sending Lisa back to handle more
catastrophe claims. Others with the company have had
vacations cancelled and Lisa is hopeful that Allied will
find other volunteers for Cat Duty until after her and
Scott's wedding and honeymoon.
Photos:
Top left - Lisa
Kaestner on the job in Florida; Top Right - Pensacola
Bridge; Lower Left - Pensacola Marina.
