While Alabama is one of just a few states in the US that does not license public insurance adjusters, the Alabama Insurance Society at the University of Alabama recently invited WorldClaim CEO, Michael A. Fusco, to lecture about public insurance adjusting.
WorldClaim Global Claims Management is owned and operated by brothers Andrew and Michael Fusco, but three generations of the Fusco family are currently employed at WorldClaim.
Andrew Fusco is licensed as a public adjuster in over twenty three states and is certified in building damage estimating from the Warwick Institute, Warwick Rhode Island. He also holds an SCLA Senior Claims Law Associate designation from the American Educational Institute and the Associate in Claims (AIC) designation from the American Institute for Property and Casualty Underwriters.
Michael Fusco started his career as a public adjuster in 1979, and he is licensed in over twenty-five states, as well as Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Chile. In addition to his recent engagement at the University of Alabama, he has been a guest lecturer at Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, and Georgia State University.
Over the course of the school year, members of the Insurance Society of UA invite guest lecturers to speak about prevailing insurance and financial issues. According to its website, this longstanding student organization aims to assist students who are interested in exploring careers in financial services, insurance, risk management, or actuarial sciences. The society offers its members assistance with networking opportunities, help with resumes, job placement, assistance with internships, scholarships and much more.
Members of the society were very interested in the work of public insurance adjusters. But Alabama doesn’t license public adjusters and acting as a public adjuster in Alabama has been considered the unauthorized practice of law. However, as WorldClaim showed the students, it is possible to represent policyholders in insurance claims in many other states and even in more exotic locations like New Zealand, Chile, and Spain.
Michael’s Fusco’s lecture – The Insurance Claims Process: A Public Adjuster’s Perspective – discussed the history of insurance, the standard New York fire policy and its evolution, and how public adjusters level the playing field for insureds during an insurance claim. One of the slides in the presentation shown below provides a visual image of how vastly different an insurance claim can be when an insured is not represented.
Mr. Fusco explained that by hiring a public insurance adjuster, an insured can balance the scales because they have assistance in properly presenting the claim with complete and accurate information, using the insurance company’s language.
In talking to Michael Fusco about his recent lecture, it was refreshing to learn about the warm welcome he received from the University of Alabama and Professor William Rabel. This was interesting because many of the Insurance Societies sponsors are insurance companies. Allstate and State Farm are gold members. Yet the society invited the public adjuster perspective and Fusco was given an entire evening during this school year’s seven lecture series to educate about the work of public adjusters.
As you will see from the WorldClaim website, William Rabel, Teaching Professor of Insurance & Financial Services at UA, was pleased with Mr. Fusco’s presentation. Professor Rabel commented, “I want to interest more students in our profession and having outstanding speakers makes it easy. Michael Fusco is a great ambassador!”
Here is a picture of Michael (right) with Professor Rabel (left) in front of the insurance company hall of fame at the University of Alabama.
Maybe in the future, more Alabama citizens will also embrace the work of public adjusters but the potential legislation allowing the licensing and regulation has not passed yet.
