Backstory
I started working as a Claims Adjuster for ICBC in 1989. At that time, I was in the middle of a divorce, my son was 4 and my daughter was about to turn 1. It was a hectic time in my life for sure.
I was working part time, managing the family pharmacy, and my young family when I caught my husband cheating on me. I had my suspicions before then, but there is definitely something about catching him in the act that spurs a person to action.
I knew I would not be able to manage financially on a part time income, and I really did not want to do a bunch of demotions in the store to get my full time job back, so I started looking in the want ads.
When I saw the ad for ICBC claims adjusters, I knew it was the job for me. As I read the ad, I checked off every box. I re-wrote my resume and cover letter several times – and for some reason, they wanted the cover letter hand written. I just knew this was the job for me.
ICBC is the British Columbia Crown Corporation responsible for car insurance and road safety. I actually specialized in government at School, and I had a strong grounding in anatomy/physiology. I had considered becoming a physical therapist at one point, but then became more interested in accounting and business. I had also worked for 5 years at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre (doing accounting, computer and purchasing work) before moving to the pharmacy when my dad needed someone to take over management of the front store.
I eventually realized why they wanted the cover letter hand written – the job involved a lot of writing! This was before the days when everything was on the computer. There were forms to fill out. We had to write out statements for people to sign – often many pages long. And, everything was in triplicate, with carbon paper…. At the end of the day, my whole arm would ache from so much writing.
Within a couple of years, I was handling injury claims and eventually I progressed to handling catastrophic injury claims. These claims involved people who had sustained serious brain injuries, or had been rendered paraplegic or quadriplegic. The job was very interesting, there was constantly more to learn. I had to be able to read and understand complicated medical reports, and direct lawyers in complex legal arguments. I really enjoyed my work.
Thankfully, computers finally came along, and we could type instead of writing. But it took a while. We started with 4 or 5 computers for the office – just to verify things. Then we had one computer for every two adjusters – on a “Lazy Susan” type apparatus. If you needed to use the computer you had to make sure your partner did not need it, and then swing it towards your desk. I can’t tell you how many times I ended up looking at the personal emails of the guy across from me – LOL!
Eventually I had my own computer, and then a lap top so I could take work home with me. By that time, I was handling claims all over the province and often having to travel for work. I attended a lot of mediations on Vancouver Island and the interior of the Province.
Sometimes I would be handling a file for a severely injured claimant over the course of many years. I would feel like I knew almost everything about them after reading hundreds of pages of medical and treatment reports. I usually knew much more about their diagnosis and prognosis than they did. But reading all the reports is no substitute for actually meeting the person. Most of the time I had never spoken with the claimant, let alone met them, until a mediation, which might take place 4-5 years after the crash that injured them. Everything was filtered thru lawyers.
It was my job to decide how much money was appropriate to compensate them for whatever they lost in the crash. It is never easy, especially if they were partly at fault for the accident, or had intervening events that changed the course of their recovery.
I will never forget the claims I handled where a young child was injured in a crash caused by their drug and/or alcohol addicted parent. Usually there was a brain injury involved. Once the child was approaching adulthood, after going back and forth between a neglectful home and the foster care system I would have paperwork on them that would stack up over 6 feet tall. These children had “messed up” lives – but how much of that was from the bump on the head they got as a child and how much was because of their horrible upbringing. My job was to decide how much money a judge would think was appropriate – and convince the now grown child, and their lawyers, of the amount. I would also have to convince my managers that this was the appropriate amount…
It is a good thing I liked to read… and could speak the languages spoken by doctors and lawyers…
My accounting training came in helpful as well. It is easy to calculate wage loss for someone who missed a defined amount of time from a job with an hourly wage. It gets more complicated if the injured person ran a business, or were about to embark on a business or potentially lucrative career. A spread sheet comparing multiple years earnings, pre and post injury, usually clarifies things to a large extent, but there are always contingencies to consider.
Teen aged boys get into a lot of serious crashes. Often they and their parents were convinced that they were going to make it big in sports or some other area where the percentages of success are miniscule. Then we would have to interview coaches and scouts for the big league teams to find out, and prove, what the chance of success actually was. Or perhaps we would have to compare their pre-accident grades with the grades of the people who are successful in medical school.
It was definitely an interesting job. I learned a lot. I met lots of people – the claimants as well as lawyers and other professionals involved in the process. People think that insurance is boring – for me, claims was anything but boring.
Became a Manager
Eventually I moved into management, and was able to share my knowledge with the new adjusters working their way up the ranks and to mentor new managers as they gained experience. I loved this aspect of my job. I developed many great friendships among my colleagues.
I worked as a manager in a claim centre for about 5 years. I loved the job. I was not so keen on the going to work every day part…
New Opportunity
After 31 years with ICBC, the opportunity presented itself to start Titan Ranch, with my daughter and her family. It is like a dream come true. I am sure I will miss my old life sometimes, but I can’t wait to help develop this farm and raise livestock, while I am still young enough to enjoy it!
So here I am now. Starting our farm. Hopefully my business experience will help when we have livestock to sell, and my medical knowledge will translate well into veterinary know how.
Time will tell…
