“Fill-In Billers” and the Quiet Crisis in U.S. Property Claims

“Fill-In Billers” and the Quiet Crisis in U.S. Property Claims

The 2025 hurricane season is ending with a whisper, not a bang—and while that might sound like good news, it’s quietly fueling a talent crisis in the property claims industry.

According to a recent article in Claims Journal, this year’s lack of major U.S. landfalls has created a dangerous ripple effect. Without major catastrophe (CAT) deployments, thousands of new adjusters haven’t had the chance to gain real-world experience. And it’s not just about this year. The 2024 season was also oddly quiet in terms of claim volume, leaving many adjusters in financial limbo—and prompting some to leave the industry altogether.

Geoffrey Conrad, a veteran claims trainer featured in the article, put it bluntly: “These adjusters cannot sit idle for very long, so they’re leaving this industry… it’s going to be starting over almost with training new talent.”

No Storms, No Training, No Talent Pipeline

Most people outside the industry assume fewer storms mean less damage—and therefore less chaos. But for the property insurance world, especially independent adjusters and the roofing pros who work alongside them, that’s only half the story.

Here’s what’s really happening behind the curtain:

  • No deployable events = no training opportunities. New adjusters are sitting on the bench. With no real storms to cut their teeth on, many are staying untested or abandoning the field entirely.

  • Veterans are retiring. The so-called “silver tsunami” is accelerating. As seasoned adjusters age out of the industry, they’re not being replaced by equally experienced professionals.

  • Carriers are filling gaps with underqualified hires. Some firms now send out “fill-in billers”—adjusters with a license but no practical training—just to say a file is being handled. The consequences? Delayed settlements, appraisal disputes, and unhappy homeowners.

  • AI isn’t the silver bullet. While automation and virtual desk adjusting offer efficiency, they can’t replace on-the-roof inspection expertise. The decline in human experience is showing—and homeowners are feeling the pinch.

Real Homeowners, Real Impact

The Claims Journal article spotlights Tim Parker, a long-time adjuster and podcast host, who experienced this problem firsthand. After a 2024 hurricane damaged his Texas property, the first adjuster on site had been working in fast food just six months earlier—and never climbed the roof.

After cycling through three different adjusters, Parker finally hired his own representative and took the case to appraisal. His original damage estimate? $6,000. Final payout? $78,000.

This isn’t just a policyholder problem. For roofers, public adjusters, and estimators, inexperienced adjusters mean more back-and-forth, more delays, and more time spent justifying legitimate scope.

The Bigger Picture

This talent crisis is happening against the backdrop of rising global losses. In the first half of 2025 alone, insurers faced over $100 billion in global catastrophe losses—$92 billion of that in the U.S. from wildfires and convective storms, per Aon’s Global Catastrophe Recap.

Yet many of those events, like total-loss fires, don’t offer the same hands-on claims work as wind and hail. That means even deployed adjusters are gaining narrow, siloed experience.

Meanwhile, optimistic influencers on platforms like YouTube and TikTok are promoting six-figure incomes with minimal training—contributing to inflated expectations and rapid turnover. Conrad warns, “Each time I see these videos, I cringe.”

What It Means for Roofers and Claims Pros

If you’re a roofer relying on insurance jobs, you’ve probably already seen the signs: inconsistent scopes, misidentified damage, and longer claim cycles. And for public adjusters, getting fair payouts has become a tug-of-war against inexperience.

The shortage of seasoned adjusters isn’t just a staffing issue—it’s a quality issue. And it’s going to affect everyone who touches a property claim.

If storms return with force in 2026 or even this winter, carriers may not have the experienced workforce to respond with speed or accuracy.

Want to see where the industry’s headed? Verisk’s 2025 Property Risk Report shows rising modeled losses across most U.S. regions—and those losses will only be harder to manage without a strong talent bench.

Storms may be quiet—but the industry’s alarms are ringing.

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