by Gene, originally seen on Axiom
My wife and daughter watch so many documentaries on our TV apps that I am afraid the ghost in the algorithm that recommends what to watch next is going to forget football and murder altogether.
Documentaries rule the airwaves. From Scott Peterson to Michael Jackson, we are learning our history from documentarians anxious to cash in on the trouble of Americans having 50 streams and “nothing to watch.”
I thought about that this morning and thought about the insurance adjusting axiom, “If you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen.” That is an overstatement for effect, of course. It may well have happened, but if you didn’t see the need to record the how, where, when, and what of it, it may as well not have happened, especially when your notes are pulled in a claim dispute or a deposition.
We stress claim file documentation and teach it ad nauseam at Adjust U because we sat where they sit, and most of us learned and relearned the hard way to document the file.
The most frustrating documentaries are the cold cases where no one, including the investigators tasked with solving the case, documented the case adequately. Years or decades later, when the ambitious documentarian digs up the bones, it looks for all the world like no one was doing their job. Where are the files, the photos, the paper trail? What did they miss that might have solved the mystery? So, in 2026, I sit down to dinner with my wife to watch a cold case from 1976. It is a terrible case of a missing child never found and no one ever held accountable for his disappearance, and I waste an hour finding out no one knew then and we know less now.
Why? No good paper trail. The people on the case may well have done their very best, and their best was just not good enough, or they may have been neglectful or overwhelmed. Who knows? There is not enough hard evidence to say one way or the other.
Do not let this happen to your files, whether you are a carrier, IA firm, field adjuster, desk adjuster, or claim review specialist. Document!
Gene’s Golden Rules
Here are five golden rules for documentation.
#1—Do it NOW! Not later, when you have forgotten details and are relying on photos and faulty memory to reconstruct the story. Tell the story as it unfolds.
#2—Do it in “pencil” before you put it in ink. In other words, before you hit upload and the documentation becomes a permanent part of the file, treat the note as a rough draft. Review it for accuracy and, for Pete’s sake, spelling and grammar. (AI will help with this. It is one place it is not a bother, and there are others as well.)
#3—Keep your emotions out of it. Was the homeowner ornery? That is your opinion, and you must suppress it. Do not let bias leak onto the computer screen.
#4—“All we want are the facts, ma’am.” Joe Friday, the Dragnet detective, had it right. (Maybe he had a future as an adjuster when his detective days were done, as adjusting is an excellent second career!)
#5—Be sure the photos and other collected evidence match the narrative. Or, better, that the narrative matches the evidence.
Startling news has just come out of the state of Oklahoma that two of the largest carriers in America are being sued by the state. This is from News 9 in Oklahoma City:
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says State Farm and Allstate engaged in schemes to underpay homeowners after storm damage. Drummond told Oklahoma’s Own Scott Michell in this week’s Hot Seat that the lawsuits are based in part on internal documents he believes show insurers intentionally overcharged customers for coverage while underpaying legitimate weather-related claims. Neither lawsuit has been decided in court, and both insurers deny wrongdoing.
My instincts tell me that claim documentation, or lack thereof, will play a major role in the outcome of these lawsuits.
They refer to “internal documents” in the complaints. While these cases are not necessarily about adjuster documentation, they are a red flag: your documentation is internal until it is not. Be sure it is accurate, timely, and defensible.
Documentation as a Discipline
As a discipline, documentation must accomplish at least this much:
- completeness—it does not have to be exhausting to be exhaustive, but it must include everything it needs to tell the story;
- chronology—keep the timeline clear;
- consistency—make sure your documentation is clear and discernible;
- preservation of supporting evidence—documentation is more than writing in a file; it is also preserving hard evidence to support your decision;
- identification of decision-makers—who was involved;
- prompt recording of changes—document the disruptions or changes in course and why;
- explanation of deviations—if something changed, why it changed;
- and connection between evidence and outcome.
The Questions Answered
What should a documented file provide to those reviewing the file later, whether it is reviewed internally or by an attorney in a dispute? Well…
- What you discovered.
- What you did with what you discovered.
- Why you did what you did based on the evidence.
- How you did it.
- When you did it.
- Who was involved.
Claim adjustment is truth-seeking. It is the art and science of settling a claim based on the evidence, the damages, and the policy. Get it right and document how you did, and you will be glad, very glad, you did.
My name is Gene. This is Axiom.