Living in Contra Costa County

The Gift Curse of Specialization!

In Real Estate today there is a lot of Specialization taking place.  Often this happens with team of agents working together.  I have nothing against Teams.  I have a team of people I work with, but sometimes a team can be a problem.  As many a coach will tell you, "There is no I in Team,"  certainly team work requires setting aside ones self interest.  But there is an I in Accountability and Responsibility.

Just as in real estate many business push towards specialization, but at what price.  My first career was as an Insurance Adjuster.  I was the last of a dying breed, I was a multi-line adjuster and much of my job was done without computer programs to make decisions for me.  I handled all lines of insurance, liability, property, theft, fire, injuries, all of it.  I did not have computerized estimating programs either.  I carried a stack of Mitchel Manuals around in my trunk to estimate cars with.  I also had to talk to people and find things out.

As many of you know three weeks ago my wife gave birth to my 6th son, Barit Riemenschneider pre-maturely, at 8 months.  What many of you do not know is that my wife was in an auto accident just before Thanksgiving.  The trouble we have been through with the Insurance Companies, both ours and the other parties, is an example of specialization gone bad:

1. We have had two adjusters assigned by our insurance Carrier.  One to deal with the liability and one to deal with the medical bills.  They do not seem to communicate. 
   
   
2. My wife saw a chiropractor.  He could only provide a maitenance treatment until after the delivery.  If there is doubts about the need for the chiropractor every time he was out of town or there was a holiday and my wife missed treatment she had premature labor requiring her to go to the hospital.  The 3rd and last time ended in delivery.  The medical adjuster in Iowa sent my wife's chiropractic bills out to another chiropractor in Iowa to review.  He denied most of the treatment as over treatment or too expensive.  I read the report and they did not even know my wife was pregnant while they reviewed her chiro bills.  When I spoke to the adjuster he did not seem to think it made a difference.  He did not have the hospital records in hand when making the review.  They found it odd that there was no exam of my wife (read xrays) to support treatment.  (This is just the quick outline of all the garbage).  The upshot was they did not feel, even after my letter, that they did not need to look into it further.  After much work on my part they are reviewing the situation.
   
   
3. The other parties liability carrier has caused a number of issues.  One of the funnier ones is they wanted to know why my wife waited 2 and 1/2 weeks before starting treatment with the chiropractor.  There were sure there was a nefarious effort to generate a claim due to their initial denial of liability.  The only problem with this is my wife got pregnancy hypertension for which she went to bed - that was all she could really do.  Then she went in for her normally scheduled ultra sound before going to the chiro, off course by then she had to wait through Thanksgiving.
   
   
4. Our HMO, that will remain nameless, presented me with a bill for our deductible, but could not provide me with an itemized bill.  As my wife was in the hosipital extra time, there were extra visits, and the baby had to be readmitted due to problems, this bill is very high.  The issues related to premature birth can reasonably be traced to the accident.  I have auto insurance that may cover that.  They still cannot produce an itemized bill.  I have been given telephone numbers to call and people to speak to.  I have ended up on a hamster wheel of customer service, investing hours in the issues.  While my wife was still in the hospital I sent the a letter and explained no itemized bill - no money.  They have not even called me about the bill, which no one can itemize.
   

I know what the problem is, and I see it in many business.  People are so busy doing the narrow little job they are assigned, they do not care to or want to extend service.  They do not know what to do beyond the narrow scope of their job.  They cannot think outside of the box.  If they try to do other than what they are supposed to do they will get slapped down by those they work for.

I have a team of people I work with in real estate.  But there is an I in my team and that is me.  I do not know all the answers all of the time, and sometimes I may not be able to get the answer you want, but I will make the call, I will be the point man, and I will be your guide through the real estate process.  My customers can reach me at almost any time.  And if for some reason I am busy I will get right back to you.