underwriter

claims adjuster

senior adjuster

actuary

auto appraiser

The Hanover Insurance Group

I worked at Aix Group, which is a division of Hanover Insurance. Although, perhaps, I could have asked more questions during my interview, the job was not at all what I had expected. More specifically, it is an internal T.P.A. with a very disorganized hierarchy. Despite their knowing my background and experience, I was expected to handle types of claims which I had never handled (e.g. products liabiltiy claims, environmental claims, large property damage claims, and construction defect claims) and was given absolutely no training and/or resources with respect to same. The position also involved complex and time-consuming coverage issues on nearly every case because the company had many policy forms and endorsements which were unique to the company.

Initially, they had us report to a very personable, experienced, helpful and excellent manager in their Buffalo office. However, because he repeatedly informed management that their expectations were unrealistic, they demoted him and hired a manager for their Windsor office. That gentleman, who seemed to be high-qualified and had tremendous people skills, stayed with the company only a few months, opting to take a demotion in order to leave the company and work for another organization. He, too, had apprised management that they were drastically understaffed.

Upon his departure, rather than wait until they filled a co-worker's position, they promoted her to the manager's position and, simultaneously, they elminited a position in the Buffalo office. Therefore, we went from having five (5) individuals to handle the workload to having three (3). This continued for approximately five (5) months when they finally added one more person to staff. However, by the time this was done and another employee was added nine (9) months later, those of us who had "weathered the storm" were innundated, having caseloads nearly twice as high as the expected level (e.g. 200 files, versus 120 files). As such and despite my often working 10 (ten) to twelve (12) hour days, it was simply not manageable.

Additionally, my immediate manager/former co-worker was so grateful to have been given the manager's position, that she merely adopted the unrealstic and negative attitude of the V.P. of Claims. Thus, while she was a pleasant person, she was not about to "rock the boat" by suggesting to the V.P. of Claims that we needed additional personnel. (Perhaps, she had seen that her predecessors were demoted and felt to do so would prove fruitless and left the company.)

The V.P. of Claims had absolutely no people skills whatsoever. (e.g. If you walked by this individual and said "hello", he would not condescent to even respond) Yet, if he did interact with you, he did not listen, was verbally abusive and used offensive language, making the discussion a personal one and not one which was work-related. He had absolutely no clue about what the job entailed and his expectations were merely based upon metrics.

I would not recommend going to work for this particular branch of Hanover Insurance unless it were a matter of facing homelessness or having a job, and even then, as long as the current V.P. of Claims remains in place (which is likely because he is a part of "the good old boys' network which founded Aix), I would consider every other option.

I would pass on working here as opposed to other area insurance companies. I now have been working for another company for a year that treats their employees significantly better! Turnover is absolutely unbelievable in the Senior Claims environment. Management is very disorganized. One of the managers only had a year of adjusting experience and no personal skills either! The claim volume is also terrible, you are constantly inheriting another pending in addition to your own due to the turnover issues. Total claim pending for PIP is usually around 150+. The annual salary sounds great but the benefits are very expensive so your income is significantly reduced from what you are told you will be earning at time of hire. The Senior Adjusters are responsible for all training of new employees so training is dependent on which adjuster is assigned to you and what their workload is like at the time. There is no actual trainer that does not have a pending. Co-workers are great because they are basically the only people in your life that understand what it is like to deal with such incompetent managers and to be so overloaded with work. The best part of the job was the flexible scheduling , new employees get to work from home up to 4 days per week depending on how the manager feels about you. Be prepared to be micromanaged when working from home though! You will get several calls and emails per day from your manager to check on you but at least you do not have to deal with the volatile office environment as often so it does actually help a little (adjusters regularly walking out with no notice, lots of meetings that add no value, employees complaining about workload) . If you do 9 out of 10 of your job items perfectly , you will still be incessantly badgered about that 1 thing that is not as perfect! On a 7 member team, there is typically 2 adjusters that have been there over a year, at least 2 open desks (which senior adjusters have to cover) , 2 people that have been there less than 6 months, and sometimes 1 person that has been there over 2 years (rare). Also, the company does not spend much money on technology so you will need to really enjoy filling out several Excel spreadsheets each month so that your manager can track where you are at and for Medicare compliance (other insurance carriers have an automated system for this , not manual entering by adjusters) . Any training sessions that are held by vendors or law offices are done during lunch times. The expense budget is so tight that it is difficult to properly adjust claims because no money can be spent on IMEs or surveillance.

• Responsible for installation and administration of WebSphere Application Server V6.0/6.1 /7.0, Websphere Process Server, DataPower, IBM HTTP server, Fix Pack & Interim fixes installation and configuring plug-in on Linux and Windows platforms. Experience in configuring Horizontal and Vertical Clusters
• Worked with Development team and Release and Build Team and given support for Root Cause analyse
• Leading and managing offshore team, scheduled 24X5 production support
• Consulted, understood and gathered requirements from clients and built environment topologies in Linux/Solaris environment. Installed, configured and maintained IBM Websphere Application Server 6.x/7.0 (Network Deployment) on diverse UNIX platforms (LINUX) and Windows platforms.
• Migrated the mission critical applications from physical SUSE to VMware environment and migrated the nodes from WebSphere lower version (5.x) to higher version (6.x)
• Administering WebSphere which includes Installing Applications, Configure Node Agent, Creating WebSphere MQ Queue destination, Creating JDBC Providers, data sources etc
• Trouble shooting server and application performance problems related to the WebSphere Application Server operations. Monitoring production applications to identify hardware or software issues before they impact the production operations. Gathering information on problems and identifying the root cause of the problem and then providing alternatives or solutions.
• Configuration of WebSphere/DB2/Rational products/Apache/IIS Servers. Administration of WebSphere Application Server v6 ND in Distributed Environment with in WebSphere MQ
• Involved in migration of the applications from WebSphere 6.x to 6.1 and 7.0 and worked closely with development team. Applied Refresh packs, fix packs and cumulative fixes for WebSphere, IHS and plug-in.
• Installed, Configured and supported web servers (IBM HTTP Server 6.0/6.1, IIS, Apache) for Internet and Intranet environments on AIX, Solaris and Linux.
• Daily activities include building EAR’s, WAR’s, JAR’s, and Portlets with the latest application code, deploying the builds to test/prod boxes, validating and troubleshooting errors and outages.
• Configuring Web Server interfaces, virtual hosts and transports for WebSphere Application Server
• Monitoring application log files, Application Server Performance, and tuning for DB Pool connections.
• Troubleshoot & debug the issues in the applications in WebSphere,.

I gained a tremendous amount of experience during my time at Hanover and truly appreciated the work-life balance, benefits, and the knowledge I developed in claims and liability over the past five years. A typical day involved managing a demanding workload and maintaining performance expectations, which helped strengthen my skills and industry knowledge. My experience varied depending on management. In supportive environments, the role was collaborative and rewarding, while changes in leadership made the experience more challenging at times. I felt that communication around growth opportunities and performance expectations could have been more consistent. Despite consistently putting in strong effort, I felt my development opportunities were limited compared to peers. The most enjoyable part of the job was the experience gained and the skills developed, while the most challenging aspect was navigating shifting expectations and support levels. Overall, I am grateful for the experience and professional growth I gained, and believe continued consistency in leadership and communication would further strengthen the employee experience.

A typical day at work was basically a call center where you do the normal servicing of the clients, however you’re also pushed to sell.  Sales is the ONLY metric they care about in a SERVICE role.  Way too much work was being put on the service team and they get some of the lowest pay in the company.  Selling, and being required to sell to be hired in, without getting commission for it is something I’ve never heard of before or since in this industry.  
As soon as you’d improve on one thing they would act as if that wasn’t important anymore and start nagging you about the next.  The supervisors are making bonuses off your sales that you’re not even getting commission for, so it’s all they cared about.  All day every day it was about sales.  I don’t believe I learned anything new, but I absolutely learned that their reputation was misleading.  There really wasn’t an enjoyable part of the job because of the work load they were putting on you.  If they keep doing things like this to their service team they’re going to have trouble keeping them. It’s absolutely not ok to force sales and not pay commissions for them. And no, bonuses are NOT commission.  If you’re paying your supervisors for the sales of the reps, then pay the reps too. 


Fireman's Fund Insurance Company

Held regional responsibility for marketing, production, and underwriting of Property and Inland Marine-related risk across the state of New York. Tasked with fostering relationships with key stakeholders from all classes specific to Contractors, Builders Risk, Assemblers, Distributors, Dealers, Processors, Wholesalers, Transportation, Warehousing, Manufacturers, and Fine Arts in order to develop an extensive book of business. 

      Notable Contributions:

• Leveraged strong analytical skills to reduce excessive risks and to decrease value of policy of risk when it was substandard; specified applicable endorsements and applied rating to ensure safe, profitable distribution of risks. 

• Closely reviewed company records to determine amount of insurance in force on single risk or group of closely related risks; determined degree of risk from such factors as applicant financial standing and value & condition of property. 

• Worked in conjunction with 2 additional underwriters and 2 assistants to execute analysis of policy insurance, endorsements, and the processing of premiums. 

• Led recommendation to organize client documentation within 6-parition folders, which were categorized efficiently to enhance readability for staff perusal.

As with many other jobs, the people make the difference. There are some genuinely good people here, but watch your back as there are many snakes in the grass. People will be nice to you and then complain about you behind your back. 
Workloads and expectations only increase over time with zero help or any praise for doing a good job. However, if you make a mistake, that will judge how you are as an employee in management's eyes. It has become an environment of new versus older employees with the new ones being at an advantage as they were hired by newer management.
Systems are slow and antiquated. There is so much red tape in order to get anything done and the amount of referrals have only increased making getting the job done more difficult. Management knows this and either doesn't care or is oblivious to what they are implementing.
Overall a sweatshop environment with people at the top that have no people or management skills. This has driven many good folks out in the last year.

The environment really depends on which department you are in. I started in Accounts Receivable and the department was very uptight, management has you keep track of everything you do to make sure you don't take more than half an hour of personal time (which includes using the restroom). When I moved to accounting it was much more laid back and allowed you the freedom to learn new skills. I had friends in human resources and marketing that got to go home early all the time, something I rarely experienced. For the most part management was very approachable and willing to help you get where you wanted professionally. Bottom line; it's a good company but raises are horrible and do not keep up with cost of living. The largest raise you can get is 2% and you need to go way above and beyond to get there, I typically got 1-1.5% but I know a lot of people who got less or nothing at all for years.

A typical day consisted of checking emails in Lotus Notes, and then logging into the PeopleSoft accounting system as well as the Fasttax accounting system to prepare Federal, State, Sales and Use, Excise tax returns for the states and companies under the Hanover Insurance umbrella.

I learned the different tax requirements, regulations, filing deadlines, and rules of the different states and different kinds of tax returns.

Management made sure that deadlines were met in a timely manner.

The workplace culture was a bit stressful especially at the end of the year in December when elimination of positions or layoffs would occur in each department to reduce costs so the bottom line looked better for their investors.

The hardest part of the job was to learn what each state required in filing the separate tax returns/forms/provisions.

 The most enjoyable part was the employees.  The employees had vast amount of knowledge and experience which they were willing to train and help when needed.

Hanover is an excellent company to work for. Perhaps one of the best assets to working for the organization is the excellent atmosphere and revolving open door policy. I began working with Hanover as an Auto Adjuster with no experience. Since then, my management team has helped me grow as an adjuster and a professional insurance associate. After three years working with the organization, I've been promoted twice and now assist new employees with training and development. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the organization...it's claims. People are typically upset, and angry. Providing insurdes/claimants with excellent customer service in times of hardship is the number one aspect of our jobs. Having a cohesive group of employees who have the," we are all in this together attitude" helps everyone come together and do whatever it takes to get the job done quickly and successfully.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Underwriter 6 salaries reported	$75,411 per year
Claims adjuster 3 salaries reported	$67,867 per year
Senior adjuster 27 salaries reported	$56,355 per year
Actuary 3 salaries reported	$102,000 per year
Auto appraiser 23 salaries reported	$63,129 per year

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