Few people understand what a career as a loss adjuster involves – until they meet one. Usually they meet a loss adjuster in the worst of circumstances, which doesn’t help. But the first thing that will strike many about those in the adjusting profession is their compassion. These individuals walk into people’s lives – when they are at their lowest ebb – with the sole intention of making things right again.

But there’s another striking feature about those in this extraordinary profession, and it’s the contents of their toolbox. From drones to satellite phones, adjusters aren’t just compassionate; they’re tech savvy – and pretty brave, too. Technology is helping to make the ever more challenging job of an adjuster much safer.

When drone use was solely the domain of trained pilots, adjusters were being dropped into devastated areas, often wandering through burnt-out shells of buildings to assess the extent and cause of damage. But now adjusters are able to launch drones to inspect a property from above. So, whether it’s a failed crop, a warehouse that’s been destroyed by fire or simply a missing tile from a domestic roof, adjusters can safely examine the source of a claim from the air.

But what if they need a broader perspective, or they can’t safely get close enough to the scene of a major disaster to launch a drone? No problem. Adjusters have access to the latest satellite imagery, allowing them to use their expertise to assess damage from afar and authorise initial payments to enable communities to recover quickly when the worst happens. They can then make a full assessment and authorise further payments (often by satellite phone) when they make it to the affected area.

And how are adjusters trained to do their challenging jobs? The answer is simple; the technology is not. Virtual reality headsets can allow rookie adjusters to oversee the scene of a catastrophic explosion and test their ability to spot the cause and, more importantly, how to make it right.

How to quantify that damage? There’s an app for that. Whether it’s business interruption costs or the price of a new carpet, adjusters use a whole suite of apps to quickly calculate the costs of getting a business (or household) up and running again after a disaster.

We now live in a world where the loss adjuster is not a robot, but – with the suite of integrated tools and technology at their fingertips – they are becoming more and more like Inspector Gadget!