Overview

Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC (BCMG) is a provider of catastrophe insurance claims adjusting and management resources currently serving the entirety of the mid-continental region of the United States…from the south Louisiana Gulf Coast all the way to the northern peninsula of Michigan, and all States in between. With its roots in a traditional daily property and casualty claims adjusting service, Brown Claims Service, going back to 1967, our Catastrophe (CAT) claims division has applied those 40 years of service-oriented, attention to detail to our present CAT adjusting activities. Our corporate philosophy, combined with the implementation of the latest electronic claims estimating and reporting technology has allowed BCMG to grow steadily over the past few years. Our CAT adjusting team earned its stripes in the days following Hurricanes Katrina & Rita (2005) and again with Hurricanes Gustav and Ike (2008). In the interim, we have handled other storm-related incidents involving damaging winds, hail and the like. We have continued to expand, both in terms of the adjuster personnel resources that we can bring to bear and the geographic areas nationally that we are able to service.

Our Mission and Corporate Culture

Our mission is simple: To build and maintain a world-class catastrophe adjusting and claims management enterprise that is universally respected by our clients, the insurance industry as a whole, and yes, even our competitors as being the very best at what we do…provide the most prompt, professional, and cost effective claims services available. Our corporate culture is one based on the sort of congeniality, customer-oriented service, and team chemistry that one would typically associate with a family-owned business...which we are! We constantly monitor client and policyholder/member satisfaction levels…since these are the principles that matter to us, not just how many and how quickly an adjuster can close claim files. We may be inspecting property, but it's the personal side of the loss that must always remain in focus for us. We insist on mutual respect on the part of all of our claims professionals and staff. They must possess a passion for customer service and a 'can-do" attitude when it comes to our overall corporate mission. We are building a NEW kind of CAT company where individuals check their personal egos at the door. Our company seeks to be a visible and active member (even if on a temporary basis) of the communities to which we are deployed and to help however we can in the overall recovery of these areas ravaged by a natural or man-made disaster. In our corporate culture, community service is not just the right thing to do…it's also good business. Those seeking deployment with one of teams or employment with our company who do not possess the forgoing aptitudes, skills and goals…well, they need not apply with our firm.

Personnel

Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC (BCMG) maintains it own year-round staff of full-time property adjusting and supervisory personnel, but also prides itself in our comprehensive list of experienced 1099 CAT adjusting employees, a number of whom have been with us in CAT deployments since the tumultuous days following Hurricane Katrina going back to 2005 and through the recent hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.. We continue to seek out and retain the most competent and customer service-oriented CAT adjusters available in our region. We insist on a level of claims ethics and professionalism from our adjusting staff that is second to none. These professionals come from diverse backgrounds and reside in States from Texas to Florida and from Louisiana to Michigan. All of the CAT claims adjusters deployed by BCMG have been carefully pre-screened, are appropriately licensed, and are closely managed to assure that our clients are represented in the field only by individuals who are of the highest professional quality. We are quickly developing a reputation in the insurance industry for having a relatively small (by some national CAT company standards), but well-managed and reliable catastrophe claims division that can deploy quickly and efficiently…either to swiftly conclude a small to medium-size CAT deployment, or in a support role to a large catastrophe or claims overflow situation anywhere in the United States.

Technology

Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC (BCMG) requires that its adjusters be fluent in the most current versions of Xactimate property estimating software and additionally utilizes its companion administrative/reporting program, Xactanalysis to track adjuster activities and productivity so as to make sure that our clients' service level requirements are being met. We have undergone extensive training in and testing of these electronic estimating and reporting processes and continue to explore the full range of capabilities that these systems can offer to our clients. For those clients that are not currently utilizing the Xactware estimating and reporting systems, we also offer electronic claims reporting through FileTrac, produced by OnLine Reporting, Inc. which allows the client to access their claim files via the internet using a secure UserID and password. Whatever the technological requirements of client may be, our IT and administrative staff at BCMG is prepared to meet them.

Operations/Call Center

Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC (BCMG) has the resources available to provide its clients and their policyholders/members with helpful operators and supervisors who are responsive 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via a toll-free telephone customer service line. Operators, desk adjusters, and supervisors are available at this call center to answer questions from insurance company supervisors and provide policyholders with valuable information on the handling and status of their claim. All of these services are designed to supplement and enhance the client's own claims support services. The operations center is also an excellent resource to insure that field adjusters are being deployed in a manner that best satisfies the client's claims handling goals, guidelines and expectations. The call center is housed in an upper floor of our home office building where we have installed underground utilities, back-up generator electrical power, and excess telephone/computer stations that can be manned to meet our clients' need in a matter of hours. Our objective is to give our client's members/policyholders such a positive experience that it will reflect favorably on our client, whether the claim is that of a homeowner, or a business owner. Contact us to learn how our inside operations and call center services can be a seamless part of your overall claims administration solution.

Rapid Response and "Advance Team" Capabilities

Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC maintains constant contact with its teams of dedicated CAT adjusters and overflow claims professionals such that they are ready for deployment in a moment's notice to any location in the nation…along with the requisite number of supervisors and support staff personnel. Additionally, we have the management team in place to fill what is a growing need for our clients in the event of a catastrophe…that of an "advance team"… to enter a disaster area within 24-48 hours to begin assessing the scope of the catastrophe and the potential overall indemnity exposure to our clients until the client's own assessment teams can arrive. Mobile Claims Office - Within hours of a major catastrophic event, Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC (BCMG) should be able to establish a limited presence on behalf of our clients and their policyholders within the disaster zone utilizing a corporate owned motor home which has been especially retrofitted for this purpose. This 36-ft. Foretravel Unicoach U295 Motor Home is completely self-contained [ 10kw Powertech diesel generator; 42 gal. LP tank], affording our advance team with a temporary telecommunications center, office, and facility for other basic needs for up to a week or more until more permanent accommodations can be made available. This response vehicle has recently been equipped with a MotoSat G75 satellite system with 6-watt transmitter and IDirect modem and EtherSat connectivity which affords wireless, multi-user internet, faxing, scanning, printing, DirecTV and Skype phone use… when traditional land-based and cellular telecommunications either are not available, or have been disrupted following a natural disaster.

In addition to the "mobile claims office" concept outlined above, our advance team capabilities have been broadened to include preparations for the larger number of CAT adjusters to follow. This includes:

1) Introducing ourselves to state and local government officials in order to gain whatever insight they might have into their emergency and recovery operations, areas which are and are not accessible to CAT adjusters, their suggestions for possible temporary housing ,office sites, etc.;

2) Obtaining maps and grids of the area so as to assess the degree of damage in various sectors, as compared to insured risk and loss locations; These grids and maps become useful to the client in determining the appropriate deployment of adjusters;

3) Identify and obtain use of temporary claims office facilities, or if none is available, a suitable location for setting up a mobile claims office;

4) Identify and reserve as necessary suitable long term living accommodations for the CAT adjusting and management team to follow.

We have utilized this mobile office scenario on numerous occasions to respond quickly to the scene of a major incident to assist in the initial evaluation, processing and ultimate disposition of insurance claims. It has proven to be quite effective.

Pricing / Contacts:

Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC offers a competitive Catastrophe Fee Schedule. This schedule, along with a list of insurance industry references is available upon request. If you are an insurance company representative and you would like more information on our catastrophe claims adjusting and management services, please contact BCMG Owner/President, Steve Brown, in our Baton Rouge, Louisiana corporate office at sbrown@brownclaims.com or National Catastrophe Claims Manager, Troy Koonsman in our Fort Worth, Texas regional office at tkoonsman@brownclaims.com

Adjuster Enrollment:

If you are an experienced, self-motivated CAT adjuster who is interested in deployment opportunities with Brown Catastrophe Management Group, LLC , please select the "Adjuster Registration" link above and complete the adjuster registration form. Please remember that submission of an adjuster registration form does not equate to your acceptance on our adjuster roles. Your registration will be reviewed and if your submission is accepted by our management team, you will receive via an e-mail reply an adjuster User ID and password which will then allow you to subsequently utilize the "Adjuster Login" link to update your profile when appropriate and keep us advised on your deployment availability throughout the year. Alternatively, you may email your resume to resume@browncatastrophe.com . All adjusters will be required to execute a deployment contract prior to actually beginning adjusting activities with our firm.