My name is Susan Shewchuk-Toth and I just .. recently the job title of this job has been changed from Adjuster to Personal Injury Representative II and that more or less runs along the lines of this new program that was established in January of 1995 called the Personal Injury Protection plan. I've been doing it for just about two years now for Saskatchewan Government Insurance. I've always been interested in (if I was going to go aback to school whatever), I have always been interested in the medical field or health practice or whatever so it gives you a good chance to work with care givers in the area and also working with people. I like to think that most of the time you have a good rapport with most of the people you're dealing with and that you can help them when they're at a low in their life as a result of a motor vehicle accident.

A typical day would consist of, of course, we meet with the general public now and you, as working dependently, would be able to set up your appointments each day. It's probably good to not overbook yourself because the phone can sometimes ring right off the wall on a given day. Files can come back at you maybe that perhaps were closed will be reactivated if there was a relapse or new files will come in, new injuries and you've taken on more work. It's a matter of, I think, organizing your day. And in addition to seeing ongoing people from files you already have, making time for calls on existing files if they are not coming into the office, or making time for new files or whatever that will be coming your way.

I start work at 7:30 in the morning and I usually work 'til 4:00. We are allowed a half hour lunch, two fifteen minute breaks but, I mean, in a day where you are dealing with the general public you have to basically plan your day around them. If they can make it in at a certain time and it's a lunch break for you or it's a coffee break, you may have to readjust your schedule so that you can see them at a time that works for both of you.

Do we work a standard day? Our office is open from 7:30 'til 5:00. Most people, appointments will start to come in, they can start as early as 7:30 but normally 8:00 o'clock the office is buzzing. But normally, our day is done at the end of the day at 5:00 o'clock.

I think you have to have compassion. You have to have sympathy and you have to put yourself on the other side of the desk from the injured victim. You have to understand that they may have concerns. They don't know if they're going to be recovering from the accident or not and you have to walk through it with them. I think it's just a matter of respecting their rights and making them feel comfortable with it.

In every office or whatever, it always is good to know that you have a support system. But in a job of this aspect, I think more so that you basically run -- you manage your own files. You can have assistance on your files and you can go .. I have a senior to report to, or supervisor, or manager when I run into problems or concerns on a file that I just don't know which way to go on. But most of the time you're managing your own file and making sure that the proper things are done at the proper times and that the people are getting the help or the assistance required. In this line of work you do have to work independently and most efficiently as you can because the longer you leave a problem, if it is going to be a problem, the worse it will be. So if you can stay on top of the situation and deal with things in a timely, orderly fashion, and probably as soon as possible if the situation or the file is promoting red flags, the sooner it can be dealt with.

When a job is posted for this line of work, whatever, they do have specifications. They have either equivalency and if you do have.. at SGI. you can take insurance classes. They're through the Insurance Institute of Canada and if you take some of these classes in order to..for an Adjuster II level, for example, if you have six of the nine classes then you would automatically have the equivalency for this position. Otherwise you would have to go through an equivalency exam and if you were to pass that, then you would move on to a knowledge, skills and ability examination. And if you get through that then the final loop would just be having a target selection done and you would be going through three interviews with various managers or supervisors in the area. And if that turns out all right then the job would be yours.

The most challenging part of the job would be if you have a really complex file. If you're presented with a file and you're seeing red flags right from the start, perhaps the claimant is not indicating or.. what he's stating to you seemed a little off track, or off the wall, whatever, you may have to do some investigating of your own. And often times as insurance is .. there is frauds committed. And I think that is the most challenging part of the job is establishing, getting your facts together and backing that up because the point of this system is not to benefit -- monetary from it.

The most satisfying part of the job is being able to help someone after a motor vehicle accident, have them return successfully to work, to daily activities, just getting back to the normal again. They're quite happy when all treatment is said and done to return back to their lives again and not pretend that it never happened, but be able to go beyond it, past it.

If you're considering to get into this position, that you fully understand that you are dealing with people from all walks of life. Injuries can be minor, to severe, to fatality. You have to know that you have the personality for one to be able to handle all these situations, the patience and the understanding and to be able to cope and realize that sometimes there is going to be fraudulent claims or things that are presented to you that make the job seem ridiculous. But I think you have to manage it all and be able to just overlook the factors and deal with each situation.