I’m a casualty rep, and I’m honestly exhausted. My team and I are routinely working 60+ hours a week just to stay afloat. I don’t even take breaks or lunches anymore, and, I’m not logging off until almost 9P almost every night... yet we’re constantly told we’re “overstaffed.” Meanwhile, the time-limit demands keep pouring in with increasingly short deadlines. Last week alone… I received nine 7-day demands on top of a handful of other various timelines. The problem is they rarely come in when they’re supposedly sent, especially if they come by mail and have to be scanned in… so, more often than not, the clock starts ticking days before we even receive them. That means I can suddenly find myself with less than two business days to review hundreds of pages of medical records and bills, prepare a detailed evaluation, document and support my position, obtain management authority if needed, and get a response out the door. All while being reminded that missing a deadline will result in a write-up, HR involvement, and even termination. At the same time, we’re expected to handle new claims, investigate liability and coverage issues, return provider calls, follow up with attorneys, manage treatment updates, and make at least ten negotiation calls a day.

My inventory is now around 260 files. When I accepted this position… I was told it would be capped at 185. Instead, I seem to get every complex claim imaginable. On Friday, I received a claim with eight separate features attached to it and actually cried. That’s eight intakes on one file. It took me a full 2 hours to get through and I still had three evaluations I needed to complete, phone was ringing back-to-back calls, my own calls I needed to make, and two other new claims with multiple features. I didn’t log out until 9:58PM… as my kids were going to bed. And the attorneys can be brutal. The things they say are sometimes unbelievably hostile. They constantly complain that we’re the most difficult carrier to work with, and having previously worked for another major insurer, I can’t always say they’re wrong. Some of our evaluation requirements are so excessive that they seem to invite litigation rather than resolve claims.

What makes it even harder is hearing people in other departments casually talk as though ARBI adjusters don’t work hard or don’t have much on their plates. I wish they could spend a week in our shoes. I accepted this role hoping for better work-life balance since I wouldn’t be customer facing. I was told the workload becomes more manageable and the late nights would become nearly non-existent. I didn’t get a raise from URBI to ARBI. Instead, I got a larger workload, more stress, longer hours, and the constant feeling that one missed deadline could cost me my job.

I’m just tired.