The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has come to a quiet close, with very little storm activity making landfall in the United States. Aside from Hurricane Melissa, which caused severe damage in Jamaica before affecting nearby areas, the season saw no hurricanes hitting U.S. coasts. Experts say this calm season results from several factors, including a weaker Bermuda High, unusual jet stream patterns, and weather elements like dry air and wind shear that disrupted storm development.
For most homeowners, this quiet season is a relief. However, for insurance adjusters and claims professionals, it’s causing some concern. Fewer big storms mean fewer claims, which leads to less work and less hands-on experience for those in the industry. Many adjusters rely on busy hurricane seasons to gain practical skills and steady income. Without that, experienced workers are leaving, and it’s becoming harder to train new hires.
Geoffrey Conrad, who has spent over 20 years in insurance claims and training, shared his worries about the lack of opportunities for adjusters. He pointed out that last year’s storms, Helene and Milton, didn’t create enough claims to provide the volume of experience many hoped for. With fewer assignments, many adjusters are switching careers or moving to related fields like public adjusting or appraisal.
Conrad himself lost his job as a training director earlier this year. Since then, he has found little interest in training new adjusters because companies don’t want to invest in skills when there’s no immediate work available. He fears a situation where when a big storm finally hits, the industry will struggle because so many adjusters will have forgotten what they learned or never had the chance to learn properly in the first place.
Andrew McCallum, Vice President of Specialty Operations at Sedgwick, said he remembers the slow claims year of 2015, which was tough for the industry. While global losses from natural disasters hit $100 billion in the first half of 2025, most of that came from wildfires and storms in the western U.S., not hurricanes on the East Coast. These wildfires often result in total property losses, which means less detailed claims work for adjusters.
McCallum also hears from many adjusters who are struggling to find work and worries about how the lack of hands-on claims experience will impact the industry’s future. To make matters more difficult, many seasoned professionals, especially baby boomers, are retiring, creating a gap in mentorship and training.
Some firms try to fill the gap by hiring what Conrad calls "fill-in billers"—adjusters with licenses but little training. These individuals handle simple tasks but often need supervision from experts, which can slow down the process and frustrate homeowners. Tim Parker, a claims expert who shares industry insights through a podcast, shared a personal experience where an underqualified adjuster mishandled his own claim, leading him to hire an independent adjuster to get a fair settlement.
There are ongoing efforts to bring more people into the adjusting field, but Conrad warns that some recruitment messages are misleading. Social media personalities sometimes promise quick, high earnings with minimal work, which sets unrealistic expectations for new adjusters.
In short, the calm hurricane seasons mean fewer storms, fewer claims, and less work for adjusters. While that’s good news for most people, it creates challenges for the claims industry, which depends on busy seasons to build experience and keep skilled workers engaged. With retirements on the rise and training opportunities shrinking, experts say the industry needs to find ways to keep new adjusters ready for when the next big storm inevitably comes.