Fort Worth firm up for Tech Titans honors
Property Damage Appraisers
www.pdacorporation.com
Tech Titans
www.techtitans.org.
A Fort Worth firm has been using technology to trim the time required for insurance adjusters to file auto accident insurance claims, earning the company a nomination for a technology award in North Texas.
“Technology is really the driving force of all this,” said Tom Dolfay, CEO of Property Damage Appraisers Inc., whose Fort Worth headquarters oversees 20 local associates and 650 appraisers nationwide.
Those appraisers now have an easier job thanks to PDA Xpress, an estimating tool that shortens the time required to file insurance claims. The tool, a cellphone application introduced last year, impressed the Tech Titans trade association, whose annual Tech Titan Awards honors technology companies and individuals in North Texas who have made contributions to the technology industry.
Nominations are made in 12 categories. Dallas-based M/C/C, PDA’s marketing agency, nominated the Fort Worth firm in the Technology Adopter category.
Also vying for Technology Adopter honors this year are Children’s Health, Martin Marietta and Rehab Synergies. Winners in all categories will be announced at an Aug. 19 awards gala at the InterContinental Dallas Hotel in Addison.
Bringing Property Damage Appraisers to the party was PDA Xpress, which gives insurance adjusters an easy tool for collecting information and photos at accident sites. They enter damage information on an interface, snap photos and send the information to Fort Worth headquarters. A year after launching the tool, 60 percent of estimates were returned in 45 minutes or less, according to the company. That’s much shorter than a process that used to take up to 72 hours – up to 24 hours for PDA to reach a claimant and 72 hours to complete the claim, Dolfay said.
Key to the innovation is the photo tool.
“That’s the beauty of what PDA Xpress offers as opposed to our competition,” Dolfay said. “It’s our photo tool.”
Also distinguishing the Fort Worth firm from its competitors are its 650 appraisers nationwide.
“We’re not unique in this environment, but the competition does not have that army. We do,” Dolfay said.
Whether the firm wins Tech Titans honors is beside the point, said Dolfay.
“Our real reward is having people here with the skill set to take care of our clients.”