Loss adjusters have transformed their services in the seven years since insurers moved away from a panel system to using single companies, according to a leading adjuster.

Crawford & Company CEO Andrew Bart told the CC09 Claims Convention in Sydney last week that adjusting companies have learned "they can't be all things to all people".

"How we segregate and price services is important," he told the convention, which was hosted by the Australasian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters and the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance. "These days we're providing the services insurers want and giving them measured outcomes."

Mr Bart says he has no sympathy with loss adjusters who fail to embrace change.

"We had to get into the real world," he said. "There were too many loss adjusters who were fat and lazy and provided low-quality services. They deserved a kick in the rear."

McLarens Young International CEO Ian Simpson - whose company is in the final stages of merging with fellow major adjusting company Freemans - told the convention consolidation in the sector is "very healthy".

He says loss adjusters have worked under an "adapt or die" impetus since 2002, and the issues they face now have more to do with developing systems to measure effectiveness.

"Information flows are imperfect and we sometimes struggle to demonstrate the benefits of using loss adjusters," Mr Simpson said. "New entrants to the sector are a fact of life, and they're providing new impetus for all of us to develop even better end-to-end claims services."