We're adjusters first.
Educators second.
NuStar exists because too many new adjusters get certified, then thrown into storms with nothing but a license and a hope. We're fixing that.
Built in the field. Not in a classroom.
NuStar Flood Adjuster Academy was founded by Mike Mendiola after 15+ years of working flood claims in the field. He saw the same pattern over and over — new adjusters arriving on deployment without the skills carriers actually expect. They had certifications. They didn't have confidence.
NuStar was built to close that gap. This isn't a course you watch on 2x speed and forget. It's hands-on, claim-by-claim training built around how real NFIP flood claims actually get inspected, written, and finalized.
We're a professional training platform AND a community — created by adjusters, for adjusters. Whether you're free in our community or enrolled in the Classroom Academy, you're learning from people who've been in the field, in the water, and on the deployments.
What Makes Us Different
We've Worked the Storms
Taught by adjusters with real deployment experience — not classroom theorists.
We Teach NFIP the Right Way
FEMA-compliant documentation, written the way carriers actually want it.
We Don't Disappear
Community access for life — even long after you finish the academy.
We Bridge Certification to Deployment
The part nobody else teaches — going from licensed to actually working claims.
Mike Mendiola
Mike has spent 15+ years adjusting flood claims across the country. He's seen what works, what gets claims kicked back, and what separates adjusters who get re-deployed from those who don't. He founded NuStar to teach new adjusters the skills he had to learn the hard way — and to give them the mentorship he never had.
Every Classroom Academy student gets three one-on-one coaching sessions directly with Mike.
Our Values. The Five Pillars.
The same five pillars we train on are the values we run on. This is who we are before it's what we teach.
We never forget who's standing in the water. Every claim has a family, a business, or a livelihood behind it. We treat every loss like it's our own.
Preparation is respect. We don't show up to storms half-ready, and we don't send adjusters into the field unprepared. Readiness is non-negotiable.
Truth in documentation. The file tells the real story of a loss. We make sure that story is accurate, complete, and defensible.
Fairness over speed. Every claim deserves a thorough, honest hand — for the carrier, the insured, and the integrity of the trade itself.
The trade only survives if we pass it on. We teach what we know, we keep learning ourselves, and we lift up every adjuster who joins the NuStar community.