Independent Insurance Adjuster Jobs, Salary, Career Tips
Take a break from searching for insurance adjuster jobs, and get the inside scoop on adjusting claims! In this insurance adjuster job description, you’ll learn that working in insurance goes beyond settling claims.
Ann Yankowksy is an independent claims adjuster; here, she describes the best and worst parts of her job in the insurance industry.
Insurance adjusters do the work required to process a claim. An independent adjuster might handle the claim filed after a car accident, or after a storm damages a home.
Adjusters investigate claims by interviewing the claimant and witnesses, consulting police and hospital records, and inspecting property damage to determine how much the company should pay for the loss.
Here’s the inside scoop on adjusting claims and working in the insurance industry…
Insurance Adjuster Job Description
“I handle mainly auto claims involving injuries to occupants of the vehicles or pedestrians,” says Ann Yankowsky, who has worked in the insurance industry for 17 years. “The job involves a lot of people skills because you are contacting people at a traumatic time of their lives. You are the person they are looking to for guidance and, ultimately, for the money to get back to their normal lives. You interview them, and analyze their claims using the auto policy wordings and current laws to determine what their insurance claim is worth.”
Yankowsky adds that insurance adjuster jobs entail quite a bit of paperwork, computer work, report writing and in-person communication. Settling insurance claims isn’t a team effort – it involves more independent work.
How Much Money Does a Claims Adjuster Make?
A claim adjustor’s salary varies depending on experience. An entry level salary is $30,000-35,000 per year; the top end can be in the high $70,000-$80,000. Independent insurance adjusters with very large workloads can earn more than that.
The Best Part of Adjusting Insurance Claims
“I love meeting new people,” says Yankowksy. “There is such a diversity of personalities and perspectives in life and I enjoy seeing it all! I enjoy writing business reports because they require me to organize the claim into a ‘story’ of the accident.”
The Downside of Working in the Insurance Industry
Yankowsky doesn’t like the pre-existing suspicion of insurance adjusters, which results in some people treating adjustors like criminals before they get to know what they really do. She also doesn’t like that a few people falsify their insurance claims.
The Biggest Surprise About Insurance Adjuster Jobs
“People are surprised that it can be an enjoyable job,” says Yankowsky. “But, you have to be able to juggle different tasks at once. It’s not boring work!”
A related job is working as an insurance educator.
Career Tips for Independent Insurance Adjusters
Yankowsky encourages aspiring insurance adjusters to contact the Insurance Institute of Canada for more information about the many careers available. Americans can learn more at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners, and Investigators.
“I also suggest taking the first course towards the Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) designation, which is becoming the standard of professionalism in the industry in Canada,” she says.
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