Adjuster
Insurance claim adjusters are responsible for determining whether or not a party that is claiming damages should receive payment under the insurance policy. A car insurance claim adjuster will look at the damage done to a vehicle and determine if payment should be made. If the adjuster agrees with the claimant that they are not at fault, the adjuster will determine the amount of money that it will cost to repair damages done.
Claims adjusters typically have a mixed set of analytic and people skills. In order to determine fault and the amount to be paid, adjusters go through a series of interviews with numerous people including the claimant, witnesses, police and their records, hospital records, expert consultants and inspecting damage. This process requires claims adjusters to be knowledgeable on many subjects and have the ability to navigate complex legal documents.
Although there are few formal systems of education for adjusters, they often have backgrounds that suit their field: law backgrounds for liability claims and engineering backgrounds for industrial claims. Some states require licenses for adjusters. Both Texas and Florida have licenses for insurance adjusters that can be attained by someone anywhere.
Claims adjusters typically work on behalf of the insurance company. Because of this, adjusters will typically try to negotiate the settlement with the claimant so that it is to the greatest benefit to the insurance company. They also tend to try to get negotiations finished and the settlement paid as quickly as possible as this often results in the lower settlement. When dealing with an adjuster, it would be wise to keep these facts in mind. Also important to the process is having any documentation that might be needed readily at hand.
Adjusters can work long hours as their employment is based on their client's needs. This can include doing field and office work to determine the amount that the insurance will pay out. The job can include lots of travel if that is what the client needs or work weeks that can stretch to 60 hours. The job is varied with each class being unique, but it can also be very demanding on the adjuster. This is typically true for all adjusters, those who work for a specific company, called staff adjusters, and independent adjusters who work out of their homes receive assignments with an adjusting firm that will send assignments.
Insurance adjusters are a key component in car insurance claims. They are people with experience and knowledge that they use to determine if claims are genuine, and if they determine they are genuine, the adjuster decides how much will be paid out and negotiates the final amount with the claimant.