This is a professional who studies their client's damaged property to write up reports, make estimates, and analyze information. Some of the duties of an insurance adjuster can include:
• Deciding if their client's polices cover the damages they are filing a claim for
• Evaluating property damage
• Talking to the police and witnesses
• Estimating loss amounts
• Researching and writing reports
• Verifying information with insurance agents
• Analyzing information that is related to the claims
• Meeting with lawyers
• Testifying in court
In order to have such a job and perform these duties you will need to have a license. Depending on the location, getting a license requires different guidelines. To learn about these requirements in your location you can contact the Department of Insurance.
Within the insurance adjustment field, there are also public adjusters and company adjusters. The public adjust represents only the ones that are covered by the policy and receives payment from the individual and not the insurance company. A company adjuster represents the individual's insured items along with the items of their contractors and/or employees.
The license is what grants the insurance adjuster the authority to make any decisions in regards to the client's financial situations. An insurance adjuster must have their license before they can sell or write any type of insurance plans. Almost all employers of insurance adjusters require that they have a college degree although the law does not mandate it. You can take college courses in insurance adjustment, which will teach you the basics of casualty and property insurance, insurance laws that vary by location, and how to adjust insurance claims. Make sure that the school you have chosen is licensed in that state and they are accredited by the insurance industry.
After you have taken the required courses, you have to take the insurance adjuster exam before you get your license. A section on casual and property adjustment may be included on the exam but it depends on where the exam is taken. Other topics that are usually found on the exam include adjuster practices and responsibilities, auto liability, commercial lines, personal lines coverage, bonds, licensing requirements and fire polices.
Within a week after taking the exam, you will get a certificate in the mail that indicates you will need to mail in an application, set of fingerprints, and a fee that varies according to your location. You can find the application online. You have to be a resident of the state where you are applying for an insurance adjuster license. You also cannot have any misdemeanors or felonies of trust, theft, or forgery. After getting your license, you could work for public adjusting firms, insurance companies, or for independent adjusting companies.
Source by Lora Davis