What do Insurance Adjusters do?

What do Insurance Adjusters do, exactly? I’m sure we’ve come across or met at least one in our lives. These people are also called claims adjusters, claims specialists, claims representatives, and even independent claims analysts. All these names we call them make it seem like they have important responsibilities and complex tasks but, what do they do exactly? Do they all perform the same duties despite this variety of titles? How can they help us in our everyday lives?

 

Claims adjusters basically work with homeowners, automobile owners, and even those who have been victims of injury-related events, to name a few. What they usually do is to investigate insurance claims by interviewing the claimant and witnesses. Thereafter, they then assess the damage value of a given incident and subsequently provide an estimate of the total cost. This estimate will account for the cost of cleaning up, repairing, and restoring a given structure (or a body part in some cases!) to its former condition.

Claims adjusters can even assist you in filing a claim against someone you believe was responsible, directly or indirectly, for an accident that had led to your injury. They do the same thing, basically: interview those who were involved in the accident, along with the witnesses, and subsequently access the necessary documents to validate the claim.

Wikipedia even lists some of the many duties of claims adjusters:

• Verify an insurance policy written by the insurance company exists for the insured person and/or property.
• Investigate the circumstances and the sequence of events leading up to the claimed damages occurring as the result of someones negligence or risks of direct physical loss or damages to property, culminating in the loss of property and or bodily injury.
• After obtaining the above investigation evaluate the covered injury and or damages that have been determined according to the coverage grants.
• Negotiate a settlement according the applicable law, coverage insured for following best insurance practices.

They work long hours including work nights and weekends but their services are appointment based and focus more on the needs of the clients. Sometimes, they can even go far as interviewing police officials, checking hospital records, as well as directly inspecting property damage to determine the extent of the costs.  This is where claims adjusters can really help you, because some official documents might not be easily given to you upon request but claims adjusters can find a way to do so.