Become a licensed insurance adjuster

This is a professional who studies his client’s damaged property to write reports, make estimates, and analyze information. Some of the duties of an insurance adjuster may include:

• Decide if your clients’ policies cover the damages for which they are making a claim
• Property damage assessment
• Talk to the police and witnesses
• Estimation of the amounts of losses
• Research and report writing
• Verification of information with insurance agents
• Analyze information related to claims
• Meeting with lawyers
• Testify in summary

To have such a job and perform these functions, you will need to have a license. Depending on the location, obtaining a license requires different guidelines. To find out about these requirements in your area, you can contact the Department of Insurance.

Within the field of insurance regularization, there are also public adjusters and company adjusters. The public adjustment represents only those covered by the policy and is paid by the individual and not by 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 gives the insurance adjuster the authority to make any decisions regarding the client’s financial situation. An insurance adjuster must be licensed before they can sell or underwrite any type of insurance plans. Almost all employers of insurance adjusters require that they have a college degree, although the law does not require it. You can take college insurance adjustment courses, which will teach you the basics of property and casualty insurance, insurance laws that vary by location, and how to adjust insurance claims. Make sure the school you have chosen is licensed in that state and is accredited by the insurance industry.

After you have taken the required courses, you must take the insurance adjuster exam before you can be licensed. A section on occasional and proprietary adjustments may be included on the exam, but it depends on where the exam is taken. Other topics typically found on the exam include adjuster practices and responsibilities, auto liability, business lines, personal lines coverage, surety bonds, licensing requirements, and fire policies.

Within a week after taking the exam, you will receive a certificate in the mail stating that you must mail in an application, a set of fingerprints, and a fee that varies depending on your location. You can find the application online. You must be a resident of the state where you are applying for an insurance adjuster license. You also cannot have misdemeanor or felony trust, theft, or forgery. After you get your license, you could work for public appraisal companies, insurance companies, or independent appraisal companies.