What Is an Insurance Claims Adjuster?

But accidents can happen in the blink of an eye, and that’s the main reason we have insurance. Before you know it, you could be filling the biggest insurance claim of your life and wondering what to expect from a home insurance adjuster.

If you’ve never dealt with a major loss before, you might be unfamiliar with the role of the claims adjuster in the overall process. Let’s take a closer look at what a claims adjuster is and what they do. 

Your claims adjuster is an insurance professional who assesses the damage to your home, property, or belongings and decides how much money should be paid by the insurance company for a claim. An adjuster can respond to property, auto, or liability claims. Property insurance adjusters typically have to pass a state certification exam or a similar test to be qualified.

After you’ve decided to file a claim with your insurance company, the next step typically involves being assigned a claims adjuster. Property adjusters are either employed or contracted by your insurance company. They are often local to your area but may travel from a greater distance to you in a time of need.

What the insurance adjuster does and what they report back will have a tremendous impact on how much money your claim pays out and what aspects of your damage (including both property and liability) are ultimately covered. 

Knowing what to expect from the claims process means knowing what to expect from the insurance adjuster, too. Here are just a few of the tasks managed by most insurance claims adjusters:

More than almost anything, a claims adjuster is accountable for determining who or what is responsible for the damage. As they’re putting together evidence regarding the accident or damage, the claims adjuster will likely take pictures of the affected property to report back on. 

They also might look at pictures or videos you’ve submitted with your claim form and review police reports related to the incident. As a claimant, having an inventory list of your possessions can greatly help the adjuster with this step of the process.

Especially true of automobile claims, the claims adjuster will conduct interviews with anyone else who might have been involved in the accident. This can include witnesses and passengers.

A witness can help corroborate the incidents in the claim and give valuable information. An adjuster can conduct an interview in person or over the phone and may ask the claimant for contact information.

The home adjuster may need to employ a specialist or contractor to understand the full extent of the damage caused by the incident. They may also help you find a list of approved vendors to have the damage repaired or replaced as necessary. Adjusters get quotes from local contractors or professionals to get a better idea of an appropriate payout for property damage.

After the claims adjuster has gathered all of their research, they put together a final report on the damage. Your adjuster may use some proprietary tools or software to help them determine the full extent of the financial loss covered by your insurance. 

Even though you might be frazzled after you’ve filed a claim for serious damage, being cordial and honest with your home claims adjuster will help the claims process move more quickly and smoothly. As the liaison between you and your provider, your adjuster has a large role in the payout process.

Being truthful with the property adjuster is important. Providing as much information as you can will help the adjuster understand the full scope of the loss at hand and expedite your payment.

Withholding or fabricating information to your adjuster can result in denial of your claim, and may be considered fraud by your insurance company. Communication with your adjuster shouldn’t be one-sided, though. You can ask questions, as they’re familiar with the particulars of policies and property damage.

In the end, the claims adjuster will help you reach a settlement with your insurance company and finalize payment. Some home insurance adjusters will pay you on the spot, others will get the insurance company to send you a check later.

No matter how big or small your insurance claim is, it’s easy to see how important the claims adjuster is to the entire process. Knowing what an insurance adjuster does will help you prepare for every step of the claims process from start to finish. 

The claims adjuster does more than report back on the damage to your insurance company. He or she is a direct link between you and your provider. They know the specifics of your policy and understand the damage to your property that you might not know how to navigate.

Home adjusters are more than investigators, they can be your partner throughout the entire claims process.