Loss Adjusting
- Entry requirements
- What you might do
- Training and professional qualifications
- Rewards
- Prospects
- Useful links
Loss adjusters are independent claims experts who help insurance companies and policyholders resolve complex or contested claims and get individuals and businesses up and running again as quickly as possible. Loss adjusting firms also employ technical professional such as accountants, surveyors and engineers who bring specialist knowledge to individual claims in order to more accurately assess claims.
Loss adjusters' fees are paid by insurance companies, which rely on them and independent mediators to accurately assess claims on site. The profession has its own Chartered Institute and in almost all cases you will be expected to join and abide by its charter. The profession is changing fast as new technical innovations come on stream and the firms respond to the demands of their clients for faster processing and a multi-disciplinary approach - a loss adjusting 'one-stop shop'.
Entry requirements
Loss adjusting is a highly specialised field requiring a sophisticated blend of interpersonal and technical skills. For this reason your degree - or even having a degree - is less important than your ability to display the competencies and development potential to become an effective loss adjuster.
Good communication, empathy and negotiation skills are essential and you will also need to be able to work to tight deadlines and handle multiple cases with confidence and accuracy. You will also need to be a good team worker and someone who responds to working to targets.
What you might do
In a domestic case, a firm of loss adjusters would typically be called in to assess the scale of loss of, for example, a house fire or flood damage. That firm would then despatch a loss adjuster to the scene to meet with the policyholder. Imagine visiting homeowners in Boscastle after the 2004 flood and helping them to value their losses and advise on how best to begin re-establishing their homes.
Commercial claims are often more complex and of a larger scale, and will involve issues such as business interruption and liability. These are therefore usually handled by more experienced loss adjusters, but the principle remains the same - assess the loss and help the policyholder to begin recovery.
In contested claims, a loss adjuster may also be required to investigate the cause of the loss - how a fire started, what happened in a motorway pile up, why a plane went down.
As a graduate coming into loss adjusting you will usually be expected to gain some experience of desk-based claims management before going out on the road to handle individual claims files and meet policyholders.
Training and professional qualifications
Unless you have previous experience of claims handling, most loss adjusters will expect you to spend your early months with the firm doing desk-based work, validating claims and liaising with insurance companies and policyholders. This is essential grounding in the mechanics of the industry and claims work and will prepare you for your first visits to claims scenes.
Some larger firms of loss adjusters run structured training schemes that will give you a broad-based introduction to the profession while smaller firms will hire on a case by case basis, often focusing on people with experience of the industry and particularly claims management.
Rewards
Joining a loss adjuster your salary is likely to be around £18,000 to £22,000 depending on your previous experience in the industry. In some firms this will be augmented by a bonus scheme that rewards quality claims handling - for desk-based work this might amount to as much as 10% of salary while for loss adjusters out on the road the rewards could mean a additional £5,000.
Further salary growth is dependent entirely on the firm you join and the area of specialism you choose.
Prospects
Within loss adjusting you will enjoy the opportunity to pursue technical and specialist routes, and also a management route, either running regional offices or specialist teams, for example fraud, subsidence, domestic or large loss.
Useful links
The Association of British Insurers (ABI)
51 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HQ
Tel: 020 7600 3333
www.abi.org.uk
Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA)
Peninsular House, 36 Monument Street, London EC3R 8LJ
Tel: 020 7337 9960
www.cila.co.uk
Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)
42-48 High Road, South Woodford, London E18 2JP
Tel: 020 8989 8464
www.cii.co.uk/
Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Faculty of Claims
42-48 High Road, South Woodford, London E18 2JP
Tel: 020 8989 8464
www.cii.co.uk/sma/faculties/claims
The International Federation of Adjusting Associations (IFAA)
www.adjustersworldwide.org
The Association of Insurance Intermediaries and Brokers.
www.aiib.org
The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers.
www.airmic.com
British Damage Management Association
www.biba.org.uk - British Insurance Brokers Association.
