Insurance Appraiser

What is an Insurance Appraiser?

Duties

The job responsibilities of an insurance appraiser include the following points:

• Makes an unbiased sound evaluation of relevant data such as market performance, statistics, property or automobile industry valuation and create an estimate as per government and regulatory guidelines.
• Be exceptionally organized and closely analyse different factors that affect property or the auto industry, which may include neighbourhoods, future trends, cost of models, specific rates for design and stylistic elements.
• Work alongside the lead appraiser to take care of ongoing requests from clients and develop informed plans of action to uphold quality control.
• Engage in knowledge exchange with appraisal team at insurance company, and bring complex issues to the attention of experienced professionals.
• Gain the authorization necessary to settle claim amount when required, which includes demonstrating pertinent evidence to senior management, as per the settlement amount.

Day In The Life

Insurance appraisers have duties that may vary based on the type of insurance company. The primary task of an insurance appraiser is to thoroughly evaluate the damages that occur when a residential or commercial property is destroyed or damaged due to various reasons, and the claim reaches an impasse. As an insurance appraiser, you would be expected to review the damages and provide a fair estimate of the total value of loss.

Typically, both the insurance company and the policyholder utilizes the services of an appraiser. If both sides cannot come to an agreement, a third impartial appraiser may be brought in to bring some resolution to any differences.

To excel as an insurance appraiser, you will hone your knowledge on the policies and guidelines that apply to the insurance company where you work. Junior professionals will likely be assigned small claims, under the guidance of a more experienced appraisal worker. Once you are familiar with the everyday procedures, you will then take on bigger projects.

Typical work schedule

Insurance appraisers usually follow the regular working schedule of 40 hours in 5 days per week. However, insurance appraisers have to work in the field which results in a varying work schedules with longer hours. You will be expected to carry out investigations and surveillance as well as contacting various people who may not be available during normal business hours. This will include working on early mornings, evenings, and weekends. This happens in rare occasions while most of the time, you will not have to work outside the regular working hours.

Projected job growth

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of insurance appraisers as well as claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators is expected to decrease by 6 % from 2019 to 2029. This is mainly attributed to the recent technological advances such as specialized software that can evaluate photographs of damaged property and calculate the estimated claim amount eliminating much of the appraiser’s job. The software also improves the efficiency of data collection and processing speed. It should also be noted that the rise in the number of natural disasters as hurricanes increases the demand for insurance services. The decline rate of the demand for this job indicates that this is a dying job and that you should think about this before choosing it as your future career. If you are interested in the job, you have to consider getting more familiar and gain experience with modern technology such as data analysis, IT and modern software to ensure better prospects in the coming decade.

Typical Employers

Insurance appraisers can work for different fields and have many employers. However, many of them work as automobile damage appraisers. Their typical employers include different insurance agencies, brokerages, banks, and other insurance related services where they work in the field providing these companies with the data they need. Some insurance appraisers prefer to be self-employed workers where they can be contracted by many clients to perform specific tasks for them. Few insurance appraisers can also work as a part of the management team of corporations providing extra insurance information when needed.