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Benefit 1: Outstanding income potential

If you were told you could make $1,500 a day working as an independent claims adjuster you might reasonably assume that the person who told you this was unwell or trying to sell you something. Those numbers, when stretched over a period of several months, approach salaries of accomplished doctors, attorneys, or business execs. Unbelievable? I would think so. But the reality is this - every year independent claims adjusters make tens of thousands of dollars in very short periods of time working catastrophic insurance claims. After Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita hit in 2005, thousands of independent adjusters working the affected regions averaged $300 to $400 per claim they closed. A catastrophic adjuster with basic proficiency should close 2-3 claims per day. That equates to $800 to $1200 daily. An outstanding adjuster can close in excess of 5 claims per day. Career cat adjusters can earn well in excess of $100,000 yearly. Further, many adjusters will make all of that money in only three to six months out of the year. The rest of the time can be spent however they wish.

Be it hurricane, tornado, hail, or earthquake - when the seasons bring inclemency, independent adjusters arrive to help pick up the pieces. They are compensated extremely well for their efforts.

Benefit 2: Relative ease of adjuster certification

Most careers with earnings potential comparable to independent insurance adjusting require 4 to 8 years of college and post graduate study. You can become a certified claims adjuster in 3 days. Online and classroom pre-licensing courses, which are available especially in Texas and Florida, can help you obtain your required certification in less than a week. These courses can be intense, but just about any individual who wants to pass can do so.

Obtaining certification obviously doesn't mean automatic employment or even that you are actually qualified to do the job. Further training is recommended to supplement deficiencies in your professional profile. A sound claims adjuster must posses strong people skills, above average computer proficiency, and some construction and insurance policy related knowledge. That said, many hiring companies, especially in catastrophic scenarios, will greatly assist their adjusters in obtaining the proper job training.

Becoming a doctor takes 8 to 12 years out of high school. You can become a licensed, trained, and mobile claims adjuster ready to begin your career in under a month.

Benefit 3: Be your own boss

Working as an independent adjuster means just that - working independently. Claims adjusting is not a 9 to 5 office job where you punch a time card. You are giving a set of claims, usually electronically, and are expected to author the claims handling procedure yourself from start to finish. This means your time, space, and resources are your own. You determine just how good you are - not your boss. You determine how long of a day you will work - not your boss. And you decide ultimately how much money you will make. This is a liberating and empowering feeling.

There is a mistaken notion that any career associated with insurance is inherently dry and uninteresting and tangled in convoluted policies and unsavory business tactics. Claims adjusting proves this false. Imagine the prospect of navigating through disaster-stricken neighborhoods in an effort to help people get their lives and homes back together. Imagine the sincere gratitude and respect with which most claimants greet you as you take on their claim. And when you consider that you are not really the strong arm of Big Insurance but the firm hand picking up those who are down, its evident that claims adjusting isn't your typical insurance gig.

The bottom line is that you can make a fantastic living helping people put their lives back together and without your boss looking over your shoulder.

You may not have had a career as an insurance adjuster on your list of who you wanted to be when you grew up, but you probably did have something that was adventurous and helped people. It may come as a surprise but insurance claims adjusting offers just that, and the added opportunity to make an outstanding income while doing so!

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Claims Adjuster - How Much Money Does an Insurance Adjuster Make?

Author: Dan Kerr

How much insurance claims adjusters can make per annum is the subject of considerable interest and speculation to those interested in a career in claims. As unstable weather continues into the fall, and the Atlantic hurricane season reaches its stride, its important to correctly understand the financial landscape of the adjuster industry.

Some folks have heard from their girlfriend's brother or an estranged uncle that claims adjusting is a money tree. The money tree sits there blooming Benjamins, apparently just waiting happily to be plucked by any newcomer with the inside scoop. And as an added bonus, you really don't have to do work. The opposite extreme is my own previous misconception of the monetary compensation for claims adjusters which is that they made next to nothing and it was essentially a dead end job. This is as far from the truth as the money tree concept but, I would hazard to guess, a much more prevalent misunderstanding. So how much money does an insurance adjuster really make?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, claims adjusters earned an average of $44,220 in 2004. The top ten percent earned more than $72,620. The bottom ten percent earned less than $27,220. This seems like a fairly significant disparity. What type of adjuster is at the bottom and what type at the top?

The answer to this question depends largely upon the type of claims adjuster you are referring to. In general, there are two types of adjusters: staff adjusters who are salaried employees of an insurance carrier, and independent adjusters who are independent contractors working for adjusting firms. This initial difference will make as much of a difference in pay structure as the type of claims actually handled – from worker's compensation to multi-million dollar commercial properties.

Staff adjusters are typically going to be earning less than independent adjusters and in some cases dramatically less. $25,000-$60,000 is a reasonable salary range for a career staff claim adjuster. An independent adjuster in a good year, however, especially if he or she works catastrophe claims, can make well in excess of $100,000.

Staff adjusters can make a good stable living. For independent adjusters, the opportunity can be a little more interesting and, I think, exciting. Independent adjusters working catastrophe claims make essentially a percentage of the amount of each claim they settle. This system of payment is known as a fee schedule and is formulated differently for each insurance carrier represented and storm situation confronted. For example, an independent adjuster handling hurricane claims may receive a fee schedule that pays $500 for claims between $3,000 to $5,000, $650 for claims between $5,000 and $7,500, and $750 for claims between $7,500 and $10,000. An adjuster will receive between 60-70% with the other 30-40% going to the adjusting firm they work for. Hurricane adjusters can easily average $10,000 settlement per claim and thus average between $400 and $500 dollars in their pocket per claim. A good adjuster should be closing 2 to 4 claims per day with superb adjuster closing 4 to 7. Making over $1,000 a day as an independent adjuster working catastrophe claims is common and very attainable. In this way, a good independent adjuster can surpass six figures income in less than six months. So, is this the money tree after all? Well, not so fast. Remember that catastrophes, especially catastrophes sufficient to employ significant numbers of adjusters, are relatively few and far between. During "dry" spells for independent adjusters, work can be scarce and competition fierce for the claims that do come along. That said, there is a tremendous and exciting opportunity for very real, very lucrative money when disaster does strike.

Whether its operating on staff or as independent contractor, claims adjusting offers potential for solid and, in some cases, spectacular income.