Filing a Claim? Meet The Insurance Adjuster

An insurance adjuster may bear many names, but regardless of whether you call them claims specialist or claims analyst, they all do the same thing: they process independent insurance claims and determine one’s liability.

Insurance adjuster vs private investigator

In some matters the job of an insurance adjuster is similar to that of a private investigator, since they both have to run interviews with witnesses and claimants, they have to study records and documents and inspect properties in order to come to a relevant conclusion. Detectives, that’s what they are.

Here is how it goes: let’s say you file a claim against someone who you believe is at fault for your accident. Your claim will be followed by a negotiation process, where you will meet the insurance adjuster coming from the insurance company of the person you filed the claim against.

Classification of insurance adjusters

There are two types of insurance adjusters in Chicago, Glenview, Hanover Park, Highland Park, Lincolnwood: in-house and independent. An insurance adjuster that works for a company independently does not differentiate much from an in-house adjuster. The only difference between the two is that the independent adjuster’s authority is limited, therefore their settlement must be approved by a claims supervisor. There are also public adjusters, people who work for the policy holder; the public adjuster is the only one who, apart from a lawyer, can represent the rights of an insured during a process.

Claims handled by the insurance adjuster

1.       Property claims – this type of claims includes damage to buildings or structures, exclusive of human injuries, which fall into the next category.

2.       Liability claims – cover any kind of personal injury that may result from a liability situation such as a car accident, dog bites or slip and falls.