Why Become An Insurance Adjuster – Part 1 Small Investment

Career education fees can seem daunting.  A year of college will run most over $15,000.  A college degree will run you $50,000 or more!  However, your new career investment as an insurance adjuste is minimal.  Pluls the high earning potential far exceeds the investment.

Credit Hours
Most college degrees require at least 120 Credit hours.  Each credit hour is 15 hours of class time along with additional time for required homework.  This means you’re looking at 1,800 hours of class time.  Then, in addition to those hours, you have all the hours of homework.  Traditional 4 year degrees require an enormous expense as well as 4 years of dedicated effort to complete degree requirements.

Insurance adjusters will usually be required to spend 40 hours of training to get a license.  This can be accomplished within a week.  Then the two additional classes that we always recommend would add another 3-4 days.

This means that within a week or two, your education requirements can be met.  Specifically, this is what you’ll need to prepare yourself to do catastrophe work.

1.    Get your adjuster license through a Pre-Licensing course (approx. 40 hours)
2.    Take the Practical Adjusting course (approx. 6 hours) to learn basic field information from dealing with the insured individuals to tools you’ll need.
3.    Take the Xactimate video course to learn the software for submitting claims (approx. 10 hours)

Most enter their adjusting career working a major hurricane or other large natural disaster and this set of classes will give you the knowledge you need do your job well.

Additional Training   
Most adjusters choose to add other training, such as certifications needed to work claims for specific insurance carriers.  

The state of Texas requires 30 continuing education (CE), and you can add CE credit hours through 2021Training online. This is typically under $150 and can be spread out over several months or grouped together depending on your preference.

The educational requirements are created specifically to the adjuster career needs without extra “fluff” courses. They meet the state minimums to be licensed.

Your Part
This career choice still requires personal effort, which only the student can provide. But it’s an important part of any successful career.

This is a career for self-starters who are willing to take action to forward their career.  Just having a license won’t get you a job.

But if you take the steps outlined in the Practical Adjusting course to find the companies who are looking for adjusters, and to take the proper steps to become the adjuster they want to send out on jobs, you’ll be rewarded greatly for your effort.

How much better is it to start your career with up to a $1,000 investment and 2 weeks of your time instead of $60,000 in long range school debt, and several years of your life just to begin a job search?

The earning potential of an insurance adjuster can rival 90% of current jobs.  Our next post will discuss the earning potential you have as an insurance adjuster.

Entering into the field of adjusting offers high income potential with only a small investment of money and time.  You’re able to prepare yourself adequately for most jobs as an insurance adjuster.  Now let’s focus on the earning potential, or how much can you make?

Just like most successful careers, insurance adjusting is for people who take initiative.  It’s for people who are willing to work a little harder than everyone else and understand that their income is directly related to their effort.

Traditional Jobs

Most traditional jobs have a salary or hourly wage based on the task at hand. It usually doesn’t change much based on the employee\’s effort as long as the job gets done.  Some types of adjusters have more traditional jobs, but we’re focusing on the Catastrophe (CAT) adjusters.  Why? Because that’s where the money is.

Catastrophe Adjusters

As a catastrophe adjuster, the more you work the more you get paid.  The great news is that its not hard work, but it is work.

Catastrophe adjusters work as independents for various CAT companies.  They’re called out to storms when companies are trying to handle a large amount of claims in a short amount of time.  Even in large disasters, the insurance companies have strict deadlines to respond to all claims in a short period of time.

CAT adjusters will travel to a location and work up to several weeks before moving to the next location.  It can be constant travel and high volume of claims.  Their favorite storms are hail storms.  The damage is easy to identify and the reports are easy to file, making them very profitable as an adjuster.

Pay is based on a pay table that correlates to the amount of the claim written. Generally speaking, the larger the insured’s claim, the larger the check is for the adjuster.  You’ll almost always work through a CAT company which is supplying a pool of adjusters to any given insurance carrier.

As an adjuster you get a percentage of what is billed back to the insurance carrier.  It is not uncommon to get $150 for a simple adjusted claim.

Working Smart

Think of the difference it makes when you adjust 5 properties a day instead of 3.  Most would argue that $450 a day is pretty good money, but you have the ability to make $750 that same day if you learn to work smart and be efficient.  This kind of work is rewarded directly with money.

If you’re given 30 claims to process, do you want to be there 10 days or 6 days?  Knowing that you’re covering your own living expenses, working faster and smarter will make you a lot more money in a shorter amount of time.

Business Not Hobby

Many professionals make well over $150,000 a year by treating it as a business and not a hobby.  You won’t need to be working 52 weeks a year to achieve this.

They figure out how quickly they can finish in one location while lining up the next deployment.  As you get more senior in the industry, you’ll see many things open up for you.  There are CAT adjusters deployed to locations that don’t even hit the news, but the insurance carriers need the help.

While you work claims you get paid extremely well.  Yet you need to plan for the times you are between deployments.  Manage your money and manage your work.  Where else can you make six figures within a few weeks of time investment?

Adjusters have a small investment for which they can earn substantial income.  The amount of education required is specific to the work and can be handled in a small amount of time rather than years for other degrees.  You can start now and be licensed within a couple of months.

We can also show you how to align yourself with CAT companies to seek assignments and participate in the high income potential.

And next we’ll discuss how this is also a recession proof career!

Claims adjusting is a recession proof career because insurance claim events happen every year.  The state of our economy and  spending, individually or as a nation, isn’t a major factor in the amount of work available to you as a claims adjuster.

Statistically, most people go through 5-6 job changes and even 1-2 career changes in their working lifetime.  Long gone is working for one company for an entire career.

These changes are most frequently dictated by the companies rather than the employee simply choosing to do something different. While we’re somewhat at the mercy of our employers, there are some ways to minimize the impact by adding training and licensing as an insurance adjuster which can become a part time or full time career.

Companies come and go, sometimes due to changes in technology or sales. A restaurant that was popular a while ago could be virtually empty now.  A cool toy that everyone had to have last year isn’t anywhere to be seen anymore.  Things are in constant change.

So how does this relate to the life of an insurance adjuster?  As our assets become more and more expensive, insurance is the only means to protect them from catastrophic loss.  So it’s safe to assume that insurance isn’t going to disappear in our lifetime. The other constant is damage happening to those things that we insure.

Losses of all sizes will happen.  Hail and hurricanes, fires, and tornadoes are constant reminders that weather related disasters continue to strike.  Then there are broken pipes and car accidents.  They are simply a part of life.  They aren’t driven by economic events.

Certainly the economy has some effect on the types of things we purchase, and therefore, insure.  But storms have no prejudice or reason. Storms happen and adjusters will be needed to work the claims. There may be times with fewer major storms in a given area, but there will always be others coming.

The frequency of large storms only tend to affect new adjusters. Once you have some experience as an adjuster, you’ll have been able to proof your skills and move higher up on the rosters.  This will allow you to work on many more events that don’t even make the news.  Most people don’t realize how many weather related events happen around the United States each year.

It’s comforting to know you’re part of an industry that isn’t driven by the economy.  Insurance adjusting is a great career with multiple benefits, especially for those who learn or already know how to manage their own business.  To learn more about what’s required to become an insurance adjuster check out the licensing process and courses at 2021training.com.

Adjusters have a small investment for which they can earn substantial income. The amount of education required is specific to the work and can be handled in a small amount of time rather than years for other degrees. You can start now and be licensed within a couple of months. We can also show you how to align yourself with CAT companies to seek assignments and participate in the high income potential.

And next we’ll discuss how a career as a claims adjuster can provide your career freedom.

You may have found yourself getting excited about the benefits of an insurance adjuster.  The fifth benefit in this series is the another exciting part of being an adjuster:  freedom!

As an independent adjuster working catastrophe claims, you have an incredible amount of flexibility which also means freedom.

Financial Freedom
You may be looking for part time, supplemental income for down time in another field.  Or you may be looking to build a full time career as a CAT adjuster.  Either will give you greater financial freedom.

If you’re a seasoned CAT adjuster, you’ve worked storms throughout  the year. Then, if there are no major storms at the end of the year, you’re able to enjoy time off for family and fun.

Expect it to take some time to develop your income as an adjuster.  How you position yourself for deployment throughout the year will determine how often you work claims. It’s freeing to know that there’s always work out there.

Having that financial freedom will allow you and your family to reduce financial stress.  We recommend you set income aside, of course, for the times when there are fewer major storms.

Mental Freedom
Many people feel trapped in jobs they don’t enjoy. Mentally, they’re always concerned about company politics and posturing.  Adjusters don’t have to worry about this.

You are agreeing to complete a task in a predetermined manner. The good news here is that you get to control almost every aspect of how you get that done within their guidelines.

They\’re available to help you if needed, and they’re also happy to allow you do your job without micro-managing.  No one will be watching everything you do. Be aware, though, that being professional and doing your job in the best possible manner will get you noticed in a favorable way.  Companies prefer the adjusters they don’t have to babysit. They want people who work without supervision and with professionalism.  They want to see claims closed.

This means more deployments and more income for you.

Physical Freedom
As an adjuster, you get to create your own schedule and life.  Do you like to start your day at noon?  Do you not want to work on Sundays?  Do you need to be off by 4?  Anything is possible.

Your only commitment is to complete what you’ve accepted.  Many adjusters enjoy working longer hours for short periods of time.  It all has to do with efficiency, but the truth is you can work at a pace that fits your goals in most cases.

Long days make sense when you\’re away from home and can only return when you’ve completed your claims.  So it makes sense to get things done in 10 days versus 16 days if it’s up to you.  The best part is that it IS up to you.  You can work around most anything you need.

Insurance adjusting is a great career.
Don’t lose sight, however, that it’s still work.  It takes effort and skill, and the rewards are well worth the challenges.  It’s a career field unmatched by most as far as the potential income and long term possibilities.

Visit 2021Training.com to see what it takes to position yourself for a great future. It starts with good training from field-experienced people. Get your license and career training now.

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