What Are Car Insurance Claims Adjusters and What They Do?
If you have just experienced a car crash and you are required to file a claim, then expect to receive a call from a claim adjuster. Claims adjuster are persons sent by insurance companies to investigate claims and negotiate settlements with the policyholders. Also, claims adjusters will have to talk with the persons involved in a claim and they will have to explain why a claim is denied or why they are paying out that amount on a settlement. The job of a claims adjuster is one of the most difficult in the car insurance industry.
If you need a claims adjuster, you need to know the following about them:
- They investigate the claims. Claims adjusters are required to find out exactly what happened in an incident involving the policyholders’ vehicle. It is important to determine who was at-fault, if the incident is covered, and if someone is trying an insurance fraud. Insurance frauds happen quite frequently in the car insurance industry. For example, if a policyholder calls his insurance company to file a claim for a vehicle destroyed in the fire, then a claims adjuster will need to travel to the place where the incident happened. The adjuster will try to determine what happened. If the claims adjuster comes to the conclusion that the fire was set by the policyholder, then the claim will be rejected. If the incident is real, then the adjuster will try to negotiate a settlement.
- They work for the insurers. Most claims insurance adjusters work for their insurance companies. It is their duty to protect the financial interests of their companies. In most cases, they do that by not paying claims or paying claims of a lesser value than what they should. Besides protecting the financial interests of their companies, claim adjusters will also have to protect their company’s reputation. In some cases, claims adjusters can pay a claim they initially denied in order to protect their company reputation. Some customers that are not happy with their claims being denied or being paid too little can decide to fight the insurance company. This action can bring bad publicity for the insurers, and for this reason, the claims adjusters can have a different decision after reanalyzing some claims. Also, some claims adjusters do not represent a company and they are just simply contractors who are sent to negotiate claims on the behalf of a company, without being employed by that company.
- Not all claims adjusters are bad. Many bad claims experiences happened out there, but not all claims adjusters are bad and not all of them will try to deny or underpay a claim. Even though they represent the interests of their companies, claims adjusters are salaried people that have no financial interest in the outcome of a claim. Many honest and good claims adjusters are trying to do the right thing and they love helping people in times of great need. However, there is a strict claim process they need to follow. If there wasn’t that process to follow, then insurance fraud would be more prevalent.
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