Is anyone a car insurance claims adjustor?

[Hijinks]

The reason I ask, is that I'm interviewing with Progressive on Tuesday for a claims adjustor position. It sounds really great, I'm wondering what the catch is. If anyone does this for a living...

1.) what are your likes/dislikes about it?
2.) what kind of character traits would be the biggest assets in such a position?
3.) what are the downsides to being a claims adjustor?

Thanks!

[BOZ]

watch Fight Club. the main character is a car insurance claims adjustor, and he goes into detail about what he does and why he hates it. his job is part of what drives him insane.

seriously though... i do work in the insurance industry. basically, if it's anything like being an underwriter like myself, you evaluate the risk - if someone is more likely to have an accident, their rates go up, or they don't qualify at all.

[Varianor Abroad]

Originally Posted by Hijinks

The reason I ask, is that I'm interviewing with Progressive on Tuesday for a claims adjustor position. It sounds really great, I'm wondering what the catch is. If anyone does this for a living...

1.) what are your likes/dislikes about it?
2.) what kind of character traits would be the biggest assets in such a position?
3.) what are the downsides to being a claims adjustor?

Thanks!

That would be me. I even worked for a direct auto writer like Progressive (but not them).

1a) Likes: Getting to figure out what happened, negotiating a settlement, and getting paid a lot better than many entry-level positions
1b) Dislikes: tons of daily phone calls, ridiculous and draconian guidelines that conflict with what supervisors and managers tell you to do, and the sheer volume of work
2) Consistency, attention to detail, and good people skills
3) You make too much to leave, but not enough to be rich. That and the headaches of dealing with irate claimants. Believe me when I tell you that people care more about their paint jobs sometimes than people that are hurt.

You can however work your way up and out of the world of personal lines auto to more interesting positions if you're diligent and have a head for the business. Go interview and see what they say. Post your questions here. Insurance people have a habit of leaving key things unsaid or said obliquely. If you've done claims for 10 years though, you learn to read between the lines. Good luck!

[dema]

I've been working with the largest auto insurer in my state. It's rough for some folks. But the pay is not bad, the goals you are suppose to obtain, well, you either get the job and find legal short cuts or you don't. If you want to know about some of the stuff people say, I found jobvent.com to be useful. It will however leave a very bad taste in your mouth. I would also like to say mostly negative people post there. Always attempt to go in with a positive attitude, judge for yourself.

I have been with my company for 3.6 years, and I still love it. Never had a bad day. Never wanted to go home and cry, or kill, or maim anyone. Progressive is an ok company IMHO. They pay better than some. My wife is going to try out for another company sometime soon. They are my competition, odd huh.

At Progressive you will learn to adjust vehicles, negotiate comparative negligence settlements, process some medical claims, and offer some money for bodily injury claims. Every company is structured differently, each with it's strengths and weaknesses. My company specializes each department for a specific task. This may or may not be the good way to do things. But at Progressive I know you will be running around a lot, you may get a company car quickly, which is cool.

Anyway. Good luck.

[Hijinks]

Thanks for the advice and information, everyone!

I have been in life insurance for about 5 years, processing agent appointment applications. I wanted to move into working more directly with customers, this sounds like a good fit for me. I don't mind the running around, in fact I like a job with lots of variety in the day-to-day tasks. I don't mind working the phones and doing research. The pay is very nice to start out.

I was in customer service on the phones for my current employer, several years ago. I got used to the complaining LOL

I watched a little job-descripion video that Progressive has on its side, the video mentioned a lot of crawling under cars to look at damage and things like that. Is it typically a get-dirty type of job?

[Varianor Abroad]

That's appraisals. It can be, but many shops these days have hoists and lifts to put the car up on.