Business and Financial Operations
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
Review settled claims to determine that payments and settlements are made in accordance with company practices and procedures. Confer with legal counsel on claims requiring litigation. May also settle insurance claims.
MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
Source wage group: Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Median annual wage$78,000USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$37.50USD per hour · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $48,850 | $23.48 |
| 25th | $61,160 | $29.40 |
| 50th · Median | $78,000 | $37.50 |
| 75th | $98,030 | $47.13 |
| 90th | $117,040 | $56.27 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Accident InvestigatorAdjusterAdjustment ClerkAuto Claims Adjuster (Automotive Claims Adjuster)Auto Damage Claims Adjuster (Automotive Damage Claims Adjuster)Benefit AuthorizerBodily Injury Claims AdjusterBodily Injury Claims ExaminerClaims Account SpecialistClaims AdjusterClaims AdjustorClaims Agent
Expand more title examples (48)
Claims AnalystClaims ApproverClaims AuditorClaims ConsultantClaims ExaminerClaims InspectorClaims InvestigatorClaims ProcessorClaims RepresentativeClaims Service AdjustorClaims Service SpecialistClaims SpecialistClerical AdjusterCommercial Insurance InspectorCompensation AdjusterCorporate Claims ExaminerDisability AnalystDisability ExaminerDisability SpecialistField Claims AdjusterField InvestigatorField Liability GeneralistField Property Claims AdjusterField Property Claims SpecialistFire AdjusterFire Claims AdjusterGeneral AdjusterHealth Claims ExaminerHealth Insurance AdjusterHome Office Claims ExaminerHome Office Claims SpecialistIndependent Insurance AdjusterIndependent Insurance AgentInsurance AdjusterInsurance AppraiserInsurance AuditorInsurance Claims AdjusterInsurance ExaminerInsurance Fraud InvestigatorInsurance InspectorInvestigatorLiability Claims ExaminerLiability Claims RepresentativeLitigation Claims RepresentativeLitigation ExaminerMedical Claims AnalystMedical Claims ExaminerMedical Claims Specialist
Typical tasks
- Examine claims forms and other records to determine insurance coverage.
- Analyze information gathered by investigation and report findings and recommendations.
- Pay and process claims within designated authority level.
- Investigate, evaluate, and settle claims, applying technical knowledge and human relations skills to effect fair and prompt disposal of cases and to contribute to a reduced loss ratio.
- Verify and analyze data used in settling claims to ensure that claims are valid and that settlements are made according to company practices and procedures.
- Review police reports, medical treatment records, medical bills, or physical property damage to determine the extent of liability.
Expand more tasks (23)
- Investigate and assess damage to property and create or review property damage estimates.
- Interview or correspond with agents and claimants to correct errors or omissions and to investigate questionable claims.
- Interview or correspond with claimants, witnesses, police, physicians, or other relevant parties to determine claim settlement, denial, or review.
- Enter claim payments, reserves and new claims on computer system, inputting concise yet sufficient file documentation.
- Resolve complex, severe exposure claims, using high service oriented file handling.
- Adjust reserves or provide reserve recommendations to ensure that reserve activities are consistent with corporate policies.
- Confer with legal counsel on claims requiring litigation.
- Examine claims investigated by insurance adjusters, further investigating questionable claims to determine whether to authorize payments.
- Maintain claim files, such as records of settled claims and an inventory of claims requiring detailed analysis.
- Refer questionable claims to investigator or claims adjuster for investigation or settlement.
- Collect evidence to support contested claims in court.
- Contact or interview claimants, doctors, medical specialists, or employers to get additional information.
- Present cases and participate in their discussion at claim committee meetings.
- Report overpayments, underpayments, and other irregularities.
- Attend mediations or trials.
- Supervise claims adjusters to ensure that adjusters have followed proper methods.
- Conduct detailed bill reviews to implement sound litigation management and expense control.
- Communicate with reinsurance brokers to obtain information necessary for processing claims.
- Prepare reports to be submitted to company's data processing department.
- Examine titles to property to determine validity and act as company agent in transactions with property owners.
- Obtain credit information from banks and other credit services.
- Communicate with former associates to verify employment record or to obtain background information regarding persons or businesses applying for credit.
- Negotiate claim settlements or recommend litigation when settlement cannot be negotiated.
Skills used in this work
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Expand more skills (29)
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
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