Recruitment News

A Career in Loss Adjusting

With the yawning skills gap currently affecting the Loss Adjusting profession, this is an opportune time for an ambitious and driven person to forge a career in Adjusting. To secure a top Loss Adjusting job, the first step is to secure a role with an Adjusting practice; if you’re working for an Insurer or a Brokerage, or even out of the insurance sector all together, apply for Trainee Claims Handler / Claims Technician roles (dependent on your background / career history). If you are lucky enough to secure a role, try to gain a solid understanding of insurance policies / principals and claims handling procedures and push to undertake the CII examinations; most Loss Adjusting firms offer assistance in this regard and some actively encourage it. The first stage of qualifications, The Certificate in Insurance (Cert CII), will help when trying to move to the next step on the ladder, securing a Domestic Adjuster job.

Whilst it is difficult to continue professional development whilst in a full time Loss Adjusting job, perseverance and dedication will be necessary as, to gain a Major Loss Adjusting position, it is essential to achieve the Associate of The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters designation (ACILA). Aside from this, it is a long road through learning to handle commercial property claims including business interruption and to write detailed, technical and lucid full format ABI reports. However, achieving a Major Loss Adjusting role opens the doors to the top of the market: claims worth millions of pounds, handling losses relating to non-standard risk which are potentially in the public eye and receiving press coverage (the Buncefield disaster for example). Handling sizable losses generates higher fees and, consequently, a Major Loss Adjuster job commands a sizable remuneration package, hopefully making the earlier studying and commitment worth the hard work.

A Loss Adjusting job in the upper echelons of the market can take different paths. The larger, mainstream Adjusting firms tend to deal with claims on behalf of major composite Insurers whereas the smaller and more niche practices often handle work emanating out of the London / Lloyds market or through Broker nominations. Some people may prefer the security of employment within a larger organisation, whereas others would rather work for a more boutique practice where an element of their caseload is self-generated and the rewards are greater, financially and in terms of reputation / becoming known in the market for their work.

Achieving the ACILA qualification can lead to Catastrophe Adjusting – working overseas, carrying out Adjusting jobs in areas affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes – or even a permanent International Adjusting roles, for example in the Middle East, the Americas or Australia. So, whilst a Claims Handler may read this article and think that it all seems like a long hard slog to reach the level of Major Loss Adjuster, with some hard work, they could be Adjusting in the sun.

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