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.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Writing
- Complex Problem Solving
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- Law and Government
- Administration and Management
- Economics and Accounting
What the work involves
- 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.
- Examine claims forms and other records to determine insurance coverage.
- Analyze information gathered by investigation and report findings and recommendations.
- Review police reports, medical treatment records, medical bills, or physical property damage to determine the extent of liability.
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (55.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (21.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (37%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 74% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 88% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 77% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 81% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 86% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 96% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 96% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 64% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 4.81%
- Contact with others most of the time: 23.66%
- Constant contact with others: 71.52%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 5.93%
- Fairly important: 4.4%
- Important: 6.37%
- Very important: 6.95%
- Extremely important: 76.34%
n = 45, Incumbent 08/2022
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 3.19%
- Fairly important: 8.57%
- Important: 24.36%
- Very important: 26.09%
- Extremely important: 37.8%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.89%
- Limited freedom: 3.65%
- Some freedom: 38.95%
- A lot of freedom: 56.51%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Time pressure
- Never: 0.49%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.23%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.15%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.47%
- Every day: 61.67%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Conflict situations
- Never: 10.8%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.49%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.88%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.16%
- Every day: 45.68%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.12%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 43.97%
- Every day: 37.1%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 37.42%
- Fairly serious: 10.36%
- Serious: 12.66%
- Very serious: 22.88%
- Extremely serious: 16.67%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
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O*NET-SOC 13-1031.00 · SOC 13-1031 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8