Insurance appraisers: the professionals at the heart of the claim

“We’ll send an appraiser.” We have all heard this phrase, with a degree of relief, at one time or another. If you have suffered a mishap at home, with the car, or at the business, it’s time to make use of the insurance policy. This is mandatory in some cases, and highly recommended in all of them.

So, once the fright or unpleasantness is over, the first thing to do is to call the company to report the claimable event or accident and the company, if deemed necessary, will send an appraiser, who can also be hired by the customer himself.

Who exactly are they? What is their role? What importance do they have in the insurance world? Let’s find out below.

Basically, it is an expert in the subject matter of the insurance in question and, given the variety of insurance, it can be a university graduate (Engineering, Architecture, Medicine, Computer Science, Business, Law and so on) or someone who holds a higher degree in a regulated profession. 

They must have taken an approved course in insurance appraisal in order to know in depth how the sector works and what regulations govern it. They also have to be specialized in the field in which they are going to work. Thus, there are appraisers for car insurance, fire and miscellaneous risks, recreational boats, health and agricultural insurance, among others, depending on the area in which they work. 

The increasing complexity of claims, especially in realms such as cyber risks and third party liability, requires an ever higher level of technical specialization and expertise, which is why their training is continuous. 

The main function of this independent professional is to determine and analyze the causes of a claimable event, collect evidence at the scene or on the insured object, and prepare a detailed report stating the damage suffered and its causes on an objective basis.

With the facts at hand, they are also in charge of determining the costs of the repair and establishing the amount of the compensation under the insurance coverage in each case.

With these two roles we can now deduce that without such an expert, it would be difficult to process claims such as an accident in our vehicle, a theft at home, a flood or a fire in our business.

In the digital era, their role has evolved significantly. In fact, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data are redefining their work. Insurance companies are implementing tools to facilitate the work of appraisers, such as video appraisals or applications for uploading images, which greatly speed up the process in the customer’s benefit.

In short, insurance appraisers have always been a mainstay of the insurance industry. Their specialized technical knowledge is essential in accurately assessing claims and determining repair or replacement costs. 

In addition, with their high degree of knowledge in the fields they deal with, they help prevent fraud and bad practices, thus providing assurance to customers and to the insurance companies themselves in correctly and fairly applying the insurance policy in the event of a claim. 

In addition, these professionals in carrying out their work often transcend their purely technical tasks: apart from carrying out meticulous assessments and drafting detailed reports, they are often the first to arrive on the scene after the incident.

Thus, appraisers become the human face of the insurance industry in the most difficult moments of the insured party, giving them peace of mind and helping to correctly settle the claim.