Claims Adjuster Time Techniques

May 25th 2022

Claims adjusters work for insurance companies, banks, and other firms to evaluate the legitimacy and accuracy of damage claims. They conduct research and spend time in the field assessing property damage and usually manage multiple claims simultaneously. Depending on workload, many claims adjusters work irregular weekly schedules, including early mornings, evenings, and weekends to accommodate work-related appointments. This type of work makes managing priorities a challenge and time management skills essential.

Evaluate Time Use

Time management is essentially self-management. With a busy schedule as a claims adjuster, you need to be aware of how you spend your day. Look at time spent driving to and from appointments and the travel routes you use. Review the time you spend on investigations, talking to clients or witnesses and processing claim paperwork. Keep a log of your daily activities for a week or two and you should see ways to improve your productivity.

Do Away With Time Wasters

Time wasters are the activities that hinder your ability to complete claims because they don’t move the process along. Obvious examples include spending too much time on tasks unrelated to work or checking text messages and email too frequently. Cluttered workspaces and disorganized filing systems also slow down claim investigations and lead to misplaced records or evidence. Being frank about time wasters offers an opportunity to apply specific time management solutions.

Set Goals and Prioritize

Claims Adjusting requires specific steps, beginning with notification of a loss and continuing with investigation, estimate preparation, written reporting, and closure. Handling multiple claims at various stages of completion can easily overwhelm a claims adjuster. Keep your focus by setting goals and priorities. Each day, decide what tasks you need to complete for each claim and prioritize them. Complete tasks that are important and urgent first. Next work on important tasks that are not urgent and can wait until later in the day. For everything else, assess whether you need to do them at all or whether you can delegate them. We recommend not over inspection your claim load. The goal of any adjuster whether on deployment or working daily claims is to give a level of confidence that you can handle a large volume of claims. The best way to prove this to the company you are working with is to set a goal to begin closing and uploading a minimum of 3 reports a day within 3 business days. This allows you to make any corrections to your estimates as prepare them, become more familiar with the guidelines more quickly, and it also gives your carrier the confidence that you can receive more claims. We highly discourage inspecting a large number of claims and then spending several days trying to play catch up with your reporting.

Don’t Procrastinate

People procrastinate because they’re overwhelmed or unmotivated, or they feel unclear about what needs to be done. Sometimes they don’t feel up to the task. Whatever the reason for it, procrastination thwarts productivity. If you’re unclear about what you need to do to thoroughly investigate a claim or to interview witnesses, you may take longer to get started and thus take longer to close the claim. Overcoming procrastination takes self-discipline and commitment. Set goals and timelines to motivate action.

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