The Pay of an Auto Damage Appraiser and Claims Adjuster

Today I am going to continue the question that I’ve been helping you answer, “Do You Want to Be an Auto Damage Appraiser?”

Last time we covered the different options that present an auto damage appraiser including, a full-time career which has many options spreading off of that path, part-time, and the gig economy style work.

The Pay

The next question is what is the pay associated with each of these options? This can be really exciting for people and is usually the first-place people start. Everything I tell you here is from first-hand experience and then confirmed by research. So you can take this to the bank.

Career Path

The median income everywhere online is $60,000+. From my experience this is dead on. There have been years where I made $80,000+ before expenses which resulted in that $60,000 range. Obviously when you are starting out as an independent (not working for just one company) or working directly for an insurance company you can start out earning $30,000 and your salary and earnings will grow with experience.

Always remember as an independent you don’t have the benefits of a staff adjuster/appraiser and mileage and gas are a huge factor in your expenses.

You can grow to make more than $60,000 if you rise from being an adjuster to being a manager, regional, or catastrophe adjuster, but as being a field auto damage appraiser or adjuster it’s a good idea of where you can get to in the near future.

Part-Time Path

I have worked full time most of my career, but now I’ve moved to part-time. I work 2–3 days a week and I’m making $3,000+ easily each month. I obviously have some experience and are familiar with the processes, but I know that most people working part time could do $2–3k/mo.

This is a great amount of income as a part time job and allows for people to either get out of debt, increase their income, or work on other side projects in the process.

Gig Economy

I have never personally worked as an auto damage appraiser in a gig economy style, but I do know people who are working for WeGoLook and are making $20-$25 a file. With We Go Look it’s a photos only job so there is no “estimating” the damages of the vehicle. Schedule an appointment, take pictures and add a few notes. If you are working claims with a more traditional company you generally receive $40-$80 a file, but you are required to estimate the damages and complete any additional inspections that may be needed for that file.

With that being said, the average per file is $50 and you could easily get 10 claims a month and earn around $500/mo. By making your coverage area small and only accepting claims that are convenient to you, you could be an auto damage appraiser and still be in the gig economy arena.

Get more information on becoming an auto damage appraiser by listening to the independe adjuster podcast. Listen HERE

IA Tip — Most companies are on a net 30 pay schedule. Translating that means you have to wait a month to get paid if you are an auto damage appraiser. Take that into consideration as you look to move forward. The first two months are usually super tough! So when starting out it may affect what work you can take on, but look for companies that pay quicker! They are valuable.