What Are the Best Paying Jobs in Property-Casualty Insurance?
Paid well to protect what's valuable.
Property insurance protects the things you own, such as your home or your car. Casualty insurance grants liability coverage in case you're found legally responsible for an accident that results in injuries to another person or in damage to their property. Most home and auto insurance packages bundle property and casualty insurance together.
If you're interested in a career in property-casualty insurance, here are five of the best-paying jobs in property-casualty insurance.
Insurance Underwriter
Insurance underwriter is the highest-paying job on this list. But you’ll be deciding if a certain person gets to be insured by your company or not.
What It Is
Insurance underwriters are the people who analyze insurance applications and decide whether or not the company will provide insurance and the terms under which they will give it. The analysis is performed with computer programs, where specific information about the client is entered, and the program provides recommendations on coverage and premiums.
Insurance underwriters work full-time hours in offices.
Required Education
Most insurance underwriter jobs require a bachelor's degree. However, suppose you have insurance-related work experience and strong computer skills. In that case, some companies may accept your insurance underwriter application even without a degree.
Expected Salary
The median annual salary for insurance underwriters is $76,000, with the highest paying subset being credit intermediation and related activities, at $78,500 per year.
Job Growth
Overall employment of insurance underwriters is expected to decline by 4% over the next decade. This is primarily due to the rise of advanced automated underwriting software allowing workers to process more claims quickly.
Claims Adjuster
You’ll be deciding if the insurance company pays out a certain claim or not. You also have to be ready to be on the side of the insurance company, even if it's an uncomfortable decision.
What It Is
Claims adjusters inspect property damage or personal injury claims to determine how much the insurance company should pay in coverage. They gather information via several means, including interviewing the claimant and witnesses, reviewing police reports, inspecting the property, and examining audio and video evidence. Using this research, they put together a report for the claims examiner to review.
If more expert assistance is needed, claims adjusters can consult architects, engineers, lawyers, and physicians. Suppose a claimant disputes the outcome of the claim. In that case, adjusters cooperate with lawyers and other experts to defend the insurance company's position.
It is the job of most claims adjusters to save the insurer as much money as possible. If uncomfortable with this arrangement, you can be a public adjuster. Public adjusters are hired by claimants who do not want to rely on an insurance company's adjusters. They are paid a percentage of the settled insurance claim, meaning their incentive is to win as much money for the claimant as possible.
Claims adjusters usually work full-time and often travel to the properties on which insurance claims have been made.
Required Education
Most entry-level claims adjuster jobs require a high-school education. Some positions require a bachelor's degree or insurance-related work experience.
Expected Salary
The median annual salary for claims adjusters is $65,000. The highest-paying subset of adjusters were those who work for the federal government, with an average yearly salary of $83,000.
Job Growth
The employment of claims adjusters is expected to decline by 5% over the next decade due to the increasing use of computer programs that calculate a claim amount from photographs of the damaged property.
Policy Processing Clerks
This is the lowest-paying job on our list, but it’s probably the least complex as well. It could be a good starting point in the industry.
What It Is
Policy processing clerks process new insurance policies and claims forms and modifications to existing policies. They verify the accuracy and completeness of claims forms, applications, and company records by comparing them against information from policyholders. Policyholders and insurance company representatives can also request policies and company records changes.
Required Education
Most policy processing clerks require a high-school education and strong computer and typing skills. Some employers, however, require an associate's degree or on-the-job experience.
Expected Salary
As of May 2021, the median annual salary of policy processing clerks is $46,000. The highest-paid subset of clerks were those working in community food, housing, emergency, and other relief services, at $80,100.
Job Growth
Overall employment of policy processing clerks is expected to increase by 2% per year.
Insurance Agents
If you enjoy a sales-related job, this could be for you.
What It Is
Insurance agents, another one of the best paying jobs in property-casualty insurance, sell insurance. There are many different types of insurance an agent can sell. Still, for our purposes, we will focus on property and casualty insurance agents. These agents sell policies designed to protect people and businesses from financial loss resulting from fire, theft, and accidents resulting in property damage. Property-casualty insurance packages for companies also include coverage for worker's comp, product liability, and medical malpractice claims.
Some insurance agents are "captive agents," working exclusively for a single insurance company. Others are "independent agents" working for insurance brokerages that sell the policies of several companies.
Required Education
Most insurance agent jobs require a high-school-level education, but many agents have college degrees. All insurance agents need state certification in the state in which they operate.
Expected Salary
The median annual wage for insurance agents is $51,000. Property-casualty insurance agents who work directly for insurance companies make more, at $59,000.
Job Growth
Overall employment of insurance agents is expected to increase by 6% over the next decade. This is most likely due to replacing workers who retire or transfer to other industries.
Insurance Office Manager
If you’re new in the industry, you’ll have to pick some other job from our list first. But if you already have some transferable experience, you might be able to apply for this position.
What it is
Insurance office managers supervise and coordinate the tasks of clerical and administrative support workers within an insurance office. They hire, train, supervise underwriters, review customer complaints, research industry trends, and prepare reports on new policies.
When it comes to customers, they review applications for coverage to clients, provide advice concerning their insurance needs, and negotiate with insurance companies on behalf of clients.
Required Education
Most insurance office manager jobs require a bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, or a related field and at least five years of insurance industry experience.
Expected Salary
As of this writing, insurance office managers' average salary is $62,000. Office managers working for private companies are the ones with the highest salaries, at $76,000 per year.
Job Growth
Overall employment of insurance office managers is expected to decrease over the next few years as automated software for processing claims increases (which in turn means fewer people to manage). Â
If you think that a career in this field would be ideal for you, now you have a list of the best-paying jobs in property-casualty insurance. Analyze each description and see which job would be the most appropriate for the life you want to build!