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The differences between claims assistants and claims adjusters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a claims assistant and a claims adjuster. Additionally, a claims adjuster has an average salary of $51,116, which is higher than the $36,487 average annual salary of a claims assistant.
The top three skills for a claims assistant include customer service, data entry and photocopying. The most important skills for a claims adjuster are insurance carriers, auto claims, and customer service.
| Claims Assistant | Claims Adjuster | |
| Yearly salary | $36,487 | $51,116 |
| Hourly rate | $17.54 | $24.57 |
| Growth rate | -3% | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 8,971 | 13,221 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A claims assistant takes tasks to support staff in processing insurance claims. Claims assistants manage correspondence, take phone calls, do paperwork, and type documents. Also called insurance claim clerks, the assistants do clerical and administrative tasks. They assist professionals working for financial services enterprises, medical providers, and insurance enterprises. Among the skills they need are strong communication skills, data entry, customer service, attention to detail, and knowledge about insurance. They are also expected to have management skills.
A claim's adjuster is responsible for the handling of the insurance claims and investigating the extent of property damage and processing the business or a person's liability. Claims adjusters have a broad range of duties such as damage inspection to evaluate incident reports, communicating with property owners and spectators as well as referring to legal documents. They must also have excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills to calculate payments and analyze the complexities of multiple sources. Claims adjusters should also provide timely reports for reference and possible disputes.
Claims assistants and claims adjusters have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Claims Assistant | Claims Adjuster | |
| Average salary | $36,487 | $51,116 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $44,000 | Between $40,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Hartford, CT | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | National General Insurance | Merchants Insurance Group |
| Best paying industry | Government | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a claims assistant and a claims adjuster in terms of educational background:
| Claims Assistant | Claims Adjuster | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between claims assistants' and claims adjusters' demographics:
| Claims Assistant | Claims Adjuster | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 19.5% Female, 80.5% | Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 3.9% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 5.2% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |