Business and Financial Operations · Holland code CRE
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage
Appraise automobile or other vehicle damage to determine repair costs for insurance claim settlement. Prepare insurance forms to indicate repair cost or cost estimates and recommendations. May seek agreement with automotive repair shop on repair costs.
Also called: Appraiser, Automobile Appraiser (Auto Appraiser), Automobile Damage Appraiser (Auto Damage Appraiser), Material Damage Appraiser, Damage Appraiser, Field Appraiser, Field Inspector, Insurance Appraiser.
O*NET 13-1032.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $78,240
- Middle half earn $65,050 to $91,880. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Some College Courses
- 31% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Evaluate practicality of repair as opposed to payment of market value of vehicle before accident.
- Review repair cost estimates with automobile repair shop to secure agreement on cost of repairs.
- Examine damaged vehicle to determine extent of structural, body, mechanical, electrical, or interior damage.
- Prepare insurance forms to indicate repair cost estimates and recommendations.
- Estimate parts and labor to repair damage, using standard automotive labor and parts cost manuals and knowledge of automotive repair.
- Determine salvage value on total-loss vehicle.
- Arrange to have damage appraised by another appraiser to resolve disagreement with shop on repair cost.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Writing3.8 / 5
- Speaking3.8 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.5 / 5
- Active Listening3.5 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.4 / 5
- Active Learning2.9 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
- English Language3.8 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.4 / 5
- Mechanical3.2 / 5
- Administrative3.1 / 5
- Education and Training3.0 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic70
- Investigative34
- Artistic3
- Social11
- Enterprising42
- Conventional74
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- insurance claims manager · DE Manager für Versicherungsansprüche/Managerin für Versicherungsansprüche · FR responsable d'équipe règlement sinistres en assurances
- insurance rating analyst · DE Rating-Analyst im Versicherungsbereich/Rating-Analystin im Versicherungsbereich · FR analyste notation en assurances
- insurance claims handler · DE Versicherungsgutachter/Versicherungsgutachterin · FR chargé d’indemnisation en assurances/chargée d’indemnisation en assurances
- insurance fraud investigator · DE Versicherungsdetektiv/Versicherungsdetektivin · FR inspecteur enquêteur d’assurances/inspectrice enquêteuse d’assurances
- loss adjuster · DE Schadensregulierer/Schadensreguliererin · FR expert en règlement de sinistres en assurances/experte en règlement de sinistres en assurances
- personal property appraiser · DE Sachwertspezialist/Sachwertspezialistin · FR estimateur de biens mobiliers/estimatrice de biens mobiliers
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Insurance underwriters (3532)37,600 employed
- Estimators, valuers and assessors (3541)57,000 employed
- Financial managers and directors (1131)461,400 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.66. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (13-1032).
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.
Take the career interests test