Insurance Investigators Overview: Among the career paths in insurance, insurance investigators fill a private detective role. They assist insurance claims adjusters and insurance claims examiners in cases where fraud or criminality is suspected, especially if the claim is large.
Education: Educational requirements vary greatly, depending on the position and the employer. Normally, a bachelor's degree is sufficient. Previous work experience is even more important.
Certification: There are no formal certification processes, but many larger insurance companies have in-house training programs. Insurance claims adjusters and insurance claims examiners sometimes make the transition to being insurance investigators. Otherwise, insurance investigators often have experience as private detectives or as law enforcement officers.
Duties and Responsibilities: Insurance investigators, as a category of private detective, must have a combination of analytic and people skills to succeed. They must know where to find the information that they need and how to get it. They must be able to persuade other people to cooperate with their investigations, even when the latter have no compelling interest to do so. They know how to interpret the data that they uncover, and draw its relevance to the case at hand.
Typical Schedule: Insurance investigators can have particularly irregular and long hours, especially if they are involved in surveillance of claimants. The job has a mix of office and field work that is unpredictable.
What's to Like: The work can be exciting for those who relish detective work and the chance to fight fraud and corruption.
What's Not to Like: Long, irregular hours can make a personal life difficult to maintain. Dealing with dishonest and corrupt persons on a regular basis can be difficult.
Salary Range: Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median annual compensation was about $51,000 as of May 2006, with the top 10% earning over $79,000.
