How to Become an Insurance Inspector

You Can Make Good Money Working as an Insurance Inspector

Are you looking for a job that offers a flexible schedule and does not require sitting in an office or cubicle all day? Are you organized and detail oriented? If you answered "yes" to both of these questions, then you might want to consider becoming an insurance inspector. These days, more and more insurance companies are hiring freelance insurance inspectors to work on various types of jobs including commercial insurance inspections, automobile insurance inspections and homeowners insurance inspections. The more knowledgeable you are about various types of insurance, the more likely you are to get a large quantity of jobs.

Things You'll Need

• Surveyors wheel
• Lase or tape measure
• Reliable transportation
• GPS navigation
• Digital camera

Instructions

1. Submit your application online to the various companies that handle insurance inspections. Some of the major players in the insurance inspection business are Lease Inspection, NVMS and Cox and Smith. Contact the Society of Field Inspectors, also known as SOFI, for a full list of all the insurance inspection companies. In most cases, you will be paid by the job and will be hired as an independent contractor.

2. Purchase a surveyor's wheel and digital camera, as these are items you will definitely need. Use the surveyor's wheel to measure properties and calculate square footage. You can also use a laser tape measure. Buy a digital camera that takes low resolution photos, you will need it to capture any images of insurance damage or risks.

3. Fill out each question on your inspection report properly and be sure that you have provided the company with all of the details needed. Your inspection report is crucial in helping the insurance company make decisions about possible risks, insurance payments and loss claims.

4. Provide fast turn-around times on your insurance inspection reports. Companies that hire inspectors have a hierarchy of which inspectors they call first for jobs. If you can climb to the top of that list, then you can make a good living as an insurance inspector.

Tips & Warnings

• Being an insurance inspector does not require any special certification, but you will need to be trained by each individual insurance company that you work with. Every company has a different way of doing things and a different set of forms and questions to be filled out prior to your inspection. Make a file on your computer and save all of the pertinent forms from each company that you work with.