Any Auto Appraisers here? Pivoting to new career, looking for advice.

[Owen Lucas]

In a previous life I was an insurance auto damage adjuster where I would inspect vehicles, write estimates, and perform total loss valuations.

I'm thinking of getting back into the field but this time as an independent appraiser with my own business. My service would be performing total loss reviews for unhappy customers by providing an updated and improved valuation (if applicable) and relevant negotiation coaching. This would be a WFH job, with no direct vehicle inspections, just audit and review documentation. Diminished value reports would be on the plate as well. In addition to my insurance certifications, I'll take an appraiser course to freshen up.

I would limit my exposure to liabilities such as arbitration , litigation, and required state licensing by only providing a written professional opinion and having a required End User License Agreement where the customer agrees I am not their attorney and some other protections yet to be determined.

With my training, experience (10+ years), and work ethic, I think I have enough skills and determination to keep up with the competition.

Have you ever worked with an appraiser to dispute an insurance claim? How was your experience?

How does this plan sound?

 

[skyactiv]

In a previous life I was an insurance auto damage adjuster where I would inspect vehicles, write estimates, and perform total loss valuations.

I'm thinking of getting back into the field but this time as an independent appraiser with my own business. My service would be performing total loss reviews for unhappy customers by providing an updated and improved valuation (if applicable) and relevant negotiation coaching. This would be a WFH job, with no direct vehicle inspections, just audit and review documentation. Diminished value reports would be on the plate as well. In addition to my insurance certifications, I'll take an appraiser course to freshen up.

I would limit my exposure to liabilities such as arbitration , litigation, and required state licensing by only providing a written professional opinion and having a required End User License Agreement where the customer agrees I am not their attorney and some other protections yet to be determined.

With my training, experience (10+ years), and work ethic, I think I have enough skills and determination to keep up with the competition.

Have you ever worked with an appraiser to dispute an insurance claim? How was your experience?

How does this plan sound?

I hope this crybaby service doesn't spread and start costing everyone more money to insure vehicles.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I hope this crybaby service doesn't spread and start costing everyone more money to insure vehicles.

These types of services have actually been around for decades but only motivated and financially aware people have utilized them to increase their settlements. I don't think this small fraction of the population can influence insurance rates, but if they did, the price increase could already be baked in.

 

[oggb]

I hope this crybaby service doesn't spread and start costing everyone more money to insure vehicles.

"I hope those crybaby unionized employees don't spread their ideas and start making everything more expensive for everyone!"

 

[Hall]

as an independent appraiser with my own business. My service would be performing total loss reviews for unhappy customers

How much demand or market is there for that ?

 

[Owen Lucas]

How much demand or market is there for that ?

That’s one of my questions as well, I would like to know better stats but apparently enough work for a few dozen companies in the US. Some businesses with close to a hundred reviews.

 

[atikovi]

Unless you're talking rare classic, vintage or high end vehicles, I'm not sure there is much money in it. If someone totals their 2000 Civic and they think it's worth $3,000 and the insurance company only wants to pay out $2500, what would you make on it to justify getting the extra $500 for your client? It's pretty easy to determine the value of average cars with the price guides out there.

 

[fsdork]

Unless you're talking rare classic, vintage or high end vehicles, I'm not sure there is much money in it. If someone totals their 2000 Civic and they think it's worth $3,000 and the insurance company only wants to pay out $2500, what would you make on it to justify getting the extra $500 for your client? It's pretty easy to determine the value of average cars with the price guides out there.

That's fair, but it assumes the involved parties are negotiating in good faith, and that the insured understands how to validate the offered payout from the insurer.

My home theatre subwoofer was badly damaged by the moving company when we relocated a couple years ago. The amount of push-back I got when I refused their low-ball "equivalent replacement" was unbelievable. If I hadn't sold and facilitated warranty replacements of home theatre products in a previous life, I would have struggled to articulate why their offer was unreasonable, and which specs to go after in order to push them to a higher payout. There are undoubtedly a lot of people out there who don't know what basic vehicle features to focus on when their insurance company shows them a vehicle that forms the basis for replacement cost.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Unless you're talking rare classic, vintage or high end vehicles, I'm not sure there is much money in it. If someone totals their 2000 Civic and they think it's worth $3,000 and the insurance company only wants to pay out $2500, what would you make on it to justify getting the extra $500 for your client? It's pretty easy to determine the value of average cars with the price guides out there.

I’ve had customers with a wide range of vehicles dispute their values. Granted, some have better reasons than others.

I’m not sure how much exactly I would charge but let’s say $100 would be worth a $500 increase though some companies charge a percentage of the increase. A free valuation review, which many similar services offer, would be part of the strategy. I’d eye ball it and see if it’s worth while and let the customer know if it’s worth their time.

Common vehicles like Civics though are usually valued correctly unless there were some gross mistakes.

 

[atikovi]

Don't watch this channel myself, but what you want to do would have been helpful here.

 

[DuckRyder]

I think what you are suggesting is going to be considered "Public Adjusting" and likely be regulated as such.

How are you planning to get paid for this service? a flat fee, a percentage (and of what)....

How much is software and credentials going to cost?

I could well be wrong but i think it is going to be very hard to make it worthwhile.

Depending on how committed you are on the WFH - you'd probably find cat adjuster more lucrative.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I think there’s more money in negotiating diminished value claims than total loss settlements. Keep us posted.

 

[Owen Lucas]

How are you planning to get paid for this service? a flat fee, a percentage (and of what)....

I'm not sure yet exactly, though I am leaning more towards a flat fee. This would be a side gig for the time being and I can adjust the pricing and structure on how consumers respond.

How much is software and credentials going to cost?

I already have credentials but getting an appraiser specific one would be about $400-$500, one time fee for a course. Software from $200 - $300 /mo. Beyond that, making a website, running it and maybe some marketing would be needed. Website pretty much a one time fee then monthly hosting. Marketing could get expensive, need to do more research on that.

I could well be wrong but i think it is going to be very hard to make it worthwhile.

That's one of my concerns, I can't tell how busy the other online outfits are. Will I be competing for a small sliver of a pie? Since I am in side-gig territory, this experiment won't be make or break. I do like a challenge though, uncharted territory for me that will put my business acumen and adjuster skills to the test.

Depending on how committed you are on the WFH - you'd probably find cat adjuster more lucrative.

I've done many cats, from taking a barge across the Mississippi to do claims in the bayou, east coast beach towns and many places in between. The OT and Cat duty pay was great but I'll keep that as plan C.

 

[DuckRyder]

I have more questions or really one and some thoughts.

How do you (and typically how do others who provide this service) plan to obtain the material to review. Will you use one of the canned estimating programs "photo estimate" software or video conferencing (verisk, FaceTime, Duo,Skype... or is there some pre-formatted template. what's the cost of that in time and effort?

There is a fairly large "law firm" operating in this space on behalf of a good portion of the leinholders/GAP providers, so your working with a fairly narrow market in my opinion what's the percentage of people who own a car outright and of that population how many of those cars are in a segment where the gains from your service are significant enough to put the consumer in a better position. (Probably that depends on your market area, to a significant extent.)

 

[Owen Lucas]

How do you (and typically how do others who provide this service) plan to obtain the material to review.

The existing services I found have an online contact form and upload feature for the valuation report and any photos. This seems like the most logical way for me as I would look over the report as part of the free consultation. If there is an opportunity to increase the value, then I'd review the options with the consumer, and proceed with the service if they agree.

Will you use one of the canned estimating programs "photo estimate" software or video conferencing (verisk, FaceTime, Duo,Skype... or is there some pre-formatted template. what's the cost of that in time and effort?

I'll probably use one of the estimating platforms though most of the work is vetting if comparable vehicles are available and finding higher priced ones, this could be done manually though that would be laborious. Time to review a valuation for eligibility would be 10 minutes or so. To complete a full review and report I presume an hour or 2.

There is a fairly large "law firm" operating in this space on behalf of a good portion of the leinholders/GAP providers

Unless this firm gained traction in the past 3 years or so, I don't recall having the total loss department bounce back more than 2 or 3 claims in my career from a LH not agreeing to a value. Maybe things have changed or these were dealt with in another way. Totally makes sense a large entity would capitalize on this service for the biggest players. They must have quite a system and process to crank out so many valuations and capture so much of the market. Do you mind sharing this companies name?

how many of those cars are in a segment where the gains from your service are significant enough to put the consumer in a better position. (Probably that depends on your market area, to a significant extent.)

That's a very good point. It seems a lot of people have loans on everything and they could care less what their lienholder gets even if they are in negative equity territory. The insured is out of the loop at that point or doesn't realize their predicament and is only concerned with the rental and getting a replacement vehicle at that point.