Auto damage appraisers?

[pjs77]

Just curious if anyone is or knows an auto damage appraiser in the US, preferably in the North East, either independent or for an insurance company.

I'd love to know what the job is like and what these people earn. The numbers from the U.S. Department of labor aren't really all that helpful since they range from $30k to about $70K.

Anyone?

[wreckersteve]

I work in the industry. It varies greatly from state to state. Also if you work for shop, insurance com or an independent company.

[pjs77]

I sent a PM as well in case you don't subscribe.

In my state (MA) I found after tireless research that generally the insurance company employees fall somewhere in the 50 to 70K range annually and independents have a potential of up to around 100K if they are animals on the road.

Do you find that most of these people are satisfied with the job? What are the common complaints or what is the down side?

Paul

[Embraer]

after managing a body shop, i got offered a job with state farm as an appraiser. starting salary was 46K (job was in grand rapids, michigan) plus company car. the whole body shop industry is filled with lots of black magic, underhanded dealings, etc, but i guess any business has those aspects.

when i managed the shop, the funniest guy was the local inspector for an unnamed insurance company, as well as the owner of a towing company that magically got EVERY bit of business from the same insurance company he was associated with. and lots of "totaled" cars that he estimated were back on the road with clean titles.

a good, solid job would to be an inspector for State Farm, or to do the appraising stuff, and get onto a CAT (catastrophe team.) hard work, that's often saddening when you put a price on somebody's whole life's worth of possessions, but lots of money in that line.