Insurance agents are responsible for selling and negotiating life, health, property, or other types of insurance to meet the needs of their customers. As an insurance agent, you can work for an insurance company, refer clients to independent brokers, or work as an independent broker. When considering different types of investment professionals to help with your financial needs, it is important to understand what insurance agents do. Insurance agents are responsible for identifying sales opportunities for insurance plans and overseeing a customer base.
They must identify risk management strategies, manage policy renewals, and follow up on claims. Typically, a life insurance agent receives between 30% and 90% of the amount paid for a policy (also known as a premium) by the customer for the first year. In later years, the agent can receive between 3% and 10% of each year's premium, also known as renewals or final commissions. The vast majority of life insurance companies have no formal education requirements to become agents. Once a customer or benefit decision maker has agreed to offer the type of products an agent sells, they use their knowledge of the specific business landscape, industry, and benefits to recommend packages suitable for the customer's business.
Companies that have a good idea of their coverage needs may find that an agent can better serve their needs. This prohibition can be removed if the Superintendent approves that the person remains or becomes employed in the insurance industry. You'll help them navigate an area that can be confusing and intimidating, and ultimately help people protect themselves from the high costs of health care not covered by health insurance. Second, you should visit your state's insurance commissioner's website and check the history of complaints against the companies you're considering working for. Both captive and independent agents work on a fee basis and can execute an insurance transaction from start to finish, in a variety of insurance plans. A pioneer in insurance technology, Insureon operates the largest online marketplace for small business insurance in the United States.
Because brokers don't represent insurance companies, they can't link coverage on behalf of an insurer when buying insurance. An independent agent can sell policies from several insurance companies, provided that their policies are part of the brokerage that the agent represents, and can present their clients with policies from competing companies to find the one that best suits their particular needs. It's part of the real responsibilities of being an insurance agent: connecting with people, cultivating relationships and finding solutions. Brokers examine several policies and recommend certain coverages from different companies, but then they must turn to an agent or insurance provider to have a selected policy tied to a customer. The sales commission that life insurance agents can earn in the first year if they receive a salary that only pays commissions; that is the highest commission for any type of insurance. Either way, the typical insurance agent will spend most of their time engaging in some type of marketing activity to identify individuals who might need new or additional insurance coverage, provide them with quotes from the companies they represent, and persuade them to sign the new insurance contract.
If a career in life insurance sales is something you really want, take your time and wait for the right opportunity in the right company.
