Insurance broker

Insurance brokers are natural or legal persons who provide insurance. They are also called insurance intermediaries.

Insurance brokers promote, sell and provide advice on various insurance policies such as life insurance, health insurance, accident insurance and fire insurance to individuals and organisations. They also work as intermediaries between individuals or organisations and insurance companies, and negotiate the best insurance policies for their clients, arranging insurance cover where needed. Insurance brokers engage with new prospective clients, provide them with quotes for their policy needs, assist them in the signing of new insurance contracts and propose specific solutions to their specific problems.

Includes insurance intermediaries.

The duties of an insurance broker include, but are not limited to:

• Invent effective marketing strategies to sell insurance plans to new clients or up-sell to current clients
• Use methods such as networking, cold calling etc to spot opportunities and cultivate trust with potential customers
• Gauge the condition of business or individual customers and discover plans according to their requirements
• Collaborate with clients to introduce them with befitting risk management strategies
• Submit regular reviews of progress to interested parties
• Retain and renew bookkeeping systems, database and records
• Oversee insurance claims to ensure fair dealing and satisfaction
• Accomplish predetermined development goals by obtaining new clients
• Follow the market trends and continuously refurbish knowledge on products and services
• Fulfill all policy requirements

The following job titles also refer to insurance broker:

retail insurance broker
sales insurance supervisor
insurance intermediary
insurance sales adviser
insurance sales advisor
personal lines insurance broker
life insurance broker
insurance sales representative
property and casualty insurance agent and broker
insurance sales agent
insurance seller
commercial insurance broker
insurance sales consultant
insurance agent
insurance sales person
life insurance representative
household insurance broker

Earning a degree in accounting, finance, management, business or economics is the standard route to becoming an insurance broker. These degrees help develop industry knowledge and equip you with essential skills. While a bachelor’s degree is not required to pursue a career as an insurance broker, having one significantly improves your employability.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Insurance broker is a Skill level 3 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to insurance broker.

property insurance underwriter
insurance claims handler
actuarial assistant
insurance risk consultant
insurance underwriter

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of insurance broker. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of insurance broker with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

insurance agency manager
actuarial consultant
personal trust officer
insurance rating analyst
insurance claims manager

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of insurance broker.

• Insurance law: The law and legislation concerning the policies of transferring risks or losses from one party, the insured, to another, the insurer, in exchange for a periodic payment. This includes the regulation of insurance claims and the business of insurance.
• Sales promotion techniques: The techniques used to persuade customers to purchase a product or a service.
• Principles of insurance: Understand the principles of insurance, including third party liability, stock and facilities.
• Actuarial science: The rules of applying mathematical and statistical techniques to determine potential or existing risks in various industries, such as finance or insurance.
• Claims procedures: The different procedures that are used to formally request a payment for a suffered loss from an insurance company.
• Insurance market: The trends and major driving factors in the insurance market, insurance methodologies and practices, and the identification of the major stakeholders in the insurance sector.
• Types of insurance: The various types of risk or loss transfer policies that exist and their characteristics, such as health insurance, car insurance or life insurance.

These skills are necessary for the role of insurance broker.

• Calculate insurance rate: Gather information on your client’s situation and calculate their premium on the basis of various factors such as their age, the place where they live and the value of their house, property and other relevant assets.
• Protect client interests: Protect the interests and needs of a client by taking necessary actions, and researching all possibilities, to ensure that the client obtains their favoured outcome.
• Analyse insurance needs: Gather information about the insurance needs of a client, and give information and advice about all possible insurance options.
• Inform on insurance products: Inform customers on insurance-related matters such as current insurance offers, changes in existing contracts or the advantages of certain insurance packages.
• Prospect new customers: Initiate activities in order to attract new and interesting customers. Ask for recommendations and references, find places where potential customers can be located.
• Advise on financial matters: Consult, advise, and propose solutions with regards to financial management such as acquiring new assets, incurring in investments, and tax efficiency methods.
• Apply technical communication skills: Explain technical details to non-technical customers, stakeholders, or any other interested parties in a clear and concise manner.
• Create insurance policies: Write a contract that includes all the necessary data, such as the insured product, the payment to be made, how often the payment is needed, the personal details of the insured and on what conditions the insurance is valid or invalid.
• Compare insurance products: Compare the offers of several insurance companies in order to find the product which will best suit the client’s needs and expectations.
• Sell insurance: Sell insurance products and services to customers, such as health, life or car insurance.
• Handle financial transactions: Administer currencies, financial exchange activities, deposits as well as company and voucher payments. Prepare and manage guest accounts and take payments by cash, credit card and debit card.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of insurance broker. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Financial products: The different types of instruments that apply to the management of cash flow that are available on the market, such as shares, bonds, options or funds.
• Customer service: Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer’s or service user’s satisfaction.
• Contract law: The field of legal principles that govern written agreements between parties concerning the exchange of goods or services, including contractual obligations and termination.
• Social security law: Legislation concerning the protection of individuals and the provision of aid and benefits, such as health insurance benefits, unemployment benefits, welfare programs and other government-provided social security.
• Modern portfolio theory: The theory of finance that attempts to either maximise the profit of an investment equivalent to the risk taken or to reduce the risk for the expected profit of an investment by judiciously choosing the right combination of financial products.
• Tax legislation: Tax legislation applicable to a specific area of specialisation, such as import tax, government tax, etc.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of insurance broker. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Manage claim files: Follow up on the progress of a claim file, keep all parties informed of the status of the file, ensure the customer receives the damages owed, treat any problems or complaints from customers, close the file and give information to an authorised person or department when there is suspicion of fraud.
• Use data processing techniques: Gather, process and analyse relevant data and information, properly store and update data and represent figures and data using charts and statistical diagrams.
• Analyse claim files: Check the claim from a customer and analyse the value of the lost materials, buildings, turnover or other elements, and judge the responsibilities of the different parties.
• Maintain relationship with customers: Build a lasting and meaningful relationship with customers in order to ensure satisfaction and fidelity by providing accurate and friendly advice and support, by delivering quality products and services and by supplying after-sales information and service.
• Apply statistical analysis techniques: Use models (descriptive or inferential statistics) and techniques (data mining or machine learning) for statistical analysis and ICT tools to analyse data, uncover correlations and forecast trends.
• Develop investment portfolio: Create an investment portfolio for a customer that includes an insurance policy or multiple policies to cover specific risks, such as financial risks, assistance, reinsurance, industrial risks or natural and technical disasters.
• Provide cost benefit analysis reports: Prepare, compile and communicate reports with broken down cost analysis on the proposal and budget plans of the company. Analyse the financial or social costs and benefits of a project or investment in advance over a given period of time.
• Decide on insurance applications: Assess applications for an insurance policy, taking into account the risk analyses and client information, in order to deny or approve the application and set in motion the necessary procedures following the decision.
• Maintain records of financial transactions: Collate all the financial transactions done in the daily operations of a business and record them in their respective accounts.
• Create cooperation modalities: Prepare, determine and agree on the conditions for cooperation contracts with a company, by comparing products, following evolutions or shifts in the market and negotiating terms and prices.
• Initiate claim file: Start the process to file a claim for a customer or victim, based on the judgement of the damage and the responsibilities of the parties involved.
• Monitor legislation developments: Monitor changes in rules, policies and legislation, and identify how they may influence the organisation, existing operations, or a specific case or situation.
• Promote financial products: Inform existing or potential customers about the various financial goods and services that are offered by the company.
• Manage contracts: Negotiate the terms, conditions, costs and other specifications of a contract while making sure they comply with legal requirements and are legally enforceable. Oversee the execution of the contract, agree on and document any changes.
• File claims with insurance companies: File a factual request to an insurance company in case a problem occurs which is covered under an insurance policy.
• Deliver visual presentation of data: Create visual representations of data such as charts or diagrams for easier understanding.
• Manage claims process: Manage the relation with an insurer related to its obligation to receive, investigate and act on a claim filed by an insured.
• Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
• Analyse insurance risk: Analyse the probability and size of the risk that is to be insured, and estimate the value of movable or immovable property of the client.
• Identify clients’ needs: Identify the areas in which the client may require aid and investigate the possibilities for meeting those needs.
• Manage contract disputes: Monitor issues that arise between the parties involved in a contract and provide solutions in order to avoid lawsuits.
• Organise a damage assessment: Organise a damage assessment by indicating an expert to identify and examine the damage, give information and instructions to experts and follow up on the experts, and write a damage report.

3321 – Insurance representatives

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References

1. Insurance broker – ESCO
2. Insurance Broker job description template | Workable
3. Insurance Broker Job Description – Betterteam
4. Featured image: Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash