Insurance Broker

Insurance brokers act as a link between clients wanting insurance and insurance companies. Using their knowledge of the insurance market, brokers advise individuals and/or commercial companies and source the most suitable policies to suit their clients’ needs.

There are two main areas of work:

The retail insurance market focuses on sourcing general insurance cover for individuals and companies, which typically fall into motor, household, pet or travel categories.
The wholesale insurance market deals with more complex and higher-value requests, such as sourcing cover for a fleet of ships or an art collection or insuring a footballer’s legs.

With complex risks, insurance brokers prepare detailed submission documents to present to underwriters. This may involve:

Visiting clients to assess their exposure to risk (the likelihood of a loss). They carry out detailed assessments, which may involve structural surveys, health and safety inspections, reviewing previous claims records and taking photographs.
Advising clients of the measures they can take to prevent a loss, such as training employees or installing alarms.
Spreading risks amongst several insurance companies, negotiating the most favourable terms.

The work of Lloyd’s brokers is similar but can involve assets worth millions of pounds spread worldwide. They only deal with Lloyd’s insurance companies.

Duties for individual brokers can vary widely:

In large companies, brokers tend to specialise in technical areas like marine, energy or engineering.
Claims brokers advise and help clients to prepare and submit claims, sometimes assisting in settlement negotiations.
Risk assessment brokers conduct safety and claims audits.
Brokers in smaller companies tend to have wider responsibilities. These may include surveying, loss adjusting, risk management, account handling and claims.

Other parts of brokers’ work include administration, dealing with correspondence and collecting premiums.

Hours and environment

Brokers typically work office hours, Monday to Friday, although some broking firms open on Saturdays. Part-time work is possible.

The work is office based, maintaining constant contact with clients by phone, post, email and in person. It can involve travelling locally to see clients. International accounts may require some overseas travel.

Salary and other benefits

These figures are only a guide, as actual rates of pay may vary depending on the employer and where people live.

Insurance juniors, dealing with routine administration of customers’ policies, usually earn between €22,000 and €25,000 a year.
Experienced insurance brokers can earn up to €40,000 a year.
Senior brokers, handling more complex requests, may earn up to €70,000 a year, or more.

Some earnings are linked to performance, while others can be entirely commission based.

Skills and personal qualities

An insurance broker needs:

good communication and interpersonal skills
numeracy and business communication skills
accuracy and attention to detail
confidence, with strong negotiating and influencing skills
honesty and integrity
report-writing ability
good IT skills
to be organised, with excellent time management skills
the ability to gather and analyse information quickly
an understanding about the insurance market, products and FSA regulations.

Interests

It is important to:

enjoy dealing with people
like working as part of a team.

Getting in

Over 20,000 people are employed within insurance broking. Employers range from small brokers to large multinational financial advice and insurance companies. Many brokers work in Dublin, which is the major insurance centre in Ireland. There are, however, opportunities throughout , mainly in cities and large towns.

Entry routes

There are no standard entry requirements for insurance brokers, with opportunities for graduates, college and school leavers. Entry could be gained through an administration or insurance technician role, gaining relevant experience and qualifications to progress.

There is also an option to pursue The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship

This apprenticeship leads to a Level 8 honours degree – the BA (Hons) in Insurance Practice.