Insurance Agent

Who is an Insurance Agent?

Insurance Agents represent an insurance company and sell the company's Insurance policy to clients. They also advise individuals or companies to select the right Insurance Policies as required for Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Automobile Insurance, etc.

What does an Insurance Agent do?

An Insurance Agent helps individuals or companies to select the right policy and plan according to their needs and informs the client about the plans and benefits to financial perks of families, individuals and businesses. They also advise insurance protection for home, business, property, and automobile and prepare Insurance Policy documents for clients.

What are the skills required?

Focus and Perseverance is the key to success in the Insurance Industry and Insurance Agents are the predominant salesperson who requires great soft skills and listening capacity. The skills required to become a successful Insurance Agent are:

• Communication Skill

• Teamwork Spirit

• Professionalism

• Result-Oriented

• Passionate

Who can become an Insurance Agent?

Anyone who passed class 12th can become an Insurance Agent.

Top colleges offering a course on Insurance Agency

If you have completed 10+2 you can become an Insurance Agent, but if you are looking at a more prestigious role and want to grow in the Insurance Sector then you need to join a good college that teaches Insurance. The top colleges teaching Insurance are:

• Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, New Delhi

• Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women, New Delhi

• Nalanda Open University, Bihar

• Vinayakrao Patil Mahavidyalaya, Maharashtra

• Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai

• JSS College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Karnataka

• Institute of Insurance and Risk Management, Hyderabad

Insurance Institute of India conducts preliminary tests for Aspirants. The candidate needs to reside in a place with a population of more than five thousand. His 10+2 must be completed from a recognized school. If you are interested in pursuing a career in Insurance then we have given in-depth information, for you to have a strong understanding of the career prospects of an Insurance Agent.

Career scope

Insurance Agents are responsible for identifying sales opportunities for insurance plans and convincing the client to buy their insurance plan. They identify risk-management strategies, handle policy renewal and track claims.

Insurance is a growing business and the industry runs on uncertainty and reimbursement. Favorable laws are making Insurance Companies in every aspect of the market. The majority of Insurance that is applied is related to health Insurance.

Healthcare is becoming more and more expensive lately and Health Insurance is becoming more prominent and is offered by various companies to their employers. An Insurance Agent works with its clients to help them select specific policies and also sell related packages or offers.

How much does an Insurance Agent make?

An entry-level Insurance Agent with less than a year experience earns an average of Rs 16,000 per month. A mid-career Insurance Agent with more than 5 years of experience earns an average of Rs 27,000 per month. An experienced Insurance Agent with more than 10 years of experience earns around Rs 33,000. The estimates given are according to payscale.

What are the books and study materials available?

To become a life Insurance agent one has to pass an exam known as IC38 which is conducted by the Insurance Institute of India for Life Insurance Agents in India. The books and the study materials that you would require are:

• The fundamentals of Insurance, Hargovind Dayal

• Risk Analysis, Insurance, and Retirement Planning.

• Secrets of Successful Insurance Sales, Jack

• Fundamentals of Life Insurance, Mishra Kaninka

• IC-38 Comprehensive coursebook on Life Insurance, Mohinder Singh Kamboj

• General Insurance guide, Dr L.P Gupta

Aspirants who wish to be a Lic Insurance Agent need to go through the Ic-38 Comprehensive course on Life Insurance written by Mohinder Singh Kamboj, as it offers comprehensive information that will help you pass the IC 38 exam.

Major recruiters

There are many Insurance companies both government and private which recruit Insurance agents. The major recruiters for Insurance Agents are:

• Life Insurance Corporation of India

• Tata Aig Life Insurance

• New India Assurance

• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

• Oriental Insurance

• ICICI Lombard General Insurance

Interesting fact 

The first appearance of Insurance in world history, occurred in China, around 3000 B.C. Merchants who transported goods through ships, were at risk of losing their merchandise due to shipwreck and pirates.

Some of those merchants banded together and distributed their goods across several ships so that a shipwreck will lead to a loss for each of them but not deliver a total loss to one person. Money in Insurance works the same way, where the money is collected from various insurers and paid to claimants.