Insurance Agent Types and Salaries, Roles, Skills, Salary 2023

Insurance Agents are the ones who are responsible for identifying sales opportunities for Insurance plans or purposes and overseeing the portfolio of their clients. Their work includes several processes such as tracking insurance claims, describing advantages and disadvantages of different policies to promote insurance plans, handling policy renewals and many others. 

An individual seeking to develop a career as an Insurance Agent must have completed their Bachelor's degree in Economics, Business or other relevant fields. Also they must have very good interpersonal and negotiation skills. The average course fee for the courses to become an Insurance Agent ranges between INR 10,000 to INR 8,00,000.

Insurance Agents can find lucrative and highly paid jobs in Insurance sectors, however they can also start their own business. Some of the top recruiters of Insurance Agents include Birla Sun Life, TATA AIG Life, LIC, Om Kotak Mahindra and many others. According to Payscale, the average annual salary of an Insurance Agent in India is around INR 2,45,935 which increases with experience and skills.

How to Become an Insurance Agent?

  • The easiest way to grow an insurance agent is by completing your POSP document.
  • A POSP ( Point of Trades Person) is the name given to an insurance agent who can retail-specific insurance products.
  • To run a POSP, you only need to have the minutest educational qualifications needed by the IRDA.
  • The only necessity for running an insurance agent is that the expectant must be over 18 spaces of age and should have completed Class 10.
  • This means that anybody who has an aptitude for dealing with insurance courses can come to a POSP Agent. This includes board pupils, stay-at-home consorts, retirees, and businessmen/ women.

Major points a candidate should consider to become an insurance agent are:

  • Candidate must be over 18 years of age.
  • Candidate should have completed education up to at least Class 10 from any stream.
  • The candidate needs to have a valid Aadhaar Card and PAN Card. 
  • The candidate must either be asked to complete the forced 15-hour training specified by IRDA and also appear for the IRDA exam. 
  • This means that anybody who has an aptitude for dealing with insurance courses can come to a POSP Agent. This includes board pupils, stay-at-home consorts, retirees, and businessmen/ women. 

What Does an Insurance Agent Do?

The job description of an insurance agent includes:

  • Data Collection Conditioning - An insurance agent must result in leads. Hence, he needs to indulge in data collection for better connecting with punters and prospects.
  • Data, in this case, means any information on punters and prospects that's an essential source for connecting with them, reaching them, and relaxed serving them as their agent. Some of the data can be collected using internal records, but for the maturity of the process, the relaxed option is transportation along with internal claim representatives, observing how they work, and taking notes.
  • Call and Follow-up - As an agent, if you want to make a privy connection and get right in front of a prospect or patron, you must use the tried and tested system of making a call. A phone call that allows the discourse to be a godown in real-time and much fresh naturally is a lifeline of an insurance agent.
  • While having a pioneer discussion with a possible patron is a provocative room, but if it doesn't end with the patron initiating a usage, agents need to shoulder the follow-up exercise. Though a follow-up phone call can be touchier than the cold call, notwithstanding, it's normally that same call that initiates the transaction. Hence, a vital part of turning an insurance agent has a necessary follow-up strategy that has an unequivocal design for a particular patron.
  • Set a Meeting Target - Agents need to set a target for how legion prospects or customers they will be visiting in a week or months. Hence they must review their deal designs first thing in the morning every day, either con their meeting plan for the week. At the end of each day, agents need to review how the day went and set a meeting target for the coming day.
  • Know What You Are Dealing - Having product knowledge is an essential deal skill for any insurance agent. Understanding the product features allows agents to present product benefits verbatim and persuasively. It's because- accounts respond to enthusiastic agents who are passionate about their products and eager to partake in the benefits with them. Either, accounts are more likely to trust insurance agents who show confidence in themselves and what they're dealing with. Hence, agents must have a keen sense of their account’s dollars-and-cents position, and knowledge of the legal and assessment pleas of the insurance product they deal with.
  • Know Whom You're Dealing with - Just like having the product knowledge is essential, it's vital to know who the account is and what his/ her ambitions and conditions are. It's because a particular insurance plan that suits account A may not be the right plan for the account. So, it's of utmost importance to know your punter and whether he/ she requires insurance for levy saving needs or child’s education or wealth creation and likewise suggests to him/ her the insurance product.
  • Attend Post Transaction Queries - An agent’s job doesn't just revolve around dealing with a policy. The post-sale peregrination is as remarkable as making the trade. It involves multiple touchpoints and can begin right from the onboarding process, to extravagant payment mementos, connecting at different stages to meet the changing must-haves and ultimately, at the time of claim compact. With products being connate across insurance companies, the critical differentiator is the client experience. Either, a client-centric insurance agent is what helps companies deliver on their pledge.
  • Do Your Profit & Loss Statements - Keeping track of income and disbursements through P&L statements is another job of an agent. The income for an agent refers to the commissions made on every policy dealt, and the disbursements are related to those incurred while making calls, advertisements, and visits to customers.

Types of Insurance Agents

There are three main distribution channels for insurance:

Independent Insurance Agent

A person can grow as an individual agent, after taking the necessary training. Clear a document examination. Either he/ she gets enabled by IRDA to retail insurance methodologies to the public. And give services related to insurance. Including backstopping at the time of a claim. This license may be for Life Insurance, General Insurance, or both. One Insurance Agent can retail and represent one particular life insurance company and one particular non-life insurance company, at the same time.

 The Independent Insurance Agent possibly dealing

  • Direct Life Insurance
  • Direct Non-Life insurance or General Insurance
  • Composite Insurance (Both Life & Non-Life)

Captive Insurance Agent

Captive agents can deal insurance for one specific company, only. This particular insurance company is, normally, a “name brand” company.

A Captive is a closely held Insurance Company. The main Bourne of its establishment is to cinch the hazards of its parent company and akin groups. Day-to-day operations are controlled by the holder company, which will also be the first insured. These day-to-day operations include underwriting and claims calls as well as an investment policy of the arrested.

Micro Finance Insurance Agents

According to IRDA, a micro-insurance policy is like a Life or General Insurance policy.

A Life Micro-Insurance is

  • A Term Insurance contract with or without return of accolade.
  • Any Endowment Insurance contract.
  • A Health Insurance contract.
  • They can include an accident benefit rider, and it may be on an individual or group foundation.

General Insurance includes all non-life insurance methodologies ditto as machine insurance, bike insurance, peregrination insurance, SFSP insurance, and health insurance among others. These general insurance methodologies help people to guard themselves against losses in case of an unfortunate incident.

Insurance Agent Salary

Insurance Agents can find lucrative and highly paid job opportunities in public as well as private sectors. The salary of an Insurance Agent in the government sector is a bit higher than the private sector. In the private sector the salary of an Insurance Agents is between INR 1,00,000 to INR 3,00,000 whereas in the government sector it is between INR 1,00,000 to INR 4,00,000 with several other perks.

The average salary of an Insurance Agent depending upon various aspects such as experience, company, etc are given below: 

Specialization wise

The average annual salary of insurance agents is based on their type of specialization.

Specialization Average Annual Salary(INR)
Insurance agent 2,10,000 – 3,50,000 
Insurance Claim Adjuster 2,45,000 – 3, 90,000 
Insurance Advisor 3,45,000 – 4,330,000 

Experience Wise

The average annual salary of insurance agents is based on their experience.

Experience Average Annual Salary(INR)
0-1 years 2,01,000
1-4 years 2,40,000
5-9 years 2,95,000
10-19 years 5,00,000

Skills Required to Become an Insurance Agent

The skills required to pursue the career of an insurance agent are- 

  • People Savvy-Puts the requisites of the punter first. An agent who's only out to earn a commission, regardless of the requisites of the punter, isn't likely to last long in the business. Agents and brokers who mind precisely what their punters and prospects say will be suitable to earn their trust, which is the hardest part of their job.
  • Good punter service. Punters who are suitable to get hold of their agents when they need them are much more likely to stay happy and reassured. A timely response to inquiries and phone calls is a requisite, and you must be suitable to do what you say you'll do when you say you'll do it, or at least have a good reason as to why you can't.
  • Emotional intelligence- This includes the faculty to mind and empathizes with punters on a deeper stratum to discern what they want and need. A good agent is political and knows how to help a punter see pocket reality definitely, yea when the punter is dead set against it.
  • Personality and Reliance-High energy stratum- One of the most important traits of a good insurance agent is that they appear to be overwrought and eager at all times. A worn-down or teary disposition will incontinently rub off on punters and discourage them from buying anything.
  • Ceaselessness- This is possibly the most vital quality of any good insurance agent. Those who work in this field absolutely must be competent to handle rejection on a day-to-day bottom throughout their careers and do it with a smile.
  • Honesty- Insurance agents who use deception to close business seldom stay with the same company for really long — and can end up behind bars in some cases. A good agent knows that telling the facticity forthright will win them accounts' respect and trust and is likely to lead to iteration business over time.
  • Product Knowledge- A wide array of products. As the old byword goes, if all you have to work with is a hammer, everything in the world looks like a nail. A good insurance agent will be equal to offer a comprehensive selection of products and services that can meet any reasonable need a customer might have.
  • Specialized know- method- A good insurance agent knows much more than how to deal with a policy. The agent must understand the duty and legal aspects of the products they deal with and how they're designed to fit into an account's overall dollars-and-cents situation.

Insurance Agent Top Recruiters

The top recruiting companies who recruit insurance agents’ are-

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) General Insurance Corporation (GIC)
Birla Sun-Life Tata AIG Life
Postal Life Insurance ICICI Prudential
Kotak Mahindra Reliance

Insurance Agent Types and Salaries FAQs

Ques. How can I know if I'm being paid fairly as an insurance agent?

Ans. Notwithstanding, visit Indeed's Salary Calculator to get a free, singular pay range rested on your spot If you’re unconvinced about what stipend is pretty for an insurance agent.

Ques. What's the main difference between a broker and an insurance agent?

Ans. The main difference between a broker and an insurance agent is that an insurance agent works directly for the insurance company while an insurance broker is independent of the company and may promote products from different companies at the same time.

Ques. How does an insurance agent develop different packages for their accounts?

Ans. To develop different packages, an insurance agent will consider the conditions of every account and propose a product that suits that condition.

Ques. As an insurance agent, what does danger administration involve?

Ans. As an insurance agent, danger administration involves the proper identification of danger. After the danger is associated, the insurance agent applies the most suitable fat answer that will minimize damage caused by the affair of an unfortunate event.

Ques. How many multifold hours is an insurance agent anticipated to work?

Ans. Insurance agents normally work for eight hours a day and five days a week. The minimum working hours for a full-time insurance agent is 40 hours a week.

Ques. How long does it take to go to a life insurance agent?

Ans. It takes around 50 hours of training from a training institution to become an insurance agent. Notwithstanding, in the case of getting a license, it requires completing 75 hours of training.

Ques. Is being an insurance agent stressful?

Ans. Insurance agents may know stress at the dawn of their career while going conditioned to the job. Knew insurance agents may develop stress with changes to their work or from trying to balance work- life.

Ques. What expertise is demanded to be an insurance agent?

Ans.  Below are the experience challenged to be an insurance agent:

  • Positive poise
  • Great communication
  • Patron service
  • Quick literacy
  • Tolerance and duration

Ques. Who makes further plutocrat real estate agents or insurance agents?

Ans. Insurance agents and real estate agents are both trades professionals who concentrate on fully different types of products and services. Although real estate agents have other formal training musts, insurance agents generally earn forward paychecks.

Ques. How long does it take to go to a commissioned insurance agent?

Ans.  It can take around 3-4 weeks to draw a license as an insurance agent. License musts may differ depending on the type of insurance that an agent wants to deal with.

Ques. Is going an insurance agent a good choice for those transitioning to a new career?

Ans. Yes, growing an insurance agent can be a good career choice for individuals making a switch to a different career. The fences to entry are low and it is not considered problematic to gain a state license.

Ques. How does an insurance agent earn excess capital?

Ans. Insurance agents can earn excess capitalists from the commission made on the courses they deal with and also from the accolades made on renewals.

Ques. What are the different ways to ameliorate insurance deals as an insurance agent?

Ans. Some ways to ameliorate insurance selling chops as an insurance agent include:

  • Lead generation
  • Appointment setting
  • Harkening and asking the right questions
  • Competence to present and handle fusses
  • Rapport-Building

Ques. What tuition do you need to be an insurance agent?

Ans. Prospective insurance agents will need a high academy warrant or jury and have a license to be an insurance agent. Insurance licensing necessities vary by state.

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