What's it like working in insurance?

[CoffeeTeaCoffee]

Currently looking for my next role, have a mixed background as an account/relationship manager in a couple of industries.

I've been approached by an insurance broker for a prospective move. But I have 0 knowledge of the insurance market. Where would my skills fit? Would I need to gain qualifications?

There isn't a specific role open so really would be up-to me where I pitched myself! Great position to be in - but I have no idea where to start!

What would you be doing? Sales? UW? Disability?

I work in insurance - it's very boring, but WFH and well paid. Great benefits

It has a reputation for being dull but I think its undeserved. I work for a lloyds broker though which is probably at the more glamorous end.

If you have account management experience that will be very transferable.

Insurance is one of the last industries where you can still start out making the tea and end up the CEO of a massive business.

Yeah it's my worry that it may be all numbers . When I think insurance, I think accountancy - is that way off the mark?

I don't mind training in a certain area but equally do not want to start on the bottom rung of a ladder. Which area would you say is the most transferable?

Well a broker would usually be matching potential insurance products to a customer's needs. So you might need to know a bit about insurance products to do that..!

Other insurance roles are:
Actuary - statistical analysis of risk (lots of data and figures)
Underwriter - assessing individual customer risks and working out what level of cover to offer, what premium to charge
Claims management - I did this for over 12 years and loved it. Motor, household, travel and eventually defending personal injury claims. The role involves assessing the customer's claim, obtaining info and documents, instructing loss adjusters or investigators, and deciding whether the claim is covered under the policy.

You can obtain professional qualifications from the Chartered Insurance Institute but they're not usually a requirement.

I’ve found the people lovely and have been very happy in the industry. I’m in the legal side though.

Broker role here. Lots of people start with no insurance knowledge.

I think experience in relationship management would be a really good stepping stone into a more senior role in insurance. Think commercial insurance and Advised HNW policies that need account managers rather than personal home and car.

It is all about understanding their wealth or business, what they need to cover so working out what could go wrong, and finding solutions to meet. It can be different for different businesses and thats what keeps it interesting and sometimes very complex.

It would be a steep learning curve the first year and most insurers/brokers have their own accreditation process (& yes you can do CII exams but not always necessary) to help understand rules/regs and different policy covers. Some figures work but not lots. It is highly regulated, and usually some continued learning needed.

I thought it would be black/white but its not. It's won't give great stories for a for a party, and to outsiders it's boring but my days go very fast.