To begin your journey as an insurance broker in the UK, you first need to understand the role of an insurance broker and what this entails. An insurance broker is a regulated financial advisor who tends to focus on general insurance. As an insurance broker you would be required to act as an intermediary between your clients and insurance companies. Helping your clients to decide what type of insurance and level of cover they need and recommending a suitable policy at a price they can afford. Your clients can consist of individuals, organisations and commercial businesses. And you will be expected to liaise with a number of insurance companies who provide a range of services, in order to secure your clients the best deals.
Key Skills for Aspiring Insurance Brokers
Before you make the decision to gain the education and complete the training required to become an insurance broker, you should know what skills you need. It is important be sure that the job is suited to your skillset before you invest time into trying to secure an insurance broker role.
Some of the key skills aspiring insurance brokers must have include:
- Problem-solving abilities. Part of the role of an insurance broker is to find creative solutions to every day insurance problems, which means you have to be a strong problem-solver. Your problem-solving skills will determine how good you become at your job and your level of success.
- Customer service skills. Insurance brokers deal with people every day as part of their jobs. You’ll be responsible for understanding what your clients need, solving their various problems and tailoring solutions, and to do this you’ll need to work closely with both your clients and insurance brokers.
- Numeracy. As an insurance broker you’ll need to be mathematically orientated and be comfortable with working with numbers. You’ll need to be able to quickly and correctly complete mathematical calculations and avoid making any errors. You’ll also need to be able to look through volumes of numbers to try to find errors someone else has made to highlight and correct them.
- Numbers and calculations and liaising with various different people will require strong organisation skills. Strong organisation will not only help you to avoid mistakes and forget to complete tasks, but they’ll also help to reduce the stress associated to the job.
- Detail-orientated. An insurance broker needs to be able to pay attention to the finer details and find even the smallest of errors. They also need to be able to understand details in policies.
- Communication. Part of the job is being able to communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and non-verbally and with confidence.
- Negotiation. In order to reach a middle ground and provide the best deals for your clients, you need to have strong negotiation skills. You also need to be able to communicate with all parties effectively and respectfully.
Other essential skills include computer literacy, persistence, patience and strong sales skills.
How to Become an Insurance Broker – Educational Routes
To become an insurance broker you need to gain the necessary qualifications, the route you take to do this will depend on your current level of education. You can become a qualified insurance broker through:
- A university degree
- An apprenticeship
- By working towards the role
University:
Before you apply for a training scheme with an insurance company, you might want to consider acquiring a degree first. Relevant degrees include:
- Finance
- Business studies
- Surveying
- Engineering
To do this, you’ll usually need 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent. Finding a suitable university course can easily be done online. It is important to remember that internships play a significant role in being ready to apply for roles after you have graduated from university. Universities can often help you to secure relevant internships, so make the most of this while you’re attending university.
Apprenticeships:
If you’re not interested in returning to a school-like environment, another option is to complete an apprenticeship. These usually take about 24 months to complete and tend to combine workplace learning with studying. To secure an apprenticeship you will usually need 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship. During an apprenticeship you will work and get paid for your work, while also training and gaining a qualification. You can search for relevant apprenticeships online.
Working Towards the Role:
By starting in positions like insurance technician, junior account handler, or trainee broker, you can advance into a broker roles while also gaining qualifications through the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
Building Experience in Insurance Brokerage
One of the best ways to place yourself in a strong position to secure an insurance broker role is to gain experience of working in the industry. You can do this by:
- Finding Internships: internships are a great way to gain experience. You can find internships by utilising university career services.
- Networking: Attending industry-specific career fairs and networking events can help you to connect with insurance professionals.
- Job search platforms: Use job search platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor, specifically targeting internships in the insurance sector.
- Landing Entry-Level Jobs: Research insurance companies and visit their websites to find entry-level job listings like insurance technician or junior account handler roles. Leverage connections made during internships or networking events to discover job openings. You can even join insurance industry groups on social media and professional networks to stay informed about entry-level positions.
Pursuing Professional Certifications in Insurance
Through securing internships and work experience, you can also gain relevant insurance qualifications through the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). These CII qualifications are relevant to the insurance area you choose to specialise in, for example marine, commercial or general insurance.
Examples of qualifications include:
- CII Level 3 Certificate in Insurance – for trainee brokers
- CII Diploma in Insurance
- CII Advanced Diploma in Insurance
Advancing Careers in Insurance Brokerage
As with many career paths, an insurance broker career has many progression paths allowing you to advance your career. You might start your journey as a general insurance broker, but once you’ve developed experience and skills, you could then progress into account handling, claims broking, business development, specialisation areas, management roles, and even transition into fields such as loss adjusting, underwriting, or compliance.
Staying Current with Insurance Industry Dynamics
To be successful in this industry it is important you stay up-to-date with current insurance industry dynamics, you can do this by:
- Pursuing the news: read insurance publications, trade journals, blogs and websites, social media sites, newspapers, books and magazines, dedicated to insurance.
- Virtual training sessions: engaging in virtual training sessions is an excellent way to keep up with current trends in the industry.
- Associations and networking events: speaking to other professionals in the industry can help you to gain new knowledge and learn about any changes in the industry.
- Continuing personal development: it is important to always enhance your personal development in the industry, you can do this online.
Conclusion
Becoming a qualified insurance broker has never been easier with the massive range of resources now available to you. For those wondering how to become an insurance broker, you will need to study to gain the qualifications you need, and you’ll need to continually develop your knowledge and skillset to be successful and progress in your career. But if you do this, you can secure a very rewarding and satisfying career for yourself.