What Is An Insurance Agent?

For the layman without any clue, an insurance agent is simply the man who arranges somebody’s insurance for a fee. The question, therefore, should not just be “What is an insurance agent?” but could rather be expanded to “What can an insurance agent do?”

In a broad sense, these insurance industry professionals are the people whose specialty is in the business of providing financial security and protection for anybody who want them. The demand (and importance) of their kind of service can be gauged by the fact that the insurance industry today comprise one of the country’s largest groups of workers.

Duties

The question of what is an insurance agent can be answered in several ways. The life insurance agent collects money (called premium) from a policyholder. When the policyholder dies, his family as the beneficiary will receive a substantial amount of money in return.

This lump sum of money in a life insurance is many times larger than the original amount paid for by the policyholder. The insurance agent can become a financial manager when he sometimes arranges that the benefit money is converted into college tuition payments for the policyholder’s children.

During discussions and planning regarding the type and amount of policies to take, the insurance agent becomes an adviser-planner to his clients.  He can bring out the finer points of a policy vis-à-vis the client’s situation, including advantages and disadvantages, if any.

Qualifications

Another answer to the question “what is an insurance agent” can be answered thus: an insurance agent is someone who had taken and passed the government insurance examination and is now a licensed professional dealing with insurance selling.

He is also someone who had undergone the difficult insurance licensing process because every state has its own licensing regulations. This is over and above the complicated fact that the rules is different for each type of insurance he plans to sell.

Moreover, the insurance agent who plans to include selling securities products will need anther certification (FINRA) after passing another different set of examinations.  For those who plan to do the job of a financial planner, they may also need to be formally designated as a Certified Financial Planner.

Other credentials

Having a college degree and wanting the career of a professional insurance agent is certainly an advantage, though not necessarily required. These days, however, agencies prefer college-educated candidates to fill up their vacancies.

Big insurance agencies are now offering training programs for students still in college but do part-time work as insurance agents. These young people are actually groomed as future managers and executives.

 

What is an insurance agent? An insurance agent is a well-educated professional who helps protect the health, lives and properties of people, families and businesses through insurance.