Insurance brokers are a group of professionals who act as a medium between an insurance company and a consumer to help find the consumer find the best possible policy for their needs and situation. While it may sound like insurance brokers work with insurance companies, they actually work for consumers which means that they cannot bind coverage on behalf of the insurer. In fact, that job role falls onto insurance agents who actually work for insurance companies and can complete insurance sales.
An insurance broker makes all of their money off of commissions from selling the right insurance policy to businesses or individuals. So, just to clarify, when you hire an insurance broker, they work directly for you, whereas an insurance agent works on behalf of the insurance company. An insurance broker can take all of the hard work and stress out of searching for the best policy as they do all of the research for you.
How do They Make Money?
As said above, insurance brokers earn their money based off of commissions which means they earn between 2-8% of premiums, however, that all depends on state regulations. An insurance premium is the specific amount of money that an individual or business pays for their insurance policy.
What Should I Expect from an Insurance Broker?
The main job of an insurance broker is to provide their clients with professional, efficient, and flawless customer service which is in the clients’ best interest at all times. They should strive to understand your exact situation and what you need so that neither of you are ever left guessing. They must also have a great understanding of your requirements and do whatever they can to make sure they are entirely fulfilled.
Insurance brokers work well because choosing the right plan can be very complicated, however, they take all of the guess work out so that you don’t have to deal with it. When people are relying solely on their judgement, they tend to settle for a less than satisfactory policy as they just don’t know what they are really looking for.
How do you Become an Insurance Broker?
To become an insurance broker, you will need to complete your bachelor’s degree and obtain a great level of intelligence, it really isn’t an easy gig. You will also most likely have to hold a great background in sales, marketing, or both. Strong interpersonal skills are also of the utmost importance.
It is recommended that an insurance broker should become an expert in one field of insurance as opposed to many. You will be able to handle as many different types as you want, however, being an expert in one is the best way to go as you will be able to focus your entire energy on it and hold a high level of expertise. Being an expert is highly beneficial.
Your Questions Answered
There are a lot of different questions that fly around about insurance brokers, so it is only fair that in this article we go through them and answer them in the best way possible so you can achieve a great standard of knowledge about insurance brokers. So, without further ado, let’s answer some questions.
Is an Insurance Broker Cheaper to Get Insurance Through?
You cannot actually buy insurance through an insurance broker; however, they can certainly point you in the right direction and allow you to pick the best policy for you. They can often help you find an affordable policy for an affordable price.
Is it Better to Get It Through a Broker?
As said above, you cannot actually obtain insurance through a broker, but they can of course point you in the correct direction. Once you have been presented with all options available to you and your broker has concluded all of their research, you must make sure that an agent or insurance company goes through with it. Your broker is not able to finalize it for you.
Insurance Agent Vs Insurance Broker
Basically, brokers work on behalf of their customers to do research and find a range of different policies that will suit their clients’ needs as best as possible, whereas an agent works on behalf of an insurance company and can complete the sale of an insurance policy.