Insurance Broker

An Insurance Broker acts as an intermediary between clients and insurance companies. Clients may be either individuals or commercial businesses and organisations. Brokers use their in-depth knowledge of risks and the insurance market to find and arrange suitable insurance policies. Insurance brokers, unlike tied agents, are independent and offer products from more than one insurer, to ensure that their clients get the best deal.

Typical Work Activities:
Typical work activities depend largely on the size and nature of the employer and the scale of the business. In a large company, a broker may specialise in a core area; in a small firm, a broker could be involved in most functions, including new business development and acting as placing broker and claims broker.

Insurance Brokers may perform the following tasks:

    * gathering information from clients, assessing their insurance needs and risk profile;
    * building and maintaining ongoing relationships with clients including scheduling and       attending meetings and understanding the nature of clients’ businesses or lives
    * advising clients whether and when they need to make a claim on their policies;
    * developing relationships with underwriters, surveyors, photographers, structural       engineers and other professionals;
    * draw up a list of potential clients
    * make contact with these clients and see if they are interested in insurance
    * interview prospective clients to explain the details of an insurance policy and make       recommendations on the amount and type of cover that may be taken
    * research and review available insurance products to make sure that the clients are       given the best and most appropriate offer
    * market their services to increase their number of clients
    * collect and keep records of payments.
    * administrative tasks such as dealing with paperwork, correspondence, keeping detailed       records;
    * collecting insurance premiums and processing accounts.

The firm that functions as a broker is called a brokerage. There are many companies working as Insurance Consultants. These companies search for the best insurance policy for the customer from a large number of companies. For this activity, they receive a fee from the customer.