Afni News

What Does a Typical Day in an Insurance Job Look Like?

August 02, 2023 in

If you enjoy using your analytical skills, an insurance job may be the right career for you. Pursuing this type of career can open many opportunities for your future. However, what does a typical day in an insurance job look like?

Insurance companies and organizations tackle essential issues the world is facing today. This includes climate change, political risk, cyber crime, or unexpected financial loss.

Discover the vast career opportunities Afni offers in the insurance industry and make a meaningful impact in managing the challenges it presents. You’ll find many roles perfect for building a life-long career in the insurance field. But before anything else, let’s see what a typical day working in the Afni insurance sector looks like and see what drives people to join our Afni family.

So, we’ll explore some of the most common positions and their duties. Discover what a day at work looks like for an insurance agent, their tasks, and their skills.

Source: shutterstock.com/ Photo Contributor: fizkes

Most Common Insurance Job Roles

At Afni, we offer various specialized roles and job vacancies within the insurance industry. Those with the right skills and background have many job opportunities in this field.

You may help businesses and individuals protect their investments by purchasing policy rights that cover specific instances.

In the insurance field, you’ll find three types of prominent sectors:

• Life insurance: This insurance helps families recover from devastating losses. The family would get a payout percentage if something happened to the insurer.
• Health insurance: The health insurance sector covers visual, dental, and medical insurance. Additionally, you can also purchase individual and group health insurance policies.
• Property and casualty insurance: This type of insurance helps individuals cover unexpected property damage caused by natural disasters. This category includes home, auto, and commercial insurance.

People working in the insurance industry are of great value to the company. They advise and help individuals and businesses assess risks that impact their industry.

Insurance agents also help with selecting the right policies that meet their needs, goals, and budget.

Here are some of the most common job positions in the insurance industry and their core job functions are as follows:

1. Insurance Specialist

An insurance specialist is available in many sectors, including health, government, and more. This position's prime function is to interpret and explain insurance plans.

These professionals assist businesses and individuals in selecting the appropriate coverage. The choice is based on their specific requirements and needs. Their responsibilities would also include clarifying their policies when making a claim.

Insurance specialists may also play a role in processing and evaluating claims. Qualifications for this job often include an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Although, some industries may employ candidates with a high school diploma as is the case with our company. Afni only requires a high school diploma for eligibility to apply for the position.

Source: shutterstock.com/ Photo Contributor: Jasen Wright

1. Insurance risk analyst

An insurance risk analyst has several duties in the industry. First, the analyst needs to identify and evaluate the risks their clients may undergo. Then, they have to provide a solution and explain how they’ll insure them properly.

Their job may include meeting with the client, face-to-face or online, and examining the work environment. They then collect and analyze data such as:

• competitor pricing
• various risk management strategies
• past claims in the industry

With the gathered information, they must advise their clients on the amount of risk involved and possible solutions.

1. Insurance underwriter

Insurance underwriters play a crucial part in an insurance company. Their primary responsibility is to determine the level of risk a company or individual presents. Then, they must decide whether the agency can insure them.

They perform various background checks on their clients and applicants. Insurance underwriters use computer programs and specific customer data to analyze the risk and inform their decisions.

The coverage and insurance agency’s offer and plan depend on various factors based on the data collected.

1. Auto appraiser

An auto appraiser is a specialized insurance agent who examines vehicles damaged in accidents. These workers prepare insurance forms describing the damage and indicating the repair costs.

Additional responsibilities for auto appraisers are investigating, analyzing, and settling insurance claims. This determines whether the insurance policy covers the damage done to the car. They also decide the extent of the damage done and the amount the insurance company should cover.

Furthermore, they work with auto repair shops from where they gather their data. Once they've collected enough information, they finalize their repair price and payment.

Source: shutterstock.com/ Photo Contributor: mojo cp

What Does a Typical Day in an Insurance Job Look Like

While the primary duties of various insurance jobs are listed above, they only scratch the surface of their typical day. Top insurance agents have scheduled tasks daily, making them the best at their job.

However, some responsibilities vary depending on whether you’re a captive, agent, or call center setting. You must understand that no two insurance agents are the same.

With that in mind, here’s an overview of what a typical day in an insurance job looks like:

How a typical workday begins

Insurance specialists spend a large portion of the day communicating with clients. So, after they come into the office or set up in their working home environment, they’ll start the day by going through all their emails and voicemails. These messages may be from existing or potential clients with questions about their company and insurance.

Furthermore, Afni’s insurance specialists have to communicate with clients and find a way to work in a fast-paced environment as they might have to communicate with many potential clients during the day. The insurance specialist’s job is to:

• take inbound calls from warm leads
• use your soft skills to interact with customers and offer them the best solution based on their needs
• provide exceptional customer experience by promptly responding to your clients to build a trusting relationship with them.

Then, in the late morning, the insurance agents continue with their tasks which vary whether they work in a captive agency, independently, or in a contact center.

Captive agency

In a captive agency, insurance agents work for a single insurance company and sell only that company’s insurance policies.

The day of a captive insurance agent begins with arriving at the office, reviewing the schedule, and checking emails with important updates from clients or the company. Later, the agents usually review the insurance policies and products offered by their company, so they can be well-prepared for client inquiries.

On some days, insurance agents may have scheduled appointments with clients interested in purchasing or renewing insurance policies.

Lastly, there could be team meetings discussing sales strategies, targets, or any important updates from the company.

In our case, insurance agents take inbound calls and try to find the best solution for the potential client’s needs.

Independent agency

Independent insurance agents are not tied to a single company - they offer policies from multiple insurance providers.

The work of independent insurance agents can be in office or in a work-from-home setting. No matter their work location, the day of such an insurance agent always begins with checking emails and updates.

What is different from captive insurance agents is that independent agents often need to actively seek new clients. After checking emails, independent agents begin their day by researching potential customers.

Later, independent agents compare policies from different insurance companies until they find the most suitable coverage for their clients.

Contact center

Contact center representatives usually handle customer inquiries, claims, and policy changes over the phone or through an online program.

The morning of contact center representatives start by logging into the work system and checking if all tools are functioning correctly. Then, they set their availability status on.

On some days, there might be brief team meetings discussing updates, changes in policies, or important announcements. If there are no team meetings, contact center agents begin receiving calls and respond to customer inquiries through other channels that may include live chats or emails.

How a typical mid-work day looks like

During the mid-workday, insurance agents typically inform existing clients of expiring policies. Their work may include renewing relatively straightforward policies.

However, in some cases, they may notice that the existing policy no longer provides appropriate coverage. In these situations, insurance agents will most likely offer an alternative.

Furthermore, during the mid-work day, insurance agents may embark on setting up referral networks. This may include meeting with professionals in related fields. This includes brokers, lawyers, accountants, and financial planners.

An important task many insurance workers have is creating workshops or presentations. These provide insurance education for the wider community. Continuing education is crucial for a job that’s ever-changing of products, markets, rules, and regulations.

Moreover, the mid-work day is also a perfect time to work on various marketing techniques to secure leads. This includes updating and adding new blog posts on social media platforms and pages. Insurance workers also create newsletter email campaigns and schedule them.

How a typical workday ends

A typical work day for an insurance agent may not end at 5:00 p.m. These workers may often attend networking events or professional association meetings after work. On other nights, someone new to the field may ask to meet for dinner with a mentor or vice versa.

These meetings are excellent opportunities to connect with professionals in your area. They offer ways to gather information on the latest products, sales techniques, and what’s working in the insurance industry.

Insurance workers understand how important it is to stay connected with people related to the industry. This includes workers such as lawyers, financial planners, accountants, and brokers.

Some even have private gatherings of groups of professionals where they meet and discuss everything regarding work.

Source: shutterstock.com/ Photo Contributor: djile

Why Choose Afni Careers for an Insurance Job

If you're ready to start your exciting insurance journey, look no further than Afni. Our extensive job opportunities provide the way to a successful career.

At Afni, your typical day in an insurance job is filled with tasks like policy management, client support, issuing certificates of insurance, and working together with your team, be it from the office or home.

Even if you’re unsure whether you have the proper qualifications, we have got you covered. We will help you prepare for your duties and help you achieve your desired certificates.

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand a typical day in an insurance job. Remember to pursue your dreams and create a long, happy career.

About the Author

Samantha is the Recruitment Marketing Manager for Afni and brings a wealth of knowledge and tips for job seekers. She holds a bachelor's degree in public relations and marketing from Mount Saint Vincent University as well as a masters degree in digital marketing and advertising from Liberty University.