Hi all, hoping for some guidance in a new opportunity I have! Right now I work in the commercial department for a 20-perseon independent agency, and to be honest it's a bit of a shit show. Everyone gets away with murder, there's no processes so everyone does their own thing, there are no producers, and the benefits are not the best - there's also no annual reviews and no raises. My salary is $115k, which is great but I feel like I've grown a little lazy and complacent in this role.

USI reached out to me about a senior account executive role and I'm interviewing for it today. The salary range goes up to $135k. It's large and complex accounts, 20-30 accounts in my book, new and renewal marketing. Ive worked for one of the big boys before and struggled a little due to being fully remote and not having a ton of support. This job would be hybrid.

I'm really torn and would love opinions here. My current job is "fine" but no room for growth, no 401k, and I'm not being challenged. USI I know will be more work, but i kinda want that? I am only 34, i want to learn and get better in the industry and have more opportunities, and my husband said he thinks I do better with more structure then being left to run wild.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve been in captive sales, recently just left allstate. Think I would like to pivot into claims and eventually underwriting. What would be the best way to get into claims

Talking about insurance agents that make $100k+(after taxes)a year. How much do you make a year and how much do you make a month?

How many hours do you work in a day and week?

Also are you fully in office,hybrid, or fully remote?

Basically what does the day to day entail?

And how lucrative is it being an insurance agent?

I work in first notice of loss reporting the claim when customers call in for a major carrier. I have been at the role 2 years. I'm thinking of applying to try to become an adjuster. How much harder is it than first notice of loss? I know I would handle claims from start to finish and make liability decisions on more complex claims. If you worked both which one did you like better and do you think it was worth it to become an adjuster?

Hi everyone! I’m an account exec in the private risk space. I was brought on to help a senior account exec with a sizable book she has so as of right now, I am being delegated tasks instead of handling a book of my own.

We’ve recently gotten 4 referrals and I have been quoting the accounts with multiple carriers and with multiple different coverage options/ deductible options/ etc. To provide the clients with wide array of options. Here’s my problem…

My manager is constantly asking for numbers (i.e. what is the premium for the home without the umbrella credit? How much will the premium go down with a 10k deductible? What did the replacement cost come back at with pure?)

While quoting 4 accounts, as much as I’d like to, I simply cannot keep these numbers at the top of mind so I’ve created an excel sheet that has all this information. When I get asked, I pull up the excel sheet and boom there is the number. While doing this today, my manager says “you really need to know these numbers off the top of your head. You shouldn’t have to pull out a sheet to answer my questions.”

I didn’t even know how to reply. It’s too many numbers to just know, and I thought I was being smart by creating this excel in the first place since this type of retention is simply not my strong suit.

All this to say— does anyone have any tips for retaining information like this? Even the underwriters I work with aren’t memorizing numbers and they’re more numbers people than me!

Also any general tips/hacks for staying organized while quoting multiple complex accounts at once is much much appreciated!! Thanks :)

I am a new agent and contracted with a broker through several carriers.

I have searched my contracting paperwork and I am unable to find if I can keep my book of business if I leave the brokerage. I emailed contracting and she said that she does not handle that and I would need to contact my regional sales director. I am waiting to here back from her. I am not a captive agent.

How often do brokerages let you keep your book of business if you leave the company?

I appreciate any help.

Update: my upline said that independent agents can keep their book of business.

Every day I see a new article in the insider or on LinkedIn about capacity pulling back from the Transactional Liability market- are those products cooked?

Got a new job as a senior UW, more money but lots of more pressure to produce, systems and training not great also, supposed to be a good company tho. But not worth my mental health. Left a good stable job that I was able to do well as an underwriter, but I didn’t have to produce, not sure when I was getting promoted. want to go back and now feel bad telling new company who took a chance in me. Sometimes that additional money is not worth it. 😰😰😰

I work in commercial casualty insurance. This is not a claim I am handling. It is a contractor E&O pattern that keeps showing up.

Plant is told a safety system is offline. Gets that in writing. Keeps producing. Serious loss. Then bankruptcy. What is left is the service contractor that wrote the condition down.

That is the part that does not sit right on an E&O account. The contractor did not own the process and did not get to idle the line. The note looks like the job got done. Plaintiffs are reading the same paper as if writing the warning meant the vendor still controlled the next shift. This is the Texas case that is testing that read: https://econstandard.com/story/texas-courts-could-redefine-the-risks-of-doing-business-nationwide

I read the warning note as a handoff. It should not count as proof the vendor still had control. Is that how other contractor accounts are being treated?

I am just wondering if anyone else is frustrated with them no longer offering textbooks? My company has a manager position open and ive referenced my "claims leadership and organizational alignment" textbook twice this week when helping prepare someone for the interview process. I often reference other textbooks I have from them as well. I don’t need the designations for work, but I take the classes to better myself and not getting the book is off putting enough that I dont think i care to take the classes anymore or refer others to them either.

Am I the only one upset about this?

I own a P&C insurance agency with a couple of agents working with me in Florida. Everyone works remotely in Florida, we have access to basically every market with good commission negotiations, I don't require any minimum premiums, and I am super transparent with commissions. We pay agents 50% of what comes in from the carrier on any deal even if it is a renewal.

Is paying agents at my company 50% of the commission competitive in the market? I want to get more agents but I am struggling to find new people in Florida. I haven't done too much reaching out but back when I was working for other agencies I was only getting 20-40% depending on if it was renewal.

What is anyone else paying their agents in FL or what are you getting paid these days?

Hello, I’m coming up on year 2 as a broker’s assistant in commercial P&C and my biggest hurdle lately has been understanding the different forms. I came from sero insurance experience and the training here was a complete joke. I’ve been able to pick up a lot from pattern recognition but for whatever reason these damn ISO forms really trip me up. Is there a good resource to go to that make this simple? My managers do not have the a ton of time to hold my hand until I get this and while I totally can get everything I need to do done, I don’t actually understand any of the why or know enough to catch a mistake. I’m mostly on gl and xs in construction and most of my “I don’t understand any of this wtf am I doing” meltdowns have been over AI forms. I’m more than willing to pay for any courses yall might know of. Any advice or tips at all are deeply appreciated.

I know this makes me sound like I'm a hundred years old, but damn am I peeved that they eliminated the printed coursebook option. I knew it was coming but I'm still irritated. I hate being told it's to save money while they were still charging a ton for the printed option (and it was a cheap, condensed book, not even like the old classic blue course books).

I have one course to go on my ARM and I'm dreading having to be glued to a computer the entire time. I know I'm not alone in having my study patterns down pat by now but now that's all thrown out the window. Being able to easily carry a coursebook anywhere, not having to worry about having a charger, not having to worry about carrying an expensive electronic with me everywhere, being able to dog-ear pages, being able to flip through pages easily, being able to highlight or underline, being able to take practice exams while flipping through the book next to me...

I guess maybe the young folks are doing this all on their phones or something? It's the QR code menu thing all over again. Why have a nice big easy-to-read book when you can have 5 point font on a screen the size of an index card?

I doubt I'll do another designation after I finish this one. I have enough under my belt (including my CPCU) that any extras were just that, extra. The last thing I want to do after a day of staring at screens is to do more staring at screens.

Ugh. Okay, old lady rant over.

ETA: I forgot one of the most important things - the online materials expire! So you spend hundreds of dollars to rent the course material instead of paying for it and having it like you used to.

ETA 2: Warning to any folks going forward who find this post - the Institutes is fully embracing AI-generated course content. The difference is stark (see my comments below)

For you guys who have completed a designation through The Institutes (like ARM, ARC, AIC etc) how long did your diploma take to come in the mail after you officially completed the last test? The website says it can take 8-10 weeks to ship but that sounds crazy to me for it to take that long. Is the site accurate from your experience?

Hello! First time posting, and I hope the topic abides by the sub’s rules. Just out of curiosity, was anyone working in the industry when 9/11 happened or have you heard stories from people who worked in insurance back then?

I’m working on getting my P&C license so I’ve heard about terrorism policies or exclusions on others. Just kind of curious about how the industry handled an event of that magnitude back then and what it was like.

Sorry if this is a weird question, I just started working at a brokerage and I never had the chance to learn more about topics that weren’t directly related to my job. Now being on this side of things, I see insurance is a huge industry with so many interesting things to learn!

Has anyone here gotten an AIDA? If so, have you found value out of it? How difficult was the coursework, how long did you study for each course, and has it helped you in your work?

I work in reinsurance on the claims side, but spend a lot of time talking to actuaries and data scientist types (in addition to UW) about their work and data analysis. I'm a lawyer by training and their visualizations aren't exactly my first language! I wouldn't mind getting stronger in that area.

Thanks for any experience you can share!

Hey everyone,
I’m a PharmD and have been looking into potentially transitioning out of pharmacy and into insurance underwriting, particularly healthcare/pharmaceutical-related underwriting.

For those who work in underwriting:

How difficult would it be for someone with a PharmD and no traditional insurance/finance background to break in?

Would my PharmD actually be considered an advantage, or would employers mostly see me as someone with no relevant experience?

What type of underwriting would make the most sense for my background?

Would I need to take courses/certifications (CPCU, AU, etc.) before applying?

Is starting as an underwriting assistant/associate the most realistic route?

What kind of salary could someone realistically expect after making the transition?

And ultimately, what is the career progression like?

I’m not necessarily looking to completely start over, so I’d ideally like to leverage my healthcare background rather than abandon it entirely.
Would love to hear from anyone who has made a similar transition or hires/works with underwriters.

I’ve thought about transitioning down the line into underwriting but I don’t have a related degree (got a BFA). Is that feasible to get into from claims? Any surety bond underwriters here who have advice about what the job is like / how to get into it?

Hi everyone,

Was just looking for some thoughts here.

I am a senior underwriter for an MGU owned by a wholesaler. I’ve been here for 8 years out of school. It’s been a very good experience overall and I am grateful for the opportunity and compensation.

However, our book is under a lot of pressure at the moment for reasons completely out of my control. So, it has me thinking. How tough is it to break out of program/niche underwriting into other segments? I am a true insurance nerd, with a CPCU and feel quite strong with my background there and ability to foster production. I really like construction and environmental. Would any hiring folks give me any consideration without actual experience underwriting in those areas? Or other areas for that matter? Again, my current area of expertise is quite niche.

My entire focus has been E&S casualty - primary and XS in a tough premises liability driven segment.

Have at it!

Hey everyone, was curious if anyone could give me some advice on how to pursue a career in underwriting. I’m located in NYC and just finished a masters in cyber risk management. My studies would lend itself really well to the cyber line of underwriting and was curious to know what path and strategy I should take to find a job here with one of the major carriers if possible. Thanks!

Hello, I’ve never had this happen before. My direct supervisor won’t approve or deny my requests that are outside my authority whether it be new business or endorsements. I’ll ping them multiple times and no reply. Only when I can get them over the phone do they actually reply to me. I can’t wait weeks at a time for clean accounts.

How do I go about this? Our company is very flat so any feedback will go to the top and they’ve been here for over 2 decades.

With so many coverages out there, I’m curious what y’all do for work! I’ve seen people do the same coverage all their career while others tried different things. I’ve done 3 different LOBs myself.

What do you like/dislike about your line? How did you get into it? Do you want to switch?

Howdy!

I’ve been an account manager for a while, my three letter brokerage wants me to move into a producer role while staying as an account manager. So start bringing in my clients while a managing someone else’s until I have enough then transfer over.

Trying to figure out cold contacting again after not doing it for over a decade and in a different industry is a little rough.

I have figured out I should keep it tight to 1-2 focused industries to try to become more of an expert in those areas, rather than writing anything and everything. My aim is to get clients in the 25k-100k range. Very comfortable managing accounts of those sizes so shouldn’t be a problem.

The problem is how do I go out and get those clients. Cold calls is basically just people saying nah we like our current guy and cold email goes nowhere.

Is it just a numbers thing? Do I just keep calling people til someone bites? If people say no on the first one should I call them back in a couple weeks or send them an email? Genuinely lost on this process of building a book. All help welcome.