Do you like talking to people, enjoy selling and are good at salesmanship? Do you find joy in helping others? Then a career in health insurance sales might be for you. The role of health insurance agent offers these opportunities and other benefits; for one, the career is unlikely to be affected by economic downturns.
Nowadays, health insurance is the most reliable vehicle for people to get quality hospital care and access to hospital facilities. This is why many people now consider it to be both necessary and valuable. And due to this rise in demand for additional healthcare insurance, pursuing a career as a health insurance agent is promising.
This guide from Insurance Business gives you a step-by-step guide on how to become an insurance agent in the UK. It will also cover relevant topics like what skills do you need to become successful. We’ll discuss these and more in this article.
A health insurance agent is an individual who works with a particular insurance company or insurance agency to sell health-related insurance products. Health insurance agents sell these products to individual clients, families, and businesses.
A health insurance agent in the UK has several responsibilities. Here’s a list of what they do:
Health insurance agents work intimately with their clients to determine what they’re looking for and need from a health insurance policy. Based on their assessment of their health and financial needs, the agent offers the appropriate insurance product from one or several insurers for clients to select from.
Health insurance agents typically have a high knowledge of insurance policies so they can explain the plan benefits and features to clients. They also explain complex insurance terms and features to their clients and help them choose the policies that best fit their personal and financial needs. Providing recommendations on policies enables clients to make informed decisions.
Once an insurance agent has made comparisons of health insurance plans from different insurance companies, they can pinpoint the premiums, deductibles, and other add-ons. In this manner, agents help clients determine a premium cost that sits well within their budget. The agent may then enroll their clients in a suitable plan. As the health insurance agent guides their client, they’ll assist in the documentation, answer their questions, and complete the necessary paperwork.
4. Providing further assistance
After completing enrolment, health insurance agents provide continuing support to their clients by answering queries, assisting in the claims process, and resolving coverage issues.
To stay in business, it’s imperative for insurance agents to work to attract new clients. As part of how to become a health insurance agent in the UK (and a successful one at that), it’s an ongoing duty to find new clients and retain them by offering good customer service.
In a society that has free health care provided by the UK government’s National Health Service (NHS), this is an important question. Although the NHS provides basic healthcare services, these may not always be sufficient. Private medical or health insurance can be a good option for individuals who need a higher quality of care. Here are some reasons why some citizens may opt for private medical insurance:
The inadequacies of the NHS aren’t the only reasons for the increase in demand for life and health insurance. In the UK and many other countries, demand for this type of insurance is increasing due to more chronic illnesses, tech advancements, and other factors.
Here are the steps you can follow if you want to pursue a career in the UK insurance industry as a health insurance agent:
There are no formal educational requirements for becoming an insurance agent in the UK. However, if you intend to become one and contract with an insurance company or agency, you may be required to have GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A to C). If this is your only educational qualification, it would help you to have relevant work experience to appear more credible in the eyes of clients and insurance companies.
Also, keep in mind that a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree is not necessary to become a health insurance agent. But should you choose to obtain a degree before becoming an insurance agent, consider courses that are related to finance like accounting, mathematics, financial or business management. These courses can equip you with the foundational knowledge that can help you better grasp complex insurance concepts.
The requirements for securing your insurance agent licence varies by jurisdiction. Generally, you may be required to pass a background check. As with the process involved in becoming an insurance broker in the UK, passing the background check is essential, since this is a way of protecting consumers.
Some insurance agencies may also require these checks to ascertain an aspiring insurance agent’s eligibility. This can involve drug screenings, credit reports, verification of employment and education. That's why it's important to research the requirements of your jurisdiction to make the appropriate preparations.
Licensing and pre-licensing requirements can vary between jurisdictions, so it’s important to research on what these requirements are in wherever you intend to practice as a health insurance agent.
For instance, some locations may mandate that you take a training programme or pre-licensing education course before taking the insurance agent licensing exam. At this point, you may also consider earning other professional qualifications from regulatory bodies like the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
While these qualifications are not required, they can greatly improve your resumé, as well as your chances of getting employment. One example is the Diploma in Insurance from the CII.
Regardless of whether you choose to self-study or sign up for an insurance course, you will have to apply for your insurance agent licence at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as required by the government.
After securing your insurance licence, you can craft a concise resumé detailing the relevant qualifications you possess. Include your contact information, insurance-related work experience, education, skills, and credentials related to the role of health insurance agent.
You can extend your job search to online searches, online job posting forums, job ads in newspapers, and insurance company websites. This guide lists the top websites to search for insurance jobs in the UK. Don’t neglect to tap into your network to get leads for health insurance agent jobs.
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses are typically required for insurance professionals in the UK to enhance their knowledge, skills, and stay updated on insurance industry trends. If you are new to the profession, your employer may provide further training.
As you work your way up your company’s hierarchy, you may be mentored by senior workers. These industry veterans can help you develop more skills essential to becoming a successful health insurance agent.
To increase the chances of making insurance sales and ensuring your longevity in this career, you will need a particular set of skills. These skills are essential to succeeding as a general insurance agent, and not only as one specialising in health insurance:
Insurance agents must have a flair for providing good customer service if they wish to become successful in insurance sales and their careers. This is a crucial skill, especially since a large part of an insurance agent’s success is to be able to understand their clients’ unique circumstances and provide customised insurance policies.
Apart from having a good grasp of complex insurance terms, a successful insurance agent should be able to relay these terms to clients in simple language. A successful health insurance agent should be a master at explaining insurance policies as well as their terms and conditions without confusing their clients.
Effective communication skills are also essential to build good rapport with clients, so they can feel comfortable relating their needs and concerns.
Evaluating several different insurance products and determining which of these suit a client’s needs best requires that an insurance agent possess exceptional analytical skills. Competent health insurance agents must be able to analyse large amounts of data, then match them with their clients’ health situation, financial constraints, and coverage preferences or needs.
Although negotiation skills are more part of an insurance broker’s repertoire, this is a beneficial skill for insurance agents to have. This is because insurance agents can use this skill to foster good relationships with their clients. Negotiation skills can also be advantageous to an independent insurance agent, since they have the freedom to negotiate their commissions with various insurers.
Insurance agents may encounter unique scenarios or challenges that call for more creative solutions. Problem-solving skills enable agents to surmount challenges posed by unique client circumstances and offer more viable options.
This can be a crucial skill for insurance agents, as the role calls for avoiding mistakes in client communications, policy terms and conditions, filing claims, and documentation. If an agent is not meticulous and neglects important details, this can be a costly mistake that results in hefty fines or serious penalties. Health insurance agents must ensure that all details of their clients’ policies and applications are accurate.
Insurance agents must be resilient and adaptable, since the insurance industry is one that can have a lot of changes in regulations. Agents must be resolute and quick to adapt to sudden changes in regulations, clients’ demands, and market fluctuations in different parts of the country.
Part of how to become a health insurance agent means deciding early on whether you wish to work as an independent or a captive insurance agent. Choosing either path can impact your earnings and overall job satisfaction, so this is an important decision. Here’s a comparison of the two to help you make an informed business decision.
As the title implies, independent agents work independently and can represent several different insurance companies. Independent agents can also offer a broader range of products to their clients and can have greater flexibility when it comes to recommending insurance policies. Working as an independent agent means:
A captive insurance agent is contracted to offer only the products of a single insurance company. This type of insurance agent is typically considered a specialist agent. Here are their main benefits:
In an environment where the demand for life and health insurance is predicted to grow in the next few years without abating, there is merit in knowing how to become a health insurance agent. Pursuing this as a career can provide you with a stable and reliable income and the rare opportunity to help people as well.
What do you think about this guide on how to become a health insurance agent? Let us know if you find this information helpful in the comments.
