r/InsuranceProfessional

Hello, just curious to hear anyone who as experience at a small MGA could speak on what I might expect from my new job. I was really wanting to leave my current co and position as a UA, so I accepted a position as a jr underwriter at and MGA that focuses on one small niche and has less than 5 employees and around a 50m book with the goal of growing it. This seems like a great opportunity with a great boss and team but just wondering if anybody had any insights that maybe wouldn't have came up in my interviews?

Thanks!

Has anyone pivoted out of insurance and found success?

I’m still pretty fresh in my career, but can’t seem to really feel like I’ll ever be successful in insurance.

I’m a P&C middle market underwriter, and I just don’t know how people keep up with everything.

I try to remind myself that “it’s just insurance, we aren’t saving lives” but I just really can’t seem to stop feeling so soul crushed by the perceived weight of all of my responsibilities.

I don’t even think I’m being overworked. I think it’s just a problem with lack of drive.

I’m engaged in local orgs related to the job, and I like the marketing aspect of it, but I just feel like I suck. And I hate feeling like I suck haha.

Where have other people who have made it out gone? I don’t even know what transferable skills I have at this point.

I’m 6 weeks into a new job and feeling dumb. My boss is my age. I’ve only made a few small mistakes, but I feel like they get blown up into a big thing. I’m not new to the field, but I’m new to this specific area of the field and underwriting. I feel like my boss has unrealistic expectations because I’ve been in the insurance industry for awhile. I’m still learning our specific company equipment and systems which are very different from past jobs.

My boss and coworkers work very fast. I try to match their speed (as best I can) without making mistakes. My boss and coworkers make a lot of mistakes. I make one mistake and my boss says I’m moving too fast and wants me to slow down. I constantly feel like I’m getting conflicting advice - match our speed, slow down; ask a question when you have one, don’t ask just write it down and don’t bother us; walk into boss office when you need something don’t be afraid, don’t bother the boss; ask coworkers for assistance they are here to help vs don’t bother coworkers they have their own work to do. I asked my boss for help today and her response was to read slower. I was asking for clarification on an account and she responded that I was rushing and just to read slower and I would understand. I was pretty bummed by her response. I told her I hadn’t done this type of task before and that no one had showed me yet. She gets pretty mad when I do something minorly wrong, so I wanted to clarify with her so I wouldn’t. In the end, she never really guided me how to do the task. I came out of it just feeling stupid. I did what I could and made notes on my thought process so we could finish it together and she left me on read :/

My boss and coworkers are friends (as in all same age and hang out after work). I feel out of the group a bit because of this.

How to navigate new to underwriting and excel at it?? I really like this job. I worked hard for it. But I worry my boss doesn’t like me? I’m too hard on myself and a perfectionist, but the advice & work style is a bit confusing for me. I just want to excel at this job. I get really down when I get criticized for doing something wrong. My coworkers admit they constantly make mistakes and it’s part of this job, but my minor mistakes get blasted.

When I ask for resources on where they are getting information or how they know it, they just say it’s in their head and I’ll learn it eventually. Insurance is constantly changing - I highly doubt they have everything memorized as we work with 10+ carriers in multiple states. Is that normal for an underwriter?? As an UW, what do you just know vs look up?

What tips or resources or learning is out there to help me excel at this position??

TLDR- new to underwriting and sensitive at work to criticism. Boss has varying and conflicting criticism. Really want to excel at this job. Tips, advice, or resources to help be the best underwriter possible?

I finished my CIP last year. Instead of just taking random webinars for CE credits, I think it would be more beneficial to get another designation. I'm torn between the CRM and CMGA courses. I work for an MGA so the CMGA would be beneficial but the CRM would help as well. I know quite a few who have done the CRM but absolutely nobody who has done the CMGA.

Still a student with a claims internship. The state of the economy has me freaking out though. How bad is it right now? I'm trying for underwriting or analyst jobs/internships and it's going nowhere. Sometimes I just wake up to anxiety attacks because of this.

Currently a large property risk engineer at a major carrier and trying to think strategically about long-term career direction before opportunities potentially move quickly.

Background:
- 5-10 years experience
- Mechanical Engineering degree and experience in R&D design engineering role early career
- Found insurance with Equipment Breakdown risk engineering
- Expanded to commercial property risk engineering
- Heavy manufacturing/general industry exposure
- I like both equipment breakdown and property
- Customer-facing role with lots of operational/site exposure

I do genuinely enjoy engineering (usually). I like the technical side, the site visits, learning operations/processes, meeting customers, etc. I’m naturally curious and still enjoy the risk assessment process itself. For the most part. Nobody likes being buried in reports. I also dislike being tasked with tedious nit picky deficiencies that are low value.

That said, I’ve become increasingly interested in underwriting because it seems like that’s where a lot of the larger business decisions ultimately come together. Pricing, structure, portfolio strategy, balancing growth vs discipline, etc.
Engineering informs the process, but underwriting owns the tradeoffs and final decisions.

Underwriters and UW managers have reached out if I could ever be interested in that side of things.

To throw a curveball, I’ve also been interviewing externally for a renewable energy risk engineering role focused on things like utility-scale renewables/BESS/etc. They specifically like my equipment breakdown background because many candidates apparently came from more traditional property-only backgrounds.

So I’m trying to think through 3 potential paths:

1. Do nothing and stay in large property risk engineering and continue building technical depth
2. Internal move into large property underwriting
3. External move into renewable energy/specialty risk engineering, potentially with the hope of moving into specialty underwriting later?

I realize nobody can answer this for me, but I’d be interested in hearing from people who:
- moved from engineering into underwriting
- stayed technical and specialized
- work in renewable energy underwriting/engineering
- regretted (or didn’t regret) specializing too early
- think the long-term ceiling/opportunity is stronger on the specialty side

Main thing I’m trying to figure out:
Is it smarter long-term to build underwriting/commercial skills now while I already have technical credibility, or build a differentiated specialty technical niche first and potentially pivot to UW later?

Curious how others in the industry would approach this.

I've been seeing some MGAs/Carriers putting up only $80 a door for some large Hab Portfolios in Harris County, Fulton County, and Miami Dade. Have you guys been seeing similar on the GL and Lead?

Hi fellow insurance folks, I am a multi lines adjuster working with an IA firm in Canada.

I switched career in mid thirties from comms/marketing, went to school for a year and got this job about 3 years back. I currently make close to $32 /hour. Started around $25.

At this age, I unfortunately do not have the luxury to grind at this level for another 5-7 years before starting to get to work on real complex claims paying over $100/hour. I need my income to go up a little faster.

What can be my options within the Insurance space, other than sales?

Thanks in advance.

For those of you on the commercial carrier side doing lower to upper middle market new lines, what’s been the key to your success?

I have an interview for an inside broker in a couple of days… it’s a big pay jump but I am progressing a lot in my current role and am expecting another promotion soon. The issue is that I’m just unhappy where I am currently despite really enjoying the work. Is the move from associate UW to inside broker considered a promotion? I’d potentially be moving from a huge carrier to RPS.

Hi! I'm 29 and want to change careers into insurance. I have a BA in media and a Business Administration graduate certificate from a good school. In the past two years, I worked at the bank and serviced our clients' accounts. It was a very customer-service-heavy job. I want to take on a more technical role, get into underwriting, and maybe try actuarial work if I can handle the exams. My plan was to first get a job in the claims department and stay there for a year to better learn the industry, and then switch to an underwriter trainee position. Which certifications do I need, and in what order, to move up the chain more quickly? Should I mention in the interview for the claims position that I'm looking to become an underwriter eventually? Do I need a license to work in claims? I'm in MA if that matters.

Hey guys!!! I'll keep this short,

I only have 1 YOE and some change, but I'm working on my CPCU to catch up to those ahead of me as I've had a late start to insurance.

I work at a retail brokerage on the placement/marketing/service side for mostly multifamily.

I'm curious what you guys would do if given the chance again with career paths between retail/wholesale brokerage, underwriting side, producing side, etc.

Edit: more context:

My starting salary was $54,000 recently received raise to $62,000. We get a Christmas bonus (mine was 2k) no other bonuses.

Debating on staying with same company considering my low yoe and cpcu in progress, or try a direction one of you wish you did. But also the current job market. Yikes.

Edit: observations
I've noticed between an AE vs producer who have been in insurance for 5ish years, the producer makes more (150-180k vs 200-250k total comp if I had to guess) and works much less. The AE easily works ~45 a week, year round, works during lunch, etc.

I guess they are two very different sides of the same coin. I enjoy working hard, but questioning the time/$ investment ratio. Wouldnt mind pivoting as there seem to be a lot of interesting roles and niches I've seen mentioned here you guys enjoy.

Thanks!

I was offered a job as an Underwriter for MCA's.

Pros:
I get training on the job and after about 3 months ill get full pay.

Its fully online.

The people there (just a handful, its a small company) are nice. And they like each other. And I like them well enough.

The pay is on the higher end of the junior underwriter level (according to what i see online)

Cons:

theres no sick days,

no vacation days,

no lunch breaks.

though, we are encouraged to stretch every hour. though socially, the employees dont. but they do take a few minutes to themselves to eat (ive also seen a few eat at their desk, one hand on the mouse)

If u need to take off, you have to run it by the boss-including the reason.

Youre expected to work if you are sick. Unless you cant get out of bed.

its a 9am or 10am to 7pm (9 to 10 hrs Mon-Thursday) job though fridays are shorter (10am to 5pm).

Unclear:
it's not clear if theres growth salary wise. Supposedly it is achievable to reach 6 digits but theres no clear guidance as to how, when, or why you would get that much

its not clear if I will need to meet a quota of files. A new employee said the dont have to. The boss mentioned that "if you miss your quota, you can always make up for it later".

Is this a good deal?

I'm at a captive agency with an owner that hasn't upgraded much of anything.

For the personal side, he uses the company Salesforce and then direct for any outside of the company. For commercial, same thing.

Specifically for commercial...when it comes to providing companies with a COI, we just copy what's required to the new ACORD and send it off. If you don't see the problem, the problem is that no one really knows the correct numbers, even the owner.

It's difficult to put into words, but I'll try: what tool is available that would make it easier to locate clients and find their exact coverages. Ignore the fact they may have cancelled prior to their renewal date and we, for whatever reason, are unaware of that cancellation. What I'm envisioning is that there is an internal website/tool that would show the current coverage.

I think it comes down to reducing manual work as much as possible. As someone who is new tot he industry, I don't know what tools are truly available...and certainly the owner doesn't either.

I work for a major canadian brokerage and it’s been quite good for the most part. I got promoted for good performance, got salary bump, boss is quite decent and workspace isn’t toxic.

There’s one big issue though. I’ve noticed that they keep making workflows and processes too complicated, lenthy and time consuming. With every new update, which is supposedly to streamline/save-time, it just gets worse. It’s at that stage where the data isn’t a means to achieve goals, but it’s the goal by itself.

For example, for every new call inbound i get for sales, i’ve to quote it in ARS, import to Applied EPIC, Create opportunity activities, add notes etc.. etc.. - which was fine for a long time. Some months ago they launched an AI app which is super slow and super buggy - it only transcribe calls and you have to attach them manually to file (half the time it doesn’t work).
A new upper manager came last month and now he also wants each lead/sales to be entered into an Excel sheet and updated by stage. It has 11 columns you’ve to fill and keep on updating together with keeping Applied EPIC up to date with it.

In short, it probably takes me longer to fill everything than the time I’m spending on actually talking with someone.
Often times i work after-hours or at weekends to finish this mindless data entry because i like to be available for calls to meet my goals (just spend 6 hours this weekend and still some left).

I don’t know if this is how it’s done everywhere but it just bugs me how inefficient it is. Is changing job the only way or should i change the industry altogether?

Hey guys,

I have been a commercial broker for 1.5 years. I have been doing well numbers wise, but I am having a hard time with how transactional it is. Clients who have had great service will leave to save $50, even if the coverage is not equal (Yes, I understand times are tough right now).

What are some better options for someone who is level 3 licensed? I don't mind talking to clients, but the brokerage does have a very heavy call center vibe.

Any tips are welcome. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing well. I’m looking for some outside perspective on a career decision.

I’ve been at my current company for a little over a year, and I really like my managers and most of my team. My boss in particular has invested in me, supported me, and helped me grow as a broker. They were also very supportive when I went through a difficult time personally, which is making this decision even harder.

That said, there are people outside of my immediate team that I have to work with who sometimes make my job very difficult and make me doubt myself. Recently, a friend introduced me to someone at a competitor, and after speaking with them, I was offered a role that pays about $40,000 more, plus a 10% bonus. It would also be fully remote, which is something I’ve always wanted because I’d love the flexibility to travel and work from home.

The role would also be a significant title jump for me, essentially moving up about two levels, which makes it feel like a major career opportunity and not just a compensation increase.

The part I’m struggling with is whether I’m making the right decision since I haven’t been at my current company very long. I also feel guilty because I genuinely like my boss and know she has put time and effort into helping me develop, especially during a difficult season in my personal life. I’m not sure how I would even tell her that I’m considering leaving.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Would you take the higher-paying remote role with a major title jump, or stay because of a good manager and team?

Recently left a solid steady job in retail to return to the insurance world. After renewing my life and picking up my health license, I recently joined a major company that has a lot of bad reviews and a high turnover rate in the health sphere. It's 6 days in the office, working 70 hours a week, no base pay, dialing 500 people a day, and just feel like I'm spinning my wheels going nowhere fast.

I was super eager for the first 2 weeks, and now it's been 5 weeks and I have one made one issue (despite having 6 runs). The management is rarely in the office. The training was decent at first but after not gaining much headway and being there for a month, it's basically jusy been "figure it out like we had to when we started," and "you need to grind and out work everyone in the office everyday like I did." They expect that to "be successful" you have to work thru breaks and after hours.

I want to stick it out because there's people making crazy money like I've only dreamt of in the past. Wondering if it's all worth it to stick it out. Personal finances are beginning to pile up, and I'm responsible for paying a lot of hidden fees that I wasn't expecting: Have to pay for good leads (though they won't tell me how to set up the campaigns.) Have to pay for the dialing system. I feel like the leads I'm working with aren't that great since they are being blown up like 80 times a day (someone actually told me that). Everyone in the office is saying the same script and it just feels super fake and old school sales-like. Thought the whole point was to help people, but it just seems like bullying them into something they can't really afford.

I know it's a steep learning curve and I am trying to stick it out, but I can't wait till open health enrollment with only making a little bit each month. Been considering joining a major company for the P&C side of things since at least they have a base and seem to help invest into newer agents. The other side of me doesn't want to start all over and risk more time not bringing in money. I am looking for guidance in my position. Again, I've made equivalent of one week's pay in my last brick-and-mortar job, in five weeks, and 100 more hours total so far. I'm staying in high hopes of the high earning potential but the leads are weak.

Thanks for any and all input.

How much do marine placement brokers earn at Marsh Toronto?

Since they rarely post openings, I’m curious if the team is over-hired or if positions are filled by recruiters reaching out to applicants.

I currently work for another top-tier brokerage and am trying to understand Marsh. I’m considering a move because I’m reaching my position structure here and can’t wait two or three years for a promotion when I’m already qualified and underpaid.