Becoming an insurance broker?
 

Hey RS, I was wondering if there were any insurance brokers on here?

I'm currently working as a financial advisor for an unnamed company and i'm a bit tired of this job and looking to make a change. I was looking into becoming an insurance broker, but just want to get a feel of what the job market is like.

in terms of salary and compensation, hours

and if there was a course that I could take that isn't self study?, I prefer to be in class and learning hands on ( I just can't seem to find them, but I found a whole bunch or real estate courses?)

I look forward to hearing from you soon

-Rick

there are two types, agent or producer. Agent means those ppl who works part time or full time at a broker. Producer is like a road agent that u r most likely a sales person that earn by commission only.

Newly licensed agent can get wages like $10 per hour, depends on which company r u gonna apply... for those chinese broker, it would only be approximately $10 per hour. With few years experience and level 2 license, u would expect salary like $16-17 per hour.

u can self study CAIB 1 or attend the fundamental course at Langara either license can be classified with level 1 license after passing the exam.

Langara. | Insurance: Courses
The above course is to help get your Level 1 License.

Also depends what kind of Insurance you want to go into. Were you thinking of Autoplan? Home? Personal Line? They are all different.

Thanks folks appreciate the input. I am looking to get into a firm I guess selling autoplan anywhere to get a start. My job right now is financial advising like I said, but this isn't solid information it's really more of me selling products for our company and it's incredibly boring.

The langara course seems kind of far I live in Chilliwack at the moment, would you happen to know anywhere else in the lower mainland?

Also what is the difference between IBABC or IIBC? and have you heard of www.westcoasttraining.com before? is it the same as the langara course?

Thanks again
-Rick

anybody?

If you just want to try general insurance, then i'd recommend studying the Fundamentals to start off. In order to be an insurance broker the minimum is to have an level 1 license. Long term if you want to do insurance as your career and sell commercial/personal/life insurance, then you may want to pursue to get an CAIB designation.

CAIB info: Professional Development - Insurance Brokers Association of Canada
Fundamentals : IBABC - Exams & Results

I'm going to suggest the exact opposite of the post above.

I recommend going for CAIB 1 over Fundamentals.
CAIB 1 and Fundamentals work the same, however if you do decide to continue your licensing for CAIB designation, you will have to get your CAIB 1 no matter if you have your Fundamentals or not.

CAIB 1 is only 1 more chapter than Fundamentals.

It will cost you an extra 200 more or so for the exam, however I think it's better to think long term.

Other differences include:

Fundamentals is multiple choice, while CAIB 1 is multiple choice with some short answers.
Fundamentals require 70% to pass while CAIB 1 is 60%.

I fully regret not doing CAIB 1 instead of Fundamentals..however, at the time, they weren't very clear about the differences, so now I'm spending more money in the end to get CAIB 1.

Starts for about $12/h.
After 1 year of experience, you got more to bargain with, regarding your pay. This is because most brokerage offices look for agents with 6-12 months or more of experience. You can get a raise up to maybe $16/h to $18/h as a part timer. For a full timer, maybe 30-35k a year is my guess.

A level 2 personal lines agent with a few years of experience makes about 50k-60k a year at BCAA.

You can bump up your salary with your own commission work, so it also depends on you.

You could also be a road agent (you can become one after about 3-6 months). You'd be running around dealerships and being on call almost all hours of the day, but the pay will be good. Around 60-90k a year.

Thanks everyone, especially iam_dan, it gave me alot to think about.

you wouldn't happen to know if theres a class for the CAIB 1 or if it's all self-study?

Theres both.