Top 5 Insurance Jobs You Can Work from Home

The COVID-19 pandemic drove people away from their workplaces and into their homes.

Traditionally, insurance sales required face-to-face interaction, but today the industry has successfully shifted to a sales model that is conducted almost entirely online and by phone. And as a result of the widespread health problems caused by the pandemic, insurance companies are experiencing a significant surge in claim requests and inquiries.

Insurance companies can only manage the increased workload with the help of remote working solutions and skilled new hires who want to work in this industry remotely.

You also can work remotely as an insurance agent if you have a high school education, don’t have a criminal record, complete a training course and pass your licensing exam. In some states, license applicants also need to be sponsored by an employer.

Agent licenses need to be renewed regularly, so in order to maintain yours, you’ll need continuous education to stay up-to-date on the latest changes in your sector, especially in terms of legislation.

While having a college degree can certainly boost your professional prospects, you don’t need one to sell insurance. Becoming an insurance agent can often be done in a few weeks.

The following are some of the most important job responsibilities you can expect if you decide to work as an insurance agent:

  • Achieving predetermined revenue targets;
  • Cross-selling to existing clients;
  • Re-evaluating coverage needs for existing clients after life-changing events;
  • Conducting market research, locating potential clients, and developing long-term professional relationships with them;
  • Convincing potential clients to talk to you about different insurance products;
  • Advising clients on the insurance products that are most appropriate for their coverage needs;
  • Providing personalized solutions for each client;
  • Filling out and submitting applications, issuing quotes, keeping track of clients, and writing reports;
  • Explaining policy options including risks and benefits;
  • Keeping up with market and industry changes and best practices;
  • Taking care of policy renewals;
  • Keeping track of claims.

The McKinsey Global Institute recently completed a study on the potential for long-term remote work and found that in some industries, workers can be just as productive working remotely three or more days per week as they could be working in an office.

Insurance was one of the industries with the highest potential for remote work. According to the study, which assessed over 2,000 activities in over 800 occupations, 75% of the tasks performed in the insurance industry could be performed remotely without losing any productivity. Analyzing data, processing claims, and underwriting are examples of tasks that can be performed remotely.

One of the reasons for the success of remote work in the insurance sector is that a sizable part of the industry operates in advanced economies. Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States topped the charts for their potential to implement remote work without losing productivity.

Selling insurance from home could be a terrific opportunity for you if you’re self-motivated and have an entrepreneurial spirit.

As David Bynon explains, “The COVID-19 crisis is forcing a lot of people to reconsider their careers. My own two sons are a good example. They finished their university degrees in psychology and accounting during the pandemic. Now they are working with me in online Medicare sales.”

Bynon runs an online Medicare consulting agency that helps people find the best Medicare insurance for their personal health and financial situation.

Auto Insurance

Selling auto insurance can be a lucrative and fulfilling career with few formal entrance requirements. This may appeal to people with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to succeed.

You can obtain your license either before or after you start working for a company, but you won’t be able to sell until you have it. If you manage to secure employment prior to obtaining your license, getting started in the insurance industry will be pretty straightforward. If you haven’t, the process will require a little more initiative on your part, but success is still very much within your grasp.

People who sell insurance either work as brokers or agents. A broker can sell insurance from any insurance company, whereas an agent works for a certain company and exclusively sells their products. Most states require brokers and agents to take different courses and exams.

Brokers usually start their own businesses and hire other salespeople. Although this isn’t a universal rule, several states require brokers to attain a certain amount of experience before being allowed to take the broker’s exam.

Agents, particularly “captive agents,” work only for one insurance company. People who want to break into the insurance industry usually start as insurance agents for a provider since the entry barriers are low.8

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook in the insurance industry is good. Between 2018 and 2028, they estimate a 10% growth in jobs.

And according to U.S. News, the average income for an insurance agent in the United States is $50,940, making it the 13th highest paying career without a degree.

Selling car insurance can be particularly lucrative because every car owner in the United States is required to get insurance to protect themselves and other motorists from accidents and injuries.

You can keep an eye on local trends and patterns to see who could be interested in buying a car. Usually, you’ll want to look for college students who are about to graduate and get jobs, as well as new entrepreneurs and freight companies looking to add new vehicles to their fleets.

You’ll also want to get in touch and build good relationships with car dealerships in your area since they can refer some of their customers to you.

Home Insurance

Home insurance is another popular insurance product to sell. It may not be mandatory, but banks require home insurance if you want to get a mortgage. Plus, most people get this type of insurance because buying a home is a big investment, and they want protection from a variety of risks like floods, fire, and theft.

Home insurance is sold in packages with options that cover almost anything that might damage someone’s home and lead to financial loss. The risks also depend on the area. For example, some areas are more prone to flooding and hurricanes. This means that the type of home insurance you sell will also depend on the area where you sell.

And, of course, if you sell insurance in a more affluent area with expensive homes, you can earn a higher commission.

Life Insurance

While other types of insurance, such as auto or home insurance, can be lucrative, selling life insurance is by far the most profitable field in the insurance industry. Agents who specialize in this area of the insurance market help families, businesses, employers, and other parties in avoiding financial loss when someone dies.

In the first year of a life insurance policy, the agent that sold it typically earns 30% to 90% of the amount the client paid for it. In the following years, agents earn between 3% and 10% of the yearly premiums.

Let’s say you sell a life insurance policy to a client. In the first year, the insurance provider will give you a commission totaling 90% of how much the client pays for the insurance that first year. In the following years, assuming your client keeps paying their premiums, you will receive between 3% and 10% of what they pay the insurance provider.

This means that you can start making a good income even from your first year selling life insurance, despite not having a big portfolio of clients because the commission is much higher in that first year. Later on, you can keep earning lower commissions from existing clients while you keep finding new ones to add to your portfolio. This way, you can reach a level where you’re making more than $100,000 per year, and you only need to sell a couple of life insurance policies per week.

While selling life insurance can be very lucrative for those who can handle rejection and are willing to put in the time and effort required to build a client portfolio, there are two pitfalls that all aspiring agents should be aware of before starting their search for an insurance company to work for.

First, many insurance companies will encourage you to sell life insurance to your friends and family, and as tempting as that may be, since it’s an easy way to start building your portfolio, it can lead to conflicts with people you care about, so we don’t recommend it.

Second, you should be careful about the insurance company you choose to work for. It’s best to check their complaint history. Taking a job with the wrong insurance company can really hurt your chances of building a good career in this field.

Health Insurance

As you probably already know, people need health insurance to cover their medical expenses in case they get sick or have an accident. The health insurance will either cover the full cost of their medical care or only part of it and usually includes routine checkups, surgery, and prescription drugs.

This is also a popular type of insurance to sell because most people want to have health insurance.

For the most lucrative opportunities, we recommend you focus on new business owners looking for health insurance coverage for their workers.

Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance is a type of insurance that protects companies that create, manufacture, distribute and sell products if one of their products doesn’t work properly, and this causes harm to a third party.

The harm could involve injury or property damage. Even if the harm stems from the customer not using the products correctly, the company may still be held liable.

Product liability insurance covers legal fees, medical expenses, and compensatory damages resulting from lawsuits against the company in question. Because these lawsuits can result in very high costs that could financially destabilize a company and even lead to bankruptcy, product liability insurance is considered a vital part of any business insurance plan.

The average cost of this insurance product is $1,192 for small businesses, but it varies depending on the industry, the company’s location, revenue, and claims history. The amount you will get as commission from selling product liability insurance will depend on the insurance provider you work for.

To maximize your income potential, you’ll want to focus your time and effort on the companies most likely to buy this insurance policy. These include manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, online sellers on platforms like Amazon, eBay and Etsy, brick-and-mortar stores, pet supply shops, and restaurants.

You can also find good prospects among construction and contracting businesses.

Remote work was a fast-growing trend even before the pandemic because it offers better work-life balance since the schedule tends to be more flexible and employees save time on commuting.

Before the pandemic started, approximately 17% of U.S. employees worked from home, and now it has increased to 44%.
As we already mentioned, the insurance industry is among the industries with the highest potential of switching to remote work without loss of productivity since most types of insurance can be sold online or over the phone.

If you want to take this opportunity, there are a few more things you should know.

This is a highly regulated industry, and agents need different types of licenses to sell different types of insurance products. To get your license, you’ll need to study and pass the licensure exam. Luckily there are numerous online training courses that can prepare you for this exam.

You can either get an individual resident license or a non-resident resident license which allows you to sell insurance products out of state.

Similarly, you can work independently or get an appointments license that connects you to a specific insurance provider, and you can only sell their policies.

You can get further information by getting in touch with associations for insurance agents. There are national associations like Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Inc. and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, as well as many more state associations that usually also offer pre-licensing training courses.