Legal, finance and accounting

Insurance professional

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Manage complex insurance products and services to provide tailored solutions for clients

Summary

The UK insurance market is one of the most dynamic and influential insurance markets which is recognised globally for its professionalism and diverse product offering, attracting business from around the world. 

This occupation is found in the insurance industry and within the broader financial services sector. Insurance professionals can be found in a variety of companies ranging in size and structural complexity; from self-employed sole-trading consultancies, small privately-owned brokerages, medium-sized networks of provincial brokers to large national and multi-national insurance firms.

Insurance professionals work in a variety of technically skilled roles in various sectors across the industry including, reinsurance, underwriters, brokers, claims, loss adjusters, pricing analysts and risk analysts. They work in specialised areas of the market having in-depth knowledge of insurance products, for example, home, motor, cargo and aviation insurance, or facultative and treaty reinsurance.

They have good technical knowledge of the insurance industry and their area of expertise to deliver positive and compliant outcomes for complex insurance matters, for example the resolution of claims in medical cases, underwriting complex insurance risks due to construction hazards or insuring people with criminal convictions. They have greater accountability for their practice and may have responsibility for validating the work of junior colleagues.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to use specialist expertise in a defined area of insurance to manage complex products and services and provide tailored solutions for clients. They would also expertly match the right products and services to a customers’ needs, often in complex and unfamiliar situations, such as insuring vessels in the event of piracy, in the event of cyber security breaches, climate change events or insuring autonomous vehicles.

Insurance professionals would typically use their broad understanding of the insurance market to apply their technical knowledge and skills to analyse and evaluate risk, take ownership and accountability to make decisions and solve complex problems, whilst building and maintaining strong relationships with clients in line with the legal and regulatory requirements that govern processes, procedures and market agreements. Additionally, insurance professionals would have a broad understanding of the insurance market, identifying changes in the market and recognising the impact this could have on business objectives and competitor strategies. 

They typically work in an office, home or a hybrid of both. They may be required to meet customers at external locations depending on the role. Some may have a company vehicle if they are required to visit customers off-site.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a range of colleagues at all levels of the business, including management. They would also interact with colleagues in similar or other specialist areas such as, actuaries, compliance teams, data teams and complaints handlers. Externally, they would typically interact with third-party insurance product suppliers, such as an underwriter, a broker, a claims handler liaising with an independent loss adjuster or industry regulator.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for resolving complex insurance issues and requests, relative to their areas of specialisation, with minimum supervision.  They would have the autonomy to be responsible for their own workload and plan their own working day effectively.

They typically report to a technically competent senior manager. Depending on the size of the organisation they work for and the role they are in, some insurance professionals may have line management responsibility and accountability for budgets. They may also be an escalation route for junior staff, dealing with contentious issues, or support managers on technical matters. For example, an underwriting professional may manage contractual queries around flood damage to business stock for a major stakeholder. They may be required to review and validate work of other team members, providing feedback and ensuring accuracy and compliance with regulation and internal policies and procedures.

Insurance professionals need to comply with all relevant insurance, financial and legal regulations such as FCA guidelines, Pool Re requirements in relation to terrorism insurance, legislation, such as the Insurance Act and Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representation) Act for cooling-periods or payment by instalments and sanctions checks depending on government or global requirements. Those engaged in the industry are expected to act with integrity and professionalism, always act ethically and should also adhere to their organisation’s code of conduct.

Typical job titles include

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Behaviours