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Who has a career as a Insurance Underwriter? Good Job?

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Newbie
Oct 31, 2008
79 posts

Who has a career as a Insurance Underwriter? Good Job?

Just curious i was looking into this but not 100% if i want it i am really good at analyzing things so i think this job would be suitable for me. Anyone work as a Insurance underwriter?

1. How much do you start off after a year out of college.
2. What is the maximum you can make?
3. What skills should one have before starting a career as a underwriter.
4. What do you hate and like about your job/
5. Is there a lot of job placements and openings?
6. Any extra inputs and tips ?
32 replies
Deal Addict
Aug 8, 2008
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Bump.... interested in this as well
Deal Guru
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Jul 12, 2003
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kay_1801 wrote: Just curious i was looking into this but not 100% if i want it i am really good at analyzing things so i think this job would be suitable for me. Anyone work as a Insurance underwriter?

1. How much do you start off after a year out of college.
2. What is the maximum you can make?
3. What skills should one have before starting a career as a underwriter.
4. What do you hate and like about your job/
5. Is there a lot of job placements and openings?
6. Any extra inputs and tips ?
I'm not a underwriter, but I work for the insurance industry and I did some research on this subject, correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Insurance company don't hire "underwriter" right out from school, most of the underwriter step in the industry first then move on to the job, there is junior underwriter if you are lucky to get hired and it will be starting at 35k to 40s.

2. 35k to 80k

3. Get you license, depends on the policy you underwriter. It needs different license or certification. For life insurance, it needs ALUU (hope I spell it right), for property and causality....it needs CIP.

4. I guess you deal with papers and cases, not too much interactive with people around. It maybe a plus for you if you are a quiet person.

5. Not really....I don't see much openings and those that they hire needs minimum 5 years exp. I'm not there yet.

6. Good Luck and find a job at the insurance company first and they will sponsor to get the license if they like you enough. :D
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Aug 8, 2008
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Anyone know of training programs open now?

Does it make sense to get a job as an underwriting assistant first?
Member
Jul 14, 2008
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MP3_SKY wrote: I'm not a underwriter, but I work for the insurance industry and I did some research on this subject, correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Insurance company don't hire "underwriter" right out from school, most of the underwriter step in the industry first then move on to the job, there is junior underwriter if you are lucky to get hired and it will be starting at 35k to 40s.

2. 35k to 80k

3. Get you license, depends on the policy you underwriter. It needs different license or certification. For life insurance, it needs ALUU (hope I spell it right), for property and causality....it needs CIP.

4. I guess you deal with papers and cases, not too much interactive with people around. It maybe a plus for you if you are a quiet person.

5. Not really....I don't see much openings and those that they hire needs minimum 5 years exp. I'm not there yet.

6. Good Luck and find a job at the insurance company first and they will sponsor to get the license if they like you enough. :D

To add to the above.
2) would depend on what type of "underwriting" you do- Pay for a underwriter at personal line insurer/ small commercial insurer would be signficantly different than a speciality underwriter. Later would have a max. salary of 100k- 150k+.

4) True for personal line underwriter. Exact opposit for speciality underwriter.
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Nov 30, 2007
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kay_1801 wrote: Just curious i was looking into this but not 100% if i want it i am really good at analyzing things so i think this job would be suitable for me. Anyone work as a Insurance underwriter?

1. How much do you start off after a year out of college.
2. What is the maximum you can make?
3. What skills should one have before starting a career as a underwriter.
4. What do you hate and like about your job/
5. Is there a lot of job placements and openings?
6. Any extra inputs and tips ?
I work as an underwriter:
1. I would estimate between 30-45k depending if you start in personal lines or get lucky and are put in a training program offered by larger insurers.
2. Depending on what you underwrite you can make up to and beyond 100k.
3. Education wise, a degree in anything business related would put you ahead of the game. Also you have to be personable and excellent at marketing as a lot of the business is lunches and playing golf (not as lavish as it sounds, trust me).
4. Too lazy to write anything here.
5. No, not really.
6. Go for a trainee program - they usually recruit straight out of university. Try to avoid personal lines, but again it's also a good way to get your foot in the door - but don't get it stuck. I did p/l underwriting for 2.5 years before I moved on.
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Aug 8, 2008
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Is this info inaccurate?

http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/issue ... 20Archives


"A newbie broker, according to the site, can expect to earn between $25,500 and $33,900 in his or her first year. Underwriters reported earning between $28,300 and $33,032 during the same period.

Look a little further down the career line, though, and it appears that once an underwriter hits the four-year mark in his or her career, the pay scale tops out around $49,000. There isn't much movement from there until around the 20-year mark, at which point the range increases to a summit of $60,000."

They are using PayScale stats though... but I'm not sure
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Sep 29, 2003
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cell21 wrote: Is this info inaccurate?

http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/issue ... 20Archives


"A newbie broker, according to the site, can expect to earn between $25,500 and $33,900 in his or her first year. Underwriters reported earning between $28,300 and $33,032 during the same period.

Look a little further down the career line, though, and it appears that once an underwriter hits the four-year mark in his or her career, the pay scale tops out around $49,000. There isn't much movement from there until around the 20-year mark, at which point the range increases to a summit of $60,000."

They are using PayScale stats though... but I'm not sure
Yes.. it is accurate. Expect $28,300 and $33,032
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Aug 8, 2008
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ferkel wrote: Yes.. it is accurate. Expect $28,300 and $33,032
That's very low... does it vary according to the field (personal, commercial, etc.). But caps out at 60K after 20 years? That doesn't sound right?

This site has different stats for underwriter salaries ((quite a bit higher)

http://alis.alberta.ca/wageinfo/Content ... 0&NOC=1234
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Nov 30, 2007
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I would say that is fairly accurate, probably slightly low, if you're doing personal lines insurance (auto/home). Varies greatly with what line of business you right. When I started as a p/l underwriter I was making around $40k?

Typical auto policy is maybe $2500/yr and is more paper pushing than underwriting with a very high loss expectancy.

Typical surety contract in my office is a $500k premium for a job that lasts 6 months with a very low loss expectancy.

Larger p/s policies in my office have a $2-4mil premium for one year. Medium-high loss expectancy of course.

So of course, a personal lines underwriter will be paid much less.
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Aug 8, 2008
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40K is still quite a big higher than 28K.

I would expect a low starting salary, but they said it caps out at 60K after 20 years... that doesn't go in line with what you said.
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Jul 12, 2003
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28-33k is not more than any CSR. It wont be too motivating to start with and you gotta get your license in order to make maybe 45-55k.....paid off from the license is not huge. Field is extremely narrow, is not a garantee that you will become an underwriter even you have the certification and the job opening always required at least 3-5 yrs exp anyway.
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I wasn't aware there was a specific license for underwriters? Also, why do you say the field is narrow? It was my impression the field is quite diverse as far as different types of insurance?
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Nov 30, 2007
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I think MP3Sky is referring to a life underwriter. I believe in these cases you need a licence.

I was getting paid more around $38-39k but if you subtracted benefits, it would be close to 43-44k. Should be noted when I started it was more around $33k. This was after being with the company for 2.5 years. To be honest, $60k ceiling is quite realistic for someone who is underwriting personal auto for their entire life.

If you want to become an underwriter shoot for the best markets. Meaning middle market P&C, Construction, E&O, Surety, Entertainment, Ocean Marine, etc. The pay is higher, perks and bonuses are bigger, and the job itself is more rewarding. I would steer away from personal lines, life, group benefits and the such unless you want to get your foot in the door.
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Aug 8, 2008
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OK, but I wasn't aware this article was talking about strictly personal lines?
Does it refer to personal lines only?
Newbie
Dec 26, 2009
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I work in the insurance industry also, Im a CSR for a small brokerage. I just finished my CIP and im about 3 courses deep into my FCIP, but my overall goal is to get a university degree, and then hopefully an MBA, im still fairly young.

Out of curiosity, what specialty insurers are you talking about paying 100k+. For sure I know personal lines is not the way to go, I need to get out of it- the premiums are very small as opposed to dealing with large commercial contracts.
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warren150 wrote: I work in the insurance industry also, Im a CSR for a small brokerage. I just finished my CIP and im about 3 courses deep into my FCIP, but my overall goal is to get a university degree, and then hopefully an MBA, im still fairly young.

Out of curiosity, what specialty insurers are you talking about paying 100k+. For sure I know personal lines is not the way to go, I need to get out of it- the premiums are very small as opposed to dealing with large commercial contracts.
Finished CIP and still work as a CSR in a small brokerage, that's what I mean narrow opportunity. A lot of people has the CIP certification which passed 10 courses and exams and still not able to moving up further. That's very sad.

38-39K for a "underwriter" is kinda low. A lot of "insurance advisor" is already at the level of salary.
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Dec 26, 2009
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Yea you constantly have to be looking for positions. A recruiter once told me however that the CIP wont do much, its the FCIP that will get your foot in the door much better- I should be done my 6th FCIP course in december. Ive talked to a couple commercial lines U/W at a junior level, and they said that all the money was in Brokering-which is true, as far as big money is concerned.

As for the person who commented earlier re: U/W not being hired right out of school, that is false. When I did my liability insurance course - C11, my whole class was practically filled with new Lombard U/W's, right out of UNI. They said theyd never have thought about insurance as a career, but because of the horribale job market @ the time- it was the only thing available, so im sure Ins companies do recruit on campus. I have friends @ uoft mississauga campus who tell me that Marsh is there all of the time, but the avg person has no interest of getting into insurance- (although marsh isnt underwriting, its brokering).

Sidenote- my friend who graduated with her Bcom from Rotman @ uoft, got a job right out of Uni @ Swiss Re, within a yr she has become AVP- Assistant Vice president, her salary is 70-80k I believe, she just turned 24 a couple mths back.Not bad considering lawyers do 7 yrs of school and accumulate massive debt to start @ that range, sometimes even lower.
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warren150;11225784[B wrote:] got a job[/B] right out of Uni @ Swiss Re, within a yr she has become AVP- Assistant Vice president, her salary is 70-80k I believe, she just turned 24 a couple mths back.Not bad considering lawyers do 7 yrs of school and accumulate massive debt to start @ that range, sometimes even lower.
What job is that?
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Oct 3, 2009
433 posts
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Bump. Anyone here do commercial insurance underwriting? Is it a good career? What are the salaries like?

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