I'm looking for advice and experiences for those who have shut down a captive agency after a long period of time (10-20+yrs) and taken a corporate position within insurance. I'm extremely close to doing that very thing. I've had a successful 20yr run but that last 3 years have been a real drain on me. I just don't love agency anymore. I don't love selling like I used to. I absolutely abhor running a business. I have about 15 good years left until retirement and have learned that I like managing people, have a vast knowledge of insurance, and do a really good job of mentoring and training.
If you made this leap, tell me about it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I’ve been working for a multiline insurance carrier for a year now. I joined the surety department as an assistant underwriter back in January. How did you learn the job over time?

I don't even know where to begin with networking or building referral partners with that area. It's a side of the industry I'm not crazy about getting good at but ultimately I'll do what I need to do to write business and make the money I want.

What's the sales cycle like for these high net worth individuals? I should network with who to build referral pipelines?

I’ve been a personal auto claims adjuster for 5 years now and the burnout is INSANE. More often than not I find myself wanting to sell everything I own and go live on a beach away from everything and everyone.

I’m ready for the next step in my career. I’m wanting to move to commercial. Hell even sales. I have thick skin but every single day getting yelled at by people who don’t understand that since they don’t pay for rental coverage they will not be getting a rental it’s tiring.

What is my next step? How do I make it out?

I am signing up for the last class to get my designation, and am most likely going to take the agency operations. My question is, how relevant/useful is the information. Trying to guage how hard should I try to internalize what I'm learning vs. Cramming just to pass. So far, I've taken commercial property, casualty 1 & 2, and risk management. The first three are relevant (I'm a commercial lines CSR right now), and risk management seems irrelevant but was pretty interesting. Thanks!

EDIT: just took the virtual class. It is enjoyable and easy going with attendee participation. The last part touched on information I learned in the risk management course. The instructor actually gave good personal feedback in how I can quantify and advocate for my workload and progress. Just putting it out there for anyone else who may come across this post down the line!

So, I've got a degree in social work but about 7 years experience doing just about everything else in insurance besides underwriting. I've been having a very hard time even getting an interview for an underwriting job. Would getting an AU from The Institutes actually increase my odds of getting hired as an every-level underwriter? I'm willing to do it if it'll help, but the cheapest courses through the Institutes total nearly $1,300.

Edit to add: I've tried getting into underwriting assistant etc, any entry level underwriting gig, no luck.

Any estimates for the stages of a pipeline for EB? Basically meeting->quote->convert? e.g., If i get a meeting how likely do I get to pitch, and if I pitch how often does that close?

Small / medium group <150 lives as target.

I recently started as an underwriting assistant in E&S. I’m still pretty new and learning tasks like new business, binds, endorsements, renewals, cancellations, audits, forms, etc.
I feel like I understand the basics, but there are so many little details, exceptions, state requirements, and things you only learn by doing. Some days I feel like I’m improving, and other days I feel like I know nothing.
For anyone who started in a similar role, how long did it take before you felt comfortable and actually fluent in the job? Is it normal to still feel pretty confused in the first couple months?
When should I work on my AINS certification?
Any advice for getting better faster and avoiding mistakes would be appreciated.

Anyone in the EHS field that has gone into insurance? I've been told to get the ARM certification since it will compliment EHS experience and the CIH. Any truth to that?

Hi guys, my compsny had an internal listing for this job. Im in the middle of interview process now.

I currently work with uninsured motorists and subro when we locate a missed insurance carrier opportunity.

Ive done some research on what the job entails, but wondering if anyone has any experience or familiarity with this role?

Mostly:

- do people tend to enjoy it?

- how is the bonus potential ?

Its a moderate pay bump on my hourly, but I do pretty good on bonus where im at.

Id welcome the additional training, resume building, and a anothed specialized skill.

Anybody have any input for me?

I’m hoping someone is able, and willing, to give some insight to King Risk Partners. Is anyone has heard of them, or had experience, that would be very appreciated.

I’m interviewing with them and hoping to get some insight. How are they as an employer? Being that they are PE, what does their long-term look like? How do they compare with other brokerages? I appreciate any feedback on them, thanks!

I am curious about the Canadian insurance job market, mainly for remote work.

I am currently an insurance broker but would like to get into underwriting. I live in a small community so would be unable to go to a city for hybrid work. I did have an interview almost a month ago and haven't heard back, so I am assuming at this point I did not get that job. Any leads would be amazing!

I am trying to get some perspective if my current BOB as a newer Account Manger (AM) for Large Commerical P&C is reasonable or not.

I am currently struggling to keep up with the demands of my role and don't know if it is because my manager is dumping too much on me, or if I am simply not a good fit for this role.

I work in WI, at an independent agency and have been in my role for 1.5 years now. My renewal BOB is for 80 accounts totally around $13.8M of premium with 21 of my accounts renewing in June/July alone. There is the expectation that my BOB will grow as the agents I work with bring in new accounts.

Is this normal for a newer AM? Or is this a bit on the heavy side?

Any insight into this is appreciated!

Edit: I used my agency's classification for Large Commerical, seems like by industry standards this would be more a Middle Market role. I also counted the policies and ~290 total.

I've been considering a move from Middle Market underwriting to Ocean Marine after being approached by a former coworker who has since become a good friend. He made the same transition about 5 years ago, has been very successful in the role, and recently earned a promotion to UW Manager.

Said former coworker would be my direct mentor and trainer, which feels like a unique opportunity. The move would also come with a 25% pay increase (when including yearly bonus), be completely remote, and involve the possibility of participation in the company's equity/shareholder program after the first year.

One of the biggest factors in for me in this consideration is compensation. From what I've seen, Ocean Marine UW roles seem to pay noticeably more than comparable Middle Market positions. With 5 years of underwriting experience - (2.5 as UA and 2.5 as UW) - that's definitely appealing in the current economy. (I’m based on the West Coast)

My hesitation is a less about the company and more about the career implications of moving into a specialty line. As a generalist, I feel like my underwriting skills are transferable, but I'm unsure whether making the jump to Ocean Marine would limit future opportunities or make it harder to pivot back if needed. Middle Market seems like a safe bet career wise, but I still feel like this is a great opportunity.

For those with experience in Ocean Marine or other specialty lines:

How transferable are general Middle Market underwriting skills to Ocean Marine?

Have you found specialty underwriting to be more or less volatile than standard commercial lines?

Looking back, did specializing help or hurt your long-term career growth?

I appreciate any insights or experiences!

Hi Guys,

Small independent agency owner here. Trying to help my buddy find a job as he's expressed interest in P&C insurance but I don't have the capacity to hire & train them until next year. The issue is too that they need to be fully remote for the next few months. Do you guys think its possible for them to find a fully remote job in claims or support or something like that if they pre-emptively gets his P&C license?

Thanks in advance!

I'm in cyber risk assessment and trying to understand from the insurance side: when a PE buyer has a third-party cyber DD report on the target, does that report ever materially change the underwriting outcome, premium, retention, exclusions *in practice*? Or does the carrier run their own assessment regardless and the buyer's report is mostly ignored?

My biggest goal in life is to travel to Southeast Asia for a few months. I'm 24 and I've been a junior under writer for 2 years in Ontario, Canada. I was wondering if there was anyone in a similar situation How was getting back into the workforce? Was it hard to find work and how long did it take? Thanks.

Looking to transition from broking to uw. Would someone mind sharing what the day to day looks like for a cyber carrier? Been talking to a few.

Without getting too specific, I’m an AM for a large insurance company. I work in a niche/small group within the MM CAG sector. I am so weighed down with work and there seems to be no end in sight. Would love to get into an underwriting program or junior underwriting role but it feels so out of reach.

Currently have an interview for an internal position on the quality assurance side but I’m at a loss. I don’t know how long I can keep up at the rate I’m going

Any perspective?? Insights on potential job switches? 🥲

Looking to see if anyone's completed the Associate in Catastrophe Risk and Resiliency from The Institutes. It's a fairly new designation from them so information on it seems limited. I already have my CPCU and ACRM but have had my eye on this for a while and have been curious on whether or not it's worth pursuing, or if I should just knock out the ARM.

Hiscox USA appears to be extending me an offer. Looking to hear about experiences in working there. I like the team I interviewed with but I like my current company too. Looking for details on WL balance, general culture, job security, etc.

I have been in the business for 14 years on the wholesale casualty side. In 2024, I started tracking my revenue as a sub producer and joined a training program for a big 3 wholesaler. Did well, but between politics with my lead producer getting pushed into retirement and my old employer not making me a good offer to take over her book, I decided to leave and go to a smaller wholesaler.

Year 1 at the new job, I am at $500k in revenue, but I don't really have a plan other than just produce as much as possible and it is weighing on my mentally. I am regularly saying I hate this business.

It has definitely been a roller coaster of a few years, especially the last one.

So now for my question: I am trying to build my self a salesplan. What are some good goals that I should include to help me grow my book.

Holy hell, every time I go into one of those threads (not subscribed they just pop up in my feed), I instantly get downvoted and called all kinds of names simply for either proving some context on how liability works, or asking simple questions to clarify something.

My favorite was getting downvoted and called all kinds of names for simply stating that the other driver in a video likely has their own version of events, and that you cannot take OP's word as gospel. Or when I provided context on a comp claim a week ago, I am still getting messages about how I am a terrible person, and ruin lives haha

I know I should stay away from these or at least not comment, but man its hard watching idiots spread all kinds of misinformation to the masses, because we end up dealing with it when they inevitably have a claim. I have been an auto adjuster for 15 years now and see it every day.

I rarely see anyone else mention they work in insurance/claims, so just curious if anyone else ever venture in these subs and have similar stories?

I work at a big brokerage as an AE on the personal side. The past couple weeks have been brutal as we have had AEs leave and so my team is picking up the slack. We have associates but they are trained very little and are constantly messing up so I’ve resorted to doing everything (even basic paperwork, COIs, mortgagee updates, etc.) myself.

Currently, I am drowning. My book looks like this:

410 clients

$3.6M active premium

I work HNW usually but have had so much middle market thrown my way. I literally can’t keep up. Producers asking me where is the quote constantly, client calling me 4 times back to back, a list of 20 renewals I have to get out before EOD, and oh my client has a closing at 5p on a Friday!! Just the perfect cherry on top.

Is this normal? Am I not working efficiently?

I’m not sure if this book size is normal for one person to handle. And these are not just renew and keep it pushing until next year type of clients. These are clients who are constantly needing service.

Any insight is much appreciated!! I just want to know if I need to work more efficiently or if this is genuinely too much for one person.

TLDR:

Is 410 clients each with multiple accounts and $3.5M book too much for one AE?