How to Become an Insurance Agent in the Philippines?

In my blog entitled "Is Your Insurance Agent Qualified to Sell Insurance Contracts?," I stated that the Insurance Code of the Philippines requires that no person shall act as insurance agent in the solicitation or procurement of applications for insurance or receive for services in obtaining insurance any commission or compensation from any insurance company doing business in the Philippines without first procuring a license from the Commissioner.

However, the Insurance Commission cannot just issue a license to any person who desires to become an insurance agent unless he/she had satisfied the Commissioner as to his/her competence and trustworthiness.

Competence can be determined by passing the examination conducted by the Insurance Commission.  This means you must have attended a seminar conducted either by the insurance company you are planning to represent, also known as the sponsoring insurance company, or taking a course at the Insurance Institute for Asia and Pacific, Inc. (IIAP).  A certificate coming from either the insurance company of IIAP will suffice your claim that you had been trained in the kind of insurance contemplated in the license.

Trustworthiness of the applicant can be proved by submitting documents showing that he/she is of good moral character and must not have been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.  An example of these documents are Certificate of Good Moral Character, and NBI or Barangay Clearance.

You may take the qualifying examination at the Insurance Commission's office in Manila that is conducted every day from Tuesday to Friday at 8:30 A.M.  The Commission's Cebu and Davao offices also conducts examination every 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.  Examination in other places shall be scheduled and applicants are suggested to coordinate with the representative(s) of the sponsoring insurance company or organization in the area of exam.

To pass the examination, you must have at least 30 correct answers out of 50 questions.  If you fail the exam, you will be allowed to retake the exam provided it will not be taken within the same day the exam which you failed was conducted.

New Careers for Insurance Professionals

Insurance professionals are not exempted from getting bored in their current positions.  It happened to me early 2002 when I decided to become an entrepreneur and organized my own reinsurance broker.

Dr. Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., wrote, "Career change is a natural life progression; most studies show that the average job-seeker will change careers (not jobs) several times over the course of his or her lifetime."

If you are facing a career change plunge, take it slowly and make sure that you really want to do it.  It is highly advisable that you map out a career path that will help you travel from Point A to Point Z while taking all the right steps in between.

So if you are in insurance industry and is considering a career change within the same industry, it is important to choose one of the areas of expertise available.  Never choose a particular career path based on the "wrong" reasons.  There's nothing wrong if a particular position pays well because no salary is worthwhile if you're miserable in that position.

To those who are considering a career change, I am recommending that you consider a career in IT because computer systems design and related services industry is still among the economy's largest and fastest sources of employment growth.

In a report of Tom Young at Computing.co.uk, he said "Global IT spending should return to growth in 2010 for the first time since the recession."  All major segments - computing hardware, software, IT services, telecom and telecom services - are expecting to grow.

There are institutes who offers Certificate in IT for Insurance Professionals like The Chartered Institute for IT and The Chartered Insurance Institute.  This course demonstrates a broad understanding of IT; is specific to the insurance industry; and has been developed by professionals for professionals.