Property Insurance Agent Pre-licensing

The Property Insurance Agent Opportunity

Property Insurance Agent Job Overview

A property insurance agent (or producer) works with people to help them protect real estate and personal property they own from loss or damage. Because liability issues often arise from the ownership of real estate, and liability issues are covered through Casualty insurance, Property insurance producers are usually also licensed to sell casualty insurance, and some states include the two as one license.

The purpose of insurance is to get the insured back to the same economic situation he/she was in before a (property) loss occurred. Property insurance producers must therefore work to determine the cost necessary to replace the value of property that might be lost or damaged by fire, lightning, wind storm, theft, or similar perils, so that the insurance company will be able to pay for possible damages. It is important for the producer to determine, for instance, what it would cost to rebuild a building that might be totally destroyed, but to also take other economic factors such as what the building would be able to sell for, so that the building is insured for repair, but not if the repairs would be more than what the building is actually worth.

Aside from buildings, property insurance agents also cover property such as furniture, clothing, and other personal property, but not motor vehicles, which are covered under the authority of a casualty insurance license. Many times property insurance policies have set amounts of coverage that cover a variety of property. As an example, a homeowner policy may have one amount that protects the building as the primary coverages, and the other personal property may be covered up to 50% - 75% of the value of the building, and supplemental buildings such as garages might have 10% of the house amount of coverage.

The licensed property insurance producer must know the right questions to ask to ascertain extra amounts the insured might need because of special hobbies, collections, or other interests. As an example, for one insured, the set amount of $2,500 might be plenty to cover owned jewelry, but another person may hay have more jewelry or even one item of jewelry that requires an appraisal and special coverage amounts. A licensed insurance producer that does not ask the right questions and does not insure a customer's property correctly could put the insured in a tenuous position if the property is not insured properly.

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