Certified Insurance Salespeople Make 8 Million Won a Month
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
Insurance salespeople certified by two insurers associations as trustworthy are making around 8 million won a month, 2.6 times more than the average for the profession.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the number of people who were designated as Certified Insurance Consultants (CIC) this year totaled 13,059, or 5 percent of the total number of insurance salespeople in the country. The figure dropped by 3.6 percent from the previous year.
The Korea Life Insurance Association and the General Insurance Association of Korea give the certificate each year to insurance salespeople who meet certain criteria. To be eligible, a person must work with the same insurer for over three years, and achieve a certain amount in average annual sales, with no consumer complaints. The certificate is valid for one year.
It was introduced to improve the quality of customer services. Unlike previous incentive systems traditionally focusing on sales performance, the certificate places emphasis on consumer trust and sincerity. The insurers are also expected to enhance people's trust in the insurance industry and lessen the number of consumer complaints involving insurance. Those with the certificate can use CIC logos on their business cards, insurance brochures and insurance policies so that subscribers can identify those considered to be most trustworthy.
The number of life insurance salespeople who received the certificate totaled 6,296 this year, down 21 percent from a year ago, while the number of non-life insurance salespeople with the certificate increased by 21.3 percent to 6,763.
Salespeople with the certificate were making 7.96 million won per month, 2.6 times more than the 3.09 million won industry average. ``The salespeople with a certificate seem to have secured trust from consumers, working for the same company for a long time and building up expertise on insurance products,'' the regulator explained.
They worked for the same insurance company for 9.9 years on average. The 13th month persistency, or the rate of clients signing up for insurance for over a year, stood at 94.2 percent.
Prudential Life Insurance boasted a huge pool of trustable insurance salespeople. Nearly 30 percent of its salespeople got the certificate, while the rate hovered below 8 percent for other insurance companies.