Your Complete Guide to Insurance Types and Career Opportunities
Your Career Has More Than One Door
Agents, adjusters and underwriters all start by knowing the products.
Quick Answer
- Most insurance falls into two license families: Life and Health (life, health, annuities, disability, long term care) and Property and Casualty (auto, home, business and liability coverage).
- Each family comes with its own license, and many agents eventually hold both so they can serve every client need.
- Selling isn't the only path. Claims adjusters, underwriters, actuaries and compliance pros all build careers around the same products.
What Are the Main Types of Insurance?
Here is how the most common types line up with the license that sells them:
- Life insurance: pays beneficiaries when the insured person dies. Sold with a Life license.
- Annuities: turn premiums into a stream of income, often for retirement. Sold with a Life license.
- Health insurance: helps pay for medical care, including Medicare plans for people 65 and older. Sold with an Accident and Health license.
- Disability and long-term care: replace income or pay for care when someone can't work or live independently. Sold with an Accident and Health license.
- Auto insurance: covers liability, collision and comprehensive damage. Sold with a Property and Casualty license.
- Homeowners and renters insurance: protects homes, belongings and personal liability. Sold with a Property and Casualty license.
- Commercial insurance: protects businesses with general liability, commercial property, workers compensation, commercial auto, professional liability and cyber coverage. Sold with a Property and Casualty license.
What Can You Sell With a Life and Health License?
Life and Health agents protect people and their income. The work centers on families, retirement and health care decisions, and it rewards empathy and patient explanation. Here is the full rundown of Life and HealthPre License What Can You Do With A Life And Health Insurance License Resources products.
- Life and annuity agent: helps families choose term or permanent coverage and plan retirement income.
- Health and Medicare agent: guides people through plan choices. Medicare's annual enrollment period runs October 15 through December 7, and ACA open enrollment on HealthCare.gov starts November 1.
- Benefits consultant: designs group health and life packages for employers.
- Financial professional: pairs insurance with investments, which requires securities licenses on top of the insurance license.
What Can You Sell With a Property and Casualty License?
Property and Casualty agents protect things and businesses. The work is high energy and practical, with frequent quotes and renewals. See whether a P&C licensePre License Is Becoming A Licensed Property And Casualty Insurance Agent Worth It Resources fits your goals.
- Personal lines agent: helps households bundle auto, home and renters coverage.
- Commercial agent: builds coverage for business owners, from contractors to tech companies.
- Cyber and specialty agent: handles growing risks like data breaches and professional liability.
Standard homeowners policies typically exclude flood and earthquake damage, and knowing gaps like that is a big part of the job.
What Insurance Careers Don't Involve Selling?
- Claims adjuster: investigates losses and settles claims. Many states require a separate adjuster license.
- Catastrophe adjuster: travels to disaster areas to help people recover after hurricanes, wildfires and storms.
- Underwriter: evaluates risk and decides what coverage to offer and at what price.
- Actuary: uses math and statistics to price risk, usually after a series of professional exams.
- Compliance specialist: keeps an agency or carrier on the right side of state insurance rules.
Explore more of the careers that go beyond sellingPre License What Can You Do With An Insurance License Besides Selling Policies Resources, and see which ones rank among the best paying jobsPre License What Are The Best Paying Jobs In Insurance Resources.
Choose a State and Course
Which Insurance Career Fits You?
- You love helping families plan: start with Life and Health.
- You like quick, practical problem solving: start with Property and Casualty.
- You want to serve every client: plan for both licenses.
- You'd rather investigate than sell: look at claims adjusting.
- You love numbers: look at underwriting or actuarial work.
Coming from another field? Here is how to choose your license as a career changer, or compare license types side by side.
How Do You Get Started?
- Pick your license line based on the products and clients you want.
- Complete your state's prelicensing requirements, which vary from state to state.
- Pass your state exam after plenty of practice questions.
- Apply for your license and get appointed with a carrier.
No industry background? You can still start from zero.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Main Types of Insurance?
The most common types are life, health, auto, homeowners and commercial insurance. Life and health products fall under a Life and Health license, and auto, home and business coverage fall under a Property and Casualty license.
Can One License Cover Every Type of Insurance?
No. Life and Health and Property and Casualty are separate licenses, so agents who want to sell everything get both.
Do You Need a Degree to Work in Insurance?
Not for a producer license. You need to meet your state's prelicensing requirements and pass the state exam.
Find Your Corner of Insurance
Families, drivers, homeowners and business owners all need someone who knows their coverage inside and out. Pick your path, then start a state approved insurance course built to help you pass your exam with confidence.
Ready to take the first step?
Your future in the insurance industry starts now.