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What Makes a Great Insurance Agent?


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What Makes a Great Insurance Agent?

When you are shopping for any type of insurance, you are going to want the help and advice of someone who understands the insurance business and who is truly interested in helping you protect yourself rather than making the most money. Unfortunately some insurance agents are in the business for their own benefit and will not tell you when you are paying too much or are buying insurance that you simply don't need. I am a former insurance agent, and I have seen the best and worst. This blog is about noticing red flags when it comes to sneaky insurance sales people and about finding the signs of a truly good agent.

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How To Complete Continuing Education For Insurance Agents In New York

If you are an insurance agent within the state of New York, then you are required to complete 15 continuing education credits for your license during each two-year license period in order to stay current in the insurance industry. You can complete these credits by choosing what credits you want to complete, finding an education provider, and working with your employer as you complete your education.

Choose Your Credits

Continuing education credits are usually bundled together in one course for your state. However, if you want to choose specific credits to complete or don't want to take them together, then you can usually select them individually. Either way, you'll most likely need to choose what credits you want to take. You'll need to complete credits specific to your state's insurance rules. If you don't, you risk having your continuing education credits be useless for the state you work in. You also need to choose how you'll complete the courses — you can go through a course offered in an actual classroom or those meant to be studied at home, depending on the teaching method you prefer.

Choose Your Provider

Once you have an idea as to what courses or credits you want to complete, you need to find a continuing education provider. This provider needs to not only be approved by the state of New York as a provider organization, but you also need to make sure that they are well reviewed by their previous customers. That should include accurate information provided in the course, as well as customer support you can trust. You can search for a provider through the New York Department of Financial Services search engine. You can also ask other insurance agents who they trust for their CEs.

Work With Your Employer

Finally, make sure to work with your employer (if you have one) when completing your continuing education credits. Many continuing education courses will schedule exams and class times outside of typical work hours, but you should still tell your employer when you are doing classwork or tests. This can prevent scheduling conflicts that would otherwise arise. Plus, your employer most likely wants you to keep up to date with your license, and some companies will pay for the education you need to keep your license up-to-date.

Continuing education credits are one of the most important parts of being an insurance agent. For those working in New York, you can choose what credits you want to complete for your state, find an official CE course provider through the New York Department of Finance, and work with your employer to avoid scheduling conflicts. Contact a New York insurance CE provider in your area or online today.