Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Insurance Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

The Insurance Assistant supports day-to-day policy administration, claims intake, customer service, billing, and underwriting support tasks to ensure accurate, compliant, and timely service for policyholders and internal stakeholders. This role is client-facing and operationally focused — combining administrative precision, regulatory awareness, and strong communication skills to help streamline insurance lifecycle activities and improve customer retention.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Customer Service Representative (insurance or financial services)
Administrative Assistant / Office Coordinator
Insurance Intern or Policy Processing Clerk

Advancement To:

Insurance Specialist / Senior Insurance Assistant
Underwriting Assistant or Junior Underwriter
Claims Analyst or Claims Specialist
Policy Administrator / Team Lead

Lateral Moves:

Billing & Collections Specialist
Client Services Coordinator
Compliance Assistant / Risk Control Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Accurately process new policy applications, endorsements, cancellations, and renewals in the policy administration system, ensuring all data fields meet underwriting and compliance requirements and documentation is complete prior to issuance.
Provide high-quality, empathetic customer service by answering phone, email, and chat inquiries from policyholders and producers; resolve routine questions about coverage, billing, and claims; escalate complex issues to underwriting or claims teams.
Support claims intake by collecting initial information, logging claims into the claims management system, verifying policy coverage, assigning appropriate claim handlers, and communicating next steps to policyholders and brokers.
Prepare and deliver insurance quotes, binders, and certificates of insurance for brokers and clients by coordinating with underwriters and verifying exposure, limits, and endorsements.
Maintain and reconcile billing and accounts receivable records: generate invoices, process payments, set up installment plans, issue refunds, and coordinate with finance for follow-up on overdue accounts.
Verify and maintain accurate policyholder documentation, including driver's abstracts, inspection reports, proof of loss statements, medical releases, and compliance certificates; attach and index documents in the document management system.
Execute underwriting support tasks such as ordering credit reports, loss runs, motor vehicle reports (MVRs), background checks, and other third-party verifications that inform risk selection and pricing.
Manage policy changes and endorsements by calculating premiums and commissions, applying prorations, producing endorsement documents, and updating billing schedules and agent compensation records.
Conduct routine audits of policy files to ensure regulatory compliance with state laws, company guidelines, and data privacy standards; prepare files and documentation for internal and external audits.
Cross-sell and identify retention opportunities during client interactions by recognizing coverage gaps and recommending appropriate products, then routing opportunities to producers or brokers for follow-up.
Generate and distribute management reports, operational metrics, and exception reporting to support process improvement, service-level tracking, and leadership decision-making.
Coordinate with third-party vendors (MGAs, TPA, inspection services, independent adjusters) to schedule services, follow up on deliverables, and reconcile invoices against contracted rates.
Process producer and agent commissions, reconcile commission statements, and assist with commission-related inquiries and dispute resolution.
Manage renewals workflow by monitoring upcoming expirations, sending renewal notices, aggregating renewal documentation, and liaising with underwriters to secure timely renewals.
Investigate and resolve billing discrepancies, canceled transactions, and misapplied payments in collaboration with finance and client services teams to minimize customer churn and improve cash flow.
Serve as the primary liaison for policyholders during policy lifecycle events (e.g., new business, mid-term adjustments, claims), maintaining clear, documented communication in CRM and policy systems.
Maintain strong data integrity by performing quality control checks on manual entries, imports, and batch updates; identify root causes of data errors and recommend corrective process changes.
Assist with regulatory filings, state-specific endorsements, and license verifications to ensure products are compliant for sale and servicing in multiple jurisdictions.
Participate in special projects to streamline policy administration processes, implement system upgrades or new workflows, and support testing and training activities for new releases.
Provide training and mentoring to new hires and junior staff on policy systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and customer service best practices to promote team capacity and consistency.
Document and update procedural guides, knowledge base articles, and SOPs for common policy and claims tasks to reduce cycle time and support knowledge continuity.
Maintain strict confidentiality and adhere to privacy, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Errors & Omissions (E&O) controls when handling sensitive customer and claims information.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist marketing and sales teams with certificate issuance, proof of insurance requests, and policy summaries for client pitches.
Help monitor and report customer satisfaction metrics and first-contact resolution rates.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Policy administration systems proficiency (examples: Guidewire, Duck Creek, Sapiens, Applied EPIC, or proprietary PAS).
Claims management knowledge and experience with claims intake workflows and triage.
Strong Microsoft Excel skills: VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, pivot tables, basic macros, and data cleansing.
CRM and client servicing platforms (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot, Applied TAM) — experience logging interactions and maintaining follow-up tasks.
Billing systems and accounts receivable processes, including reconciling payments and generating invoices.
Familiarity with underwriting fundamentals, risk exposure assessment, rate/pricing calculations, and endorsements.
Regulatory and compliance awareness for insurance operations (state filing requirements, privacy rules, and licensing).
Document management and imaging systems, including file indexing and OCR-based search.
Basic reporting and analytics skills: creating KPI dashboards and operational reports (Power BI, Tableau, or Excel-based reports).
Excellent data entry accuracy and database management skills with a focus on data integrity.
Experience interfacing with third-party vendors, TPAs, and brokers; ability to manage SLAs and vendor documentation.
Basic SQL or data querying ability preferred for ad-hoc reporting and data validation tasks.

Soft Skills

Exceptional verbal and written communication skills tailored to clients, brokers, and internal stakeholders.
Strong attention to detail with a high level of accuracy when handling policy and claims information.
Customer-centric mindset with empathy, active listening, and a service orientation.
Problem-solving and critical thinking skills; able to triage issues and escalate appropriately.
Time management and organizational skills to prioritize high-volume tasks and deadlines.
Team collaboration: works cross-functionally with underwriting, claims, finance, and sales teams.
Adaptability and resilience in a fast-changing regulatory and business environment.
Professionalism and ethical judgment when handling confidential information.
Initiative and process-improvement mindset; looks for ways to automate repetitive tasks.
Conflict resolution and negotiation skills when managing billing disputes or coverage objections.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or equivalent required.

Preferred Education:

Associate degree or Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Risk Management, Insurance, or a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Insurance / Risk Management
Business Administration / Finance
Accounting / Economics
Information Systems (for policy systems and reporting)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

1–4 years of administrative, customer service, or insurance operations experience.

Preferred:

2–5 years of direct experience in insurance operations (policy administration, claims processing, or underwriting support), or equivalent experience in financial services or a third-party administrator (TPA) environment.
Familiarity with industry certifications or training (e.g., CPCU, AINS, or state adjuster/license) is a plus.