Meaning & use
insurance agent
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to sell insurance policies and help customers arrange cover.
Grammar: Countable: say 'an insurance agent' or 'insurance agents'; you cannot use it without 'a' or a plural.
Patterns
- an insurance agent for a company
- talk to an insurance agent
- an insurance agent sells something
She works as an insurance agent for a small firm downtown.
We asked an insurance agent to explain what our home policy actually covers.
An insurance agent called me twice last week about life cover.
nouncountablebusiness
Someone who represents one insurance company and is paid for the policies they sell.
Grammar: Often followed by 'for' plus the company name: 'an agent for a big insurer'.
Patterns
- an agent for a company
- be an agent for someone
He is an agent for a national insurer, so he only offers that company's products.
As an agent for one firm, she cannot compare prices across the market.
Word forms
| plural | insurance agents |
|---|
Common combinations
- a licensed insurance agent
- You must be a licensed insurance agent before you can sell policies in this state.
- contact your insurance agent
- Contact your insurance agent as soon as the damage happens.
- an insurance agent's commission
- Part of what you pay goes to the insurance agent's commission.
- a local insurance agent
- A local insurance agent explained the small print to us.
- work as an insurance agent
- After college he worked as an insurance agent for three years.
Synonyms and how they differ
- insurance broker
- A broker usually searches several insurers on your behalf, while an agent typically sells for one company.
- underwriter
- An underwriter decides whether to accept a risk and at what price, rather than selling policies to the public.
- insurance salesman
- This older term stresses selling and sounds dated or slightly negative; 'insurance agent' is the neutral, professional word.
Word family
Commonly confused: insurance agent or insurance company? insurance agent or assurance agent?
insurance agent vs insurance company
The company is the organization that carries the risk; the agent is the individual who sells its policies.
insurance agent vs assurance agent
In British English 'assurance' is often used for life cover, so an 'assurance agent' sells life policies rather than general ones.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'insurance agent' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Insurance agent' is a countable noun for a person, so it fits after 'my' as the one who explains a policy. Option 0 needs 'insurance', not the person; option 2 confuses the agent with the company; option 3 uses the phrase as a verb, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “insurance agent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.