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You may not be surprised to learn that many people have questions about their insurance policies. Customer service representatives, or CSRs, ensure they get their answers.

CSRs are crucial to making the insurance industry function by explaining policies to policyholders. They often help people learn about new policies, make changes to policies and get details from policyholders when a loss has happened.

Customer service is such a basic function of insurance that CSRs are also one of the largest job roles in the entire industry, numbering about 300,000 people in the U.S. alone.

Here’s what it takes to enter a customer service career.

Undergraduate degree required? No.

Advanced degree required? No.

Additional requirements? Maybe. Some insurance customer service representatives need a license, earned through completing an exam. Employers often provide training for such exams.

Typical career path: Customer service is a great place to start. Period. Those who stay in the customer service field can progress to customer service managers, overseeing entire teams. But many customer service representatives, after learning more about insurance and risk management, transition into positions in other departments, like sales or claims.

Salary range:

  • Entry level: $29,039, or $12.39/hour
  • Senior level: $32,402
  • Median: $17.38/hour

Entry-level job titles:

  • Customer Service Representative
  • Call Center Representative
  • Insurance Services Associate
  • Client Relationship Manager