During the past several years, the sector of insurance has flourished so much that the insurance business is being considered as one of the most rapidly developing areas in the financial sector. In fact, it is, indisputably, the most dynamic segment in the global financial services industry

Opportunities in this field include

a)  New product creation
Chartered Accountants as professionals can play a vital role in the design and development of new and existing insurance products and services. They can advise on premiums, rebates and the like for products unique to specific industries/ companies and suggest risk-mitigating measures.

b) Underwriting
Insurance underwriters review insurance applications and decide whether they should be accepted or rejected based on the degree of risks that would be involved in insuring the people or objects of concern. They are required to use rate books, codebooks, tables, actuarial studies and other reference materials

c) Management of Portfolio
Insurers possesses huge amount of funds, which need proper management. The management of the portfolio of an insurance company requires the identification of investment avenues, evaluation thereof and the selection of the most appropriate mix of alternatives where the funds of the company can be invested. Chartered Accountants are well versed with the methods and techniques pertaining to the finance related decision-making including the application of scientific and statistical techniques for the same. There is invariably a large scope for the utilisation of the services of Chartered Accountants in this field.

d) Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
An Investigator investigates the insurance claim to figure out who should pay the damages. He or she looks for the truth when there’s disagreement about who is legally responsible or when criminal activity is suspected. In other situations, adjusters and examiners are the ones who deal with insurance claims.

Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators work behind the scenes, usually for insurance companies or agencies, to make sure that insurance customers claiming payment get the money they are entitled to

e) Actuary
Actuaries are experts who perform actuarial analysis of insurance rates, rating procedures, rating plans, and schedules of insurance companies. These are professionals who are experienced in reviewing and analyzing insurance operations, reserves and underwriting procedures and provide technical assistance regarding actuarial matters to policy examiners and other technical staff. In other words they are the people who ascertain in advance the uncertain events that could take place in future and come to a financial conclusion.

A Chartered Accountant with his natural flair for Quantitative techniques and numbers crunching can be of immense help in being an Actuary

A Chartered Accountant can play the role of actuary by fulfilling the requirement as per Actuarial Society of India.

f) Advisor
A Chartered Accountant as an Insurance advisor can assist in the following areas:

• Agricultural Insurance
• Setting up new business
• Amalgamations and merger
• Life Insurance and Non-Life Insurance
• Insurance laws and regulations

g) Risk management
Chartered Accountants can assist in fulfilling the following objectives of Risk Management with his specialized knowledge:

• Prior to a loss
• Economy
• Reduction of Anxiety
• Meeting external obligation
• After a loss occurs
• Survival of the firm
• Continued operation
• Stability of earnings
• Continued Growth
• Social Responsibility

h) Surveyor or Loss Assessor
Insurance surveyors and Loss assessors are independent professionals appointed by an insurance company to assess the loss or damage when a claim is notified under a policy issued by them. An insurance surveyor is a duly qualified professional deputed for the assessment of losses, according to their qualification and experience.


As a professional they serve a link between the insurer and the insured.


A chartered Accountant is qualified to act as a surveyor as per Section 64UM (1)(D) of the Insurance Act, 1938

 

i) Sales Agent
Agent is the representative of Insurance Company. Agents regulations have come into force from June 1, 2000. Agents would have to go through a qualifying examination to be conducted by the IRDA. The syllabus for the agents qualifying examination was finalised and the examination would be compulsory from June 2000 onwards
The members who are not in practice can explore this avenue and yield handsome results in marketing the products as they are well equipped with the technical knowledge and skills required to perform the function.

j) Insurance Litigation
Chartered Accountants can render their professional expertise in the quantification of claims, both personal injury and business interruption claims. They may also render their services in determining the consideration of liability involving accountants’ negligence and for other professional negligence cases. They may also provide their knowledge in rendering assistance of fidelity insurance disputes and insurance accounting disputes.

k) Forensic Auditing / Investigative Assignments
Insurance industry is susceptible for fraudulent / inflated claims. The examples of fraudulent claims include auto accidents faked or staged to claim benefits, phony burglaries, thefts, or acts of vandalism reported to insurers. Chartered Accountants with their inherent inquisitive abilities sharpened by their training can provide a lot of value addition to the claim settling techniques. The investigative skills aided by their probing minds and technical assistance can be effectively utilised by insurers by offering investigative assignments to the Chartered Accountants.

l)  Others
Chartered Accountants can also take up responsibility in the fields of Concurrent Audit ,Audit and certification of investment functions, Certification required under IRDA, Consultancy in Insurance  and pension laws and Third party administrators services