Salary- CPCU

[jobhobe]

In the underwriting world CPCU is very meaningful. As Brad stated, when I see the letters behind there name I know they are knowledgable (to some degree) and can be counted on. Any and every designation is a help.

I keep hearing years experience being thrown around as the "all important" factor. And that is TRUE!. But if a producer would try to take his 15 years into the underwriting world, he or she would be lost. And Vise-Versa.

Fair or Unfair, at my office a CPCU makes over $40,000 more than everybody else, and I am in the St. Louis Area.

[LHRC]

When your resume is competing against other applicants, it makes a difference to have the CPCU just to get an interview. (It's very similar to competing against a college degree when you don't have one.) Once you're in the door (for an interview or you've been hired), then you have to show that you actually have the knowledge to perform the work and the interpersonal skills to get along with your coworkers and your customers. If you haven't progressed in 5 years to your satisfaction, you need to reassess yourself. Have you grown in your position? Have you demonstrated to your boss that you are a valuable asset? Have you continued to become educated and skillful in your chosen area of expertise? Are you roadblocked by your own shortcomings or by a coworker? An honest self assessment will tell you if you need to work harder or move on to another job. CPCU's tend to be considered first for positions of responsibility and thus earn more than those without unless there is some other circumstance holding them back.

From one successful CPCU with 40 years experience.

[michga11]

C-Can't
P-Produce
C-Can't
U-Underwrite

LOL!

[mickeyfridia178]

Do you know all the intricacies related to cpcu?

Which position/job title (manager, producer, underwriter, manager, or ???)? Which city/state? What's the prior background/employment history?

[KeeponTruckin]

Not sure about others but here is what I have on CPCU from my dads experience. Now I am just an aspiring Insurance executive but this has how my dads career has went
mid-late 80s Underwriter and Product Manager, no CPCU ending salary in 1991 was 72,000+ bonus
1992-1998 National Director of Underwriting for Truck products at USF&G pay started at 85000+ bonus and CPCU was earned during this time period. Pay by the time he left was 110+ bonus...did the CPCU help? Probably but how much?
1998-present various V.P or Underwriting Director positions for places like CNA, Westfield, etc.salary is 150+ nice officer compensation package

What I have gathered from this is CPCU DOES help but you also need to have other skills to go along with that. If you are good in the Insurance biz and have a CPCU you can make big bucks....just depends if you want to go on the Producing Side, Product Management, or Underwriting arena.

[earlybird]

I am a CPCU with 40 years of experience, claims and sales. CPCU is a worthwhile endeavor, but so is the CIC program. CPCU is more complex and gives a "bigger picture." The CRM program likewise gives itse designees a broader understanding of risk and how to deal with it. The people who make fun of the CPCU, have limited their own ability to excel, much like a person who doesnt finish high school. That doesnt mean that those individuals cannot compete or excel, but the career path is often easier when it is based on more knowledge, particularly if the individual works for an insurance company, rather than an agency.

[bullmann]

I know lots of CPCUs. Some are very good at what they do and some are not good at all. The good ones tend to be paid well and the not so good ones do not get paid as well. The designation looks good on a business card but has little if anything to do with compensation.

[mszleszinski]

In my career, the CPCU designation has served me well both as an underwriter and now as a broker. It is an excellent door opener to get invited to interview for an open position since this designation is well recognized within our industry. Unlike the CIC designation, once you earn it, you retain it for life (similar to a college degree). That being said, a CPCU designation might help you to get invited to interview for a position but after that point, it is all up to you in how you present yourself and perform on the job. If salary is most important to you and that you are highly motivated, sales might be a good career path since compensation is tied to performance. As an underwriter, salary is often tied to experience since the ultimate goal is to achieve profitable growth for the company and the outcome of today's underwriting decisions may not be known for years down the road for some classes of business such as med mal.

[AssociatePI]

Here's a 2015 CPCU Salary update!

As mentioned, the salary of CPCU depends heavily on the employees position, location and experience

According to a study by payscale.com, the median CPCU salary for employees of an insurance company $74,338

See below for the median CPCU salary broken down by job type:

Insurance underwriter – $65,486
Senior underwriter – $80,809
Insurance broker – $74,798
Insurance underwriter commercial property – $64,901
Claims manager – $89,062
Risk manager – $94,875


If you've already earned your CPCU designation, see how you can increase your salary by leveraging your CPCU designation

[junevjohnson]

According to PayScale, the median salary for a CPCU with less than 5 years of experience is $55,264.00. Of course, this varies based on your direct experience, schooling, company size and geography. If I were you, I would target 2 - 3 companies and look at a site like glassdoor for reviews from current and former employees.

[BHoh]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[jason747]

For those of you pursuing the CPCU designation, you should be proud, because it's one of the most prestigous designation in our industry. Don't pay attention to some of these discouraging comments, because there's 2 sides to every story. I'm a CPCU holder myself, and yes, I did increase my salary by nearly 40% in 3 years. Although I did come across CPCU holders in which I've questioned whether or not they actually deserve to hold this designation, but there are others who clearly stand out from the crowd. And statistically speaking, CPCU will get you a better paying job. But you should never fully rely on this designation to receive higher pay, because it will also depend on your experience and knowledge. Some people simply think that pursuing this designation is not worth their time and effort. People also bad mouth CPCU holders, saying things as "can't produce can't underwrite", but I can understand why they would say such things. They don't have this designation, and they've probably given up on the way, or they're not fit to get it. There's a reason why most of the insurance company executives and management have this designation. Good luck to you.

[kevinraz]

Wow. I spent 6 years with Hartford and my salary nearly doubled and only had the AU designation. I started below the median $65k and finished well above that...and I left Hartford 7 years ago.

Current role: above the median plus a company car, have AU and CIC. This is telling me there are some low earning CPCU's out there driving down the statistics.

I am planning on getting the CPCU designation, starting it in 2016, however I'm thinking that will help keep me employed and/or get me the next job, not increase my pay by any amount. My performance in bringing in accounts while keep the loss ratio down keeps the raises coming.

[James Bond]

40 years experience--compliance. CPCU, CLU, CIC, ACSR, Masters in Public Administration, Insurance Training Professional--current pay of $37,500. No luck trying to break into underwriting or claims. The highr insurance education just did not work out for me.

Maybe there's a consulting avenue you can move into?

[AssociatePI]

For those of you pursuing the CPCU designation, you should be proud, because it's one of the most prestigous designation in our industry. Don't pay attention to some of these discouraging comments

Couldn't agree more. Like you said, some CPCU holders don't represent the rest. In most cases, a CPCU represents a hard working and dedicated employee that truly cares about bettering themselves and improving their career. It's a tough designation and is definitely not for the faint of heart, but in my experience, those that go through the exams come out the other side a much better employee with improved salary and chance to move into a position with increased responsibilities. The big take away from this thread should be to apply the knowledge you learn from the CPCU. Don't simply get the CPCU and expect to be showered in money, use the knowledge to better your performance and position yourself for a higher paying career. I could not be happier with the results of my CPCU education and the benefits it has provided for me