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AyRojgar

Insurance agent

Commission-only work with almost no capital. Life agents may take up to 35 percent of the first year's premium, and individual agency in non-life insurance closed on 1 January 2026.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Insurance agent

Insurance agent

Starting capital
৳500 – ৳15,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 people
First sale
30 – 90 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
1 – 4 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Mobile service · Easy

About the business

Insurance agency needs no shop, no stock and no workshop. The income is commission alone, and because the rate is written into the statute the earnings can be worked out in advance. Section 58(3) of the Insurance Act 2010 allows a life insurance agent at most 35 percent of the first year's premium, 10 percent of the second year's renewal premium and 5 percent in later years. An insurer in its first ten years of business may pay up to 45, 12 and 6 percent. So a policy with a Tk 10,000 annual premium pays up to Tk 3,500 in year one, then Tk 1,000 in year two and Tk 500 a year after that, for as long as the policy stays alive. The big change is that individual agency in non-life insurance is now closed. On 23 December 2025 IDRA issued a circular suspending the licences of individual agents at all 46 non-life companies and barring any commission to them, effective 1 January 2026; the rate had been 15 percent. Bancassurance banks and insurtech operators are exempt. Anyone who wants to be an agent today has one road left, life insurance - and there the real work is not the first-year commission but keeping the policy alive, because a lapsed policy ends the renewal commission too.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳1,500 – ৳5,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳35 – ৳45 / unitOfficial source
Variable cost৳3 – ৳12 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin5% – 45%Official source
Time to first revenue30 – 90 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time1 – 4 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle15 – 45 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss20% – 40%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity5 – 50Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • A mobile phone, proposal forms and receipt books, and a register or diary of renewal dates. No equipment and no stock.Equipment
  • Registration as an insurance agent by the insurer or broker under section 124(1) of the Insurance Act 2010. Qualification, the term of registration, the renewal fee and how it is paid are fixed by IDRA regulation under section 124(4). Individual agent licences in non-life insurance have been suspended since 1 January 2026.Licence
  • A trade licence from the city corporation or municipality if you open an office in your own name: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee by trade type. Working purely as a registered agent of the company needs no premises.Licence
  • The ability to read and explain policy terms: the term, the premium, surrender value, bonus and the grounds for claim rejection. Without the habit of arithmetic and reading, the customer ends up misinformed.Skill
  • One life insurer or licensed broker to appoint and register you. Section 124(5) bars being an agent of more than one insurer at the same time.Supplier

How the work is done

  1. 1First decide which branch you will work in. Individual agency in non-life insurance closed on 1 January 2026, so in practice there is one road left: life insurance.
  2. 2Pick a life insurer or broker. Under section 124(1) the insurer or broker appoints and registers the agent and keeps a register of every appointment. There is no route where you go to IDRA and get a licence yourself.
  3. 3Complete the company's registration paperwork and write down your registration number and its expiry. If you are not registered, section 58(2) bars you from renewal commission on your own business once the licence period ends.
  4. 4Get the commission rate in writing. Section 58(3) sets the ceiling but the company may pay less, so check the rate is in the appointment letter, not just in someone's mouth.
  5. 5Do not treat the first-year commission as your income. A Tk 10,000 premium policy pays Tk 3,500 the first year, Tk 1,000 the second and Tk 500 a year after. The number of policies that survive is your standing income.
  6. 6Understand what you are selling: the term, the premium, what comes back and when, and the grounds on which a claim gets rejected. A policy sold on a misunderstanding lapses in a few years and takes your renewal commission with it.
  7. 7Hand every premium receipt to the customer and keep the renewal dates in your own register. Phoning before the renewal date is the real labour of this job.
  8. 8Do not take a second agency while registered with one insurer - section 124(5) forbids it. To move, get a release order first; if you owe nothing the company must issue it within 15 days of your application.
  9. 9Do not rebate. Handing part of your commission back to the customer to close a sale is barred by section 60, and section 59(6) allows a fine of up to Tk 1 lakh for breaching the commission provisions.
  10. 10Work your own area and your own circle, because you will go back to that customer year after year. Renewals on distant customers cannot be held, and without renewals there is no income.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovNormal
  12. DecNormal
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · A dense mix of traders and salaried people, with regional offices of nearly every company.
  • Strong fitCumilla · Remittance families and highway trade make it likelier that premiums keep being paid.
  • Strong fitDhaka · Almost every insurer's head office is here, salaried households are numerous and the ability to keep paying premiums is higher.
  • Strong fitSylhet · Remittance income gives households regular cash and a stronger appetite for savings-type life policies.
  • PossibleBogura · The northern trading centre, with company branches and reach into neighbouring districts.
  • PossibleBrahmanbaria · High remittance income and tight circles around village markets, which is what agency work runs on.
  • PossibleGazipur · Huge numbers of factory workers and supervisors, but low wages mean only small-premium policies move.
  • PossibleNarayanganj · Dense with small traders and factory owners, and compact enough that revisiting for renewals is easy.
  • PossibleNoakhali · Many remittance households with a habit of saving.
  • Weak fitBandarban · Scattered settlement and hard travel: the cost of reaching a customer for a premium each year is more than the commission returns.

Risks and cautions

  • HighCompliance: In non-life insurance the job no longer exists. On 23 December 2025 IDRA issued a circular on individual agent commission and development officers' pay, suspending the licences of individual agents at all 46 general insurance companies and barring commission to them, effective 1 January 2026. BIA put the number of such agents at close to 3,000; their commission had been 15 percent. Development officers may no longer be paid a percentage of premium either, but must be on a fixed salary structure. Nothing anywhere guarantees that the same decision will not reach life insurance.
  • HighDemand: The income leans entirely on first-year commission: 35 percent in year one (45 at a young insurer), 10 in year two, 5 after that. What an old policy pays is a seventh of what a new one paid. A month without a new policy is a month with almost no income, and that structure is exactly what pushes agents to close a sale at any cost.
  • HighLate payment: If the customer stops paying, the renewal commission stops with him. An agent's asset is the list of surviving policies and that list erodes every year. Section 58(2) adds that once the licence period ends, an agent not registered under section 124(1) loses renewal commission even on business he himself brought in - so failing to renew your registration costs you your old income too.
  • MediumCompliance: The rebate trap. Taking more than the prescribed commission, or discounting to the customer out of your own commission, is barred by sections 59 and 60, and section 59(6) allows a fine of up to Tk 1 lakh on whoever breaches it - insurer, agent, agent-appointer or broker. In non-life it was precisely this practice of excess commission that finally got the whole arrangement shut down.
  • MediumDependency: You live on the company's reputation. When a claim is delayed or refused the customer comes to the agent, because he does not know the company's office - he knows you. One family soured takes the next ten policies in that neighbourhood with it.

Sources

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