Are you ready to kickstart your career and earn while you learn? Look no further than an apprenticeship at Commercial Express. We can offer exciting opportunities for you to gain valuable experience while working towards the coveted Certificate in Insurance qualification.
Why choose an apprenticeship with us?
Earn While You Learn: As an apprentice, you’ll earn a competitive salary while gaining valuable skills and knowledge. Start building your financial independence from day one.
Path to Permanence: Successful completion of our 18-month apprenticeship opens doors to permanent job opportunities. You’ll have the chance to become an integral part of our team and contribute to delivering excellent customer service to insurance brokers.
Hands-on Experience: As an Underwriting Technician Apprentice, you’ll play a vital role in our Commercial Express Underwriting team. Get ready to dive into the world of insurance and learn by doing. Your contributions will make a real impact.
Collaborative Learning: Through our comprehensive training and induction program, you’ll have the opportunity to build collaborative relationships with our internal stakeholders. Gain a deeper understanding of different departmental roles and how they contribute to our overall success.
Industry Insights: We’ll provide you with a solid understanding of the general insurance industry and product training on the schemes that Commercial Express specialises in. Expand your knowledge and become a trusted expert in your field.
At Commercial Express, we believe in investing in our apprentices. You’ll be supported by experienced professionals who are passionate about your growth and development. We’ll provide you with the guidance and mentorship you need to reach your full potential.
Apprenticeship Opportunities
Starting September 2025, a Business Administrator will play a critical role in supporting the day-to-day HR and Facilities operations of our organisation.
Learning a highly transferable set of knowledge, skills and behaviours whilst gaining valuable work experience.
Here you can find out all about the CII Insurance Practitioner course which you will be studying alongside your Underwriting Technician Apprenticeship role. You will gain a grounding in basic insurance principles, including the regulatory environment and key disciplines of underwriting and claims.
Responsibilities of an Underwriting Technician Apprentice involve:
- Diary management, of own training schedules and tasks.
- Handling inbound/outbound telephone calls to assist the customer service levels of the department.
- Perform data entry of insurance information into in-house systems including excel spreadsheets and internal platforms.
- Involved in underwriter briefings and updates to help with understanding of department function and tasks.
- Perform ad-hoc operational duties to support the Underwriting Department.
- The aim will be to gain a Level 1 underwriting licence to assist the wider team with referrals and start to build external broker relationships.
Skills:
- Computer literate in the use of Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, Teams.
- Confidence to communicate effectively on the telephone.
- Positive can-do attitude, keen to develop knowledge/skills.
- Team player with high-level interpersonal skills.
- Enthusiastic, strive to deliver excellent customer service.
- Self-motivated to learn, achieve targets, and manage own timekeeping.
- Good attention to detail, and focus on quality of work.
Requirements:
- Minimum of Grade C/4 in GCSE maths and English, plus ideally 3 further GCSEs at minimum Grade C/4.
- Working Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.30pm, 37.5 Hours per week.
- Commitment to achieving Certificate in Insurance qualification within 18 months.
- Due to FCA regulations, apprentices will be required to consent to basic finance and DBS checks. Commercial Express will arrange and pay for these checks.
- Applicants must be 18 years old by September 2024 and have the right to work in the UK. There is no upper age limit.
Benefits for working at Commercial Express
- Workplace pension scheme offering you flexibility of up to 16%.
- Minimum of 27 days holiday plus bank holidays.
- 1 paid volunteer day per year.
- Hybrid working – flexibility to work from home combined with a number of days per week in our office on the Waterfront in Brierley Hill. Providing a fantastic work environment to drive our commitment to learning and development, innovation, and collaboration.
- Health cash plan and virtual GP services.
- Trained mental health first aiders and access to 24/7 employee assistance programme, offering a range of health and wellbeing, financial and counselling services.
- Professional memberships funding options – as part of holding CII Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agent Status we offer a variety of funding options to support our people in achieving industry-standard qualifications.
- Employee recognition awards and annual employee awards.
- Staff social events throughout the year, including summer and Christmas parties.
- Long service awards.
- Free onsite parking.
- Matched funding for charities.
- Death in service benefit.
Meet our former apprentice and hear what she has to say
Kylie
I started my apprenticeship with Commercial Express when I was 30. I had done various retail and customer-facing roles throughout my career before then and wanted to completely change my career. I found working and learning at the same time to be a great way of gaining new skills and qualifications. I have now been with Commercial Express for over 5 years, managing the agency day to day tasks. The people who work here are all warm and supportive, who care about developing their people. I am now looking to gain further development within the Insurance Industry with the help of Commercial Express.
Nathan
I began my Assistant Underwriter apprenticeship with Commercial Express in September 2024. When I first started, I had no prior experience in underwriting, or the insurance industry. At first, this was a little daunting; I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but I knew I wanted to pursue a career with a business and within an industry that would support me and allow me to grow as an individual both professionally and personally.
From day one, I was welcomed into a friendly and supportive environment, and this support has continued throughout my apprenticeship. My managers have both been incredible and have played a huge role in my journey so far, their patience and guidance have been instrumental in my development and helped me build my confidence within the company. They have created an environment where I feel comfortable and have built an array of tasks that challenge me and allow me to improve each day.
The wider team at Commercial Express are also brilliant, everyone is friendly, approachable and always willing to offer me assistance when required, creating a really positive atmosphere and a place where I enjoy each day I am in the office.
The apprenticeship has been a combination of both internal and external training. Coming from a position with limited knowledge of the insurance industry I feel I have come a long way in building upon my understanding. Internal sessions within the team, and Underwriter training with our Technical Underwriter have played a key role in building my knowledge and skillset.
In addition, I am currently working towards the CII Certificate in Insurance. I regularly participate in workshops related to this with Skillsedge, our training provider. These sessions are based around our Insurance Foundation studies, as well as additional topics covering industry processes, regulatory frameworks and compliance relevant to the insurance sector.
Alongside this, I have learned the importance of effective time management and organisation. Balancing my academic assignments, attending workshops and fulfilling my daily responsibilities.
Looking back, I’m proud of how far I have come in such a short period, and I know this wouldn’t be possible without a fantastic team that constantly looks out for me and encourages me to thrive. I am really enjoying my journey here and feel like I’m growing each day. I’m excited for the future and I look forward to continuing my career with Commercial Express.
Emmie
Since joining Commercial Express in September 2024, I’ve grown in many ways – both professionally and personally. Joining as an apprentice underwriter, I had no prior experience in the insurance industry or a professional working environment.
Naturally, I was nervous about such a huge step, but the support, structure, and encouragement I have received since starting has made a huge difference. The team has been incredibly welcoming and patient, and I’ve never felt out of place despite having to learn everything from the ground up.
I have been actively working towards achieving my CII qualifications, focusing on IF1 and IF2, through our external training provider Skillsedge. On top of this, I am in the process of achieving my level 1 underwriting license on our Residential Property Owners scheme through internal training with our Technical Underwriter. This dual approach has allowed me to steadily build both the technical knowledge and practical understanding required for the underwriting role; while ensuring I progress at a pace that is comfortable to me and my learning.
The balance between academic learning and hands-on experience has really helped me understand the principles of insurance in a practical context and allowed me to feel much more confident for my development into the role. What’s been especially valuable is how I’ve been encouraged to get involved in a wide variety of activities – from sitting in on meetings with insurers and collaborating with other departments to taking part in social events that have helped build strong relationships within the company.
My experiences so far have helped me grow not just in knowledge, but I have also experienced a huge rise in confidence. I have been pleasantly surprised with how collaborative and team-orientated the industry is, and building strong working relationships with the rest of the team makes my experience all the more rewarding.
Ultimately, I’ve gained a real sense of what a future career in insurance could look like, and for the first time, I can clearly see a path I’m excited to follow. Commercial Express has provided an environment where learning and growth are encouraged, despite my small extent of experience, and where apprentices are treated as valued team members from the outset. I feel extremely proud to be developing my career here, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds.
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Privacy Policy:
1. Introduction
Commercial Express is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share personal information about you during the recruitment process in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
2. Information We Collect
We collect and process personal data about you when you apply for a job with us. This includes:
- Personal Identifiers: Name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth.
- Professional Information: CV, cover letter, employment history, qualifications, skills, and references.
- Identification Documents: Passport, driving license, or other identification documents.
- Background Information: Information collected during background checks including criminal records and financial checks (where applicable and lawful).
- Equal Opportunities Monitoring: Information about your gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health, and any disabilities (may be used for monitoring and diversity purposes, only if provided voluntarily).
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Assess your skills, qualifications, and suitability for the role.
- Carry out background and reference checks, where applicable.
- Communicate with you about the recruitment process.
- Maintain records related to our hiring processes.
- Comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data on the following legal bases:
- Contract: Processing is necessary for entering into or performing a contract with you.
- Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
- Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as managing our recruitment processes, unless these interests are overridden by your rights and interests.
5. Data Sharing
We may share your personal data with:
- Service Providers: Third-party service providers that perform services on our behalf, such as recruitment agencies, background check providers, Payroll, Pension and IT service providers.
- Legal and Regulatory Authorities: Where required by law or regulation.
- Professional Advisors: Such as lawyers and accountants.
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes.
6. Data Security
We have implemented appropriate security measures to protect your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, accessed, altered, or disclosed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need to know.
7. Data Retention
We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. If your application is unsuccessful, we may retain your personal data for a period of up to 12 months for consideration for future employment opportunities.
8. Your Rights
Under the GDPR, you have the following rights:
- Access: Request access to your personal data.
- Correction: Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you.
- Erasure: Request erasure of your personal data.
- Restriction: Request restriction of processing your personal data.
- Objection: Object to processing of your personal data.
- Data Portability: Request the transfer of your personal data to another party.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at HR@Commercialexpress.co.uk
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at:
Data Protection Officer
Commercial Express Quotes Ltd
B1 Custom House
The Waterfront
Level Street
Brierley Hill
DY5 1XH
Telephone: 01384 473021
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address is:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes we make will be posted on this page and. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to this Privacy Policy.