insurance broker

account manager

Cowan Insurance Group

Cowan was definitely the worst employee experience I have ever had in my life. Safe to say I am traumatized by the toxic work environment to the point where my new employer (which I am VERY happy with) has asked “what toxic environment did you come from to make you feel this way?” Management picks favourites, and it’s extremely obvious if you’re not one of them, they make your life absolutely miserable. They do so by giving you mundane, repetitive and for a lack of a better term “grunt work”. Especially if you’re new or in training or waiting for any licensing to transfer. If your manager doesn’t like you, you will be frozen out of events you’re “expected” to attend, they just “won’t be enough tickets for you to attend” and then they will come down on you for not attending. They boast about a “hybrid work environment” however if you choose to WFH, they make you feel guilty and if you’re new, you’re expected to be in office every day of the week. Management is extremely fake, and does not care who is around when they are trash talking other employees. They will also embarrass you on teams calls in front of your colleagues to bring you down even more. Oh, and if your manager gives you any type of criticism at all, believe me, it’s not constructive. That’s Cowan giving you a “verbal warning”. They dispose of people like garbage when it suits them and HR team is no help and not very responsive! Do not work for Cowan for the sake of your mental health! 

What is the best part of working at the company?
They encourage a persons growth within the company through furthering education.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Upon returning to work from a severe health issue I was told it is my fault for being behind the rest the people that got hired at the same time (in terms of performance). And not because I was very ill (and probably should have remained off of work due to illness, but I wanted to return to work and thought I would be met with assistance if my return wasn’t me performing at 150%).
Severe phone issue that was not fixed for almost 6 months which was infuriating to clients.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I developed many great relationships for my insurance career here that I still remain in touch with to this day. That said, my department and my office was very much drama filled behind your back type stuff. Which was hard to navigate

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Very stressful with a lack of support if you were a broker.

The pay disparity amongst CSRs is huge! There are some making $50K and people with same or less experience making $75K+

Your managers are people with no insurance experience and makes it really hard when theyre the ones making your workflows and criticizing/micromanaging everything you do (ie they tell you how to specifically name documents and all uploads)

Promotions are given to senior staff, as well as first go at vacation, and sometimes to people who are not qualified. They promote people with "lower" titles first rather than hard workers


I found people who did their jobs well, just got slammed with work. Whereas other people just coasted and made more money and never got found out by management.


The one thing i do like is the hybrid- 2 days in office only!


Management created a toxic and discouraging work environment. Employees were often belittled rather than supported, and there was a constant sense that your job security could be questioned if you did not meet unrealistic expectations.

Career growth and development were frequently talked about, but in practice, employees who wanted to advance often faced unnecessary roadblocks. Instead of encouraging growth, management made it difficult to pursue new opportunities within the company.

Communication lacked transparency, and leadership often presented themselves as supportive while their actions suggested otherwise. Overall, morale was low, and the workplace culture made it challenging to feel valued, respected, or motivated to build a long-term career with the company.

Absolutely worst company I have ever worked for in my life. Management is extremely toxic inconsiderate and horrendous to work with. 
Not only are you belittled, micromanaged and watched constantly. You deal with upset clients due to lack of support due to staffing, training that is based on supervisors preference not on facts. 

High turnovers, training someone you know who will not be around in a month due to the treatment from supervisors/mangers can’t remember the last time I heard “good job” without being followed up with a negative. 

If you have any respect for yourself as a human. I wouldn’t recommend this company. Keep looking trust me. 

 Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. 



A lot of what people have said about management is true. I was passed over multiple times for a promotion. Someone with less experience and less years in the industry received a promotion over not only myself, but other more qualified co-workers as well. Managers lack communication skills and don’t seem to care about their employees. Co-Workers are phenomenal but management makes it hard to continue to want to work for this company. Multiple changes within the last year that affect the company as a whole. Change is fine and expected in the workplace but too much change where people don’t know the answer to questions/procedures and can’t do their day to day tasks is too much. 

It's a busy place, but that's not unusual for an insurance brokerage; the people you work with are a good team and management is open to suggestions and new ideas.
It's not a call centre, you have your own clients to deal with (plus helping out if someone is away, of course).
There are special events for staff, lots of internal job opportunities, and it's never boring!
There are new people now hired to do training in Personal and Commercial, so that will really improve things for new hires in the coming months.

A typical day was very hectic, with competing priorities, and often conflicting direction. The culture is quite different at each location, so people in different offices have different experiences and workloads.
Employees are dedicated for the most part, but senior leadership is inconsistent in direction and execution. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
My manager and team were great

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Salary and not getting promoted 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It was decent. After 2022 the company went downhill bc all the upper management left 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Work on renewals 
Service existing accounts 
Answer emails

Cowan is the most toxic work place I have ever worked for. Management has clear favourites, and no issues with showing it. I have been in insurance for over a decade, and have never seen such a toxic workplace. In the time I worked for Cowan, they let go of multiple people with years of experience and promoted unqualified people into management. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Insurance broker 3 salaries reported	$61,667 per year
Account manager 3 salaries reported	$46,667 per year

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