Education & Training Programs
Continuing Education
Classes
Agency Management Resource Group offers a wide variety of continuing education classes taught by industry leaders.
Our instructors have all spent time selling, servicing and managing in independent
insurance agencies. Below is a list of our CE Classes. Check back with us to see new classes as we add them.
To receive a complete listing of all of our courses, please email Jackie Abeyta at jackie@agencymanagement.com.
If there are courses you would like to see us offer, let us know that, too!
CONTINUING EDUCATION CLASSES
AAI 81 Segment A - Principles of Insurance
- 8 hours
An overview of the insurance business including principles, nature and
organization as well as legal issues, risk management and insurance sales and
account development.
AAI 81 Segment B - Personal Insurance -
8 hours
Includes
homeowners, dwelling, flood, personal auto, miscellaneous vehicles, inland
marine, aviation, and personal umbrella. In addition… personal financial
products, social security, and various life insurance products.
AAI 81 Segment C - Commercial Property
Insurance - 9 hours
Includes building and personal property coverage forms, business income
coverage forms, causes of loss forms, and several commonly used inland marine
policies
AAI 82 Segment A - Commercial Liability
and Auto - 8 hours
Includes
occurrence and claims made liability policies and their popular endorsements,
commercial auto, garage and truckers policies.
AAI 82 Segment B - Commercial Lines - 8
hours
Includes Commercial Crime, Businessowners, Farm Insurance, Workers’
Compensation and various other miscellaneous commercial coverages including
business life insurance.
AAI 82 Segment C - Specialized
Commercial Lines - 9 hours
Includes
specialized property coverages, commercial umbrella, ocean marine, and
commercial aviation coverages. In addition, the various types of surety bonds
will be examined for proper use and protection provided.
AAI 83 Segment A - Principles of Agency
Management - 8 hours
Learn about the formation and environment of an agency, organizational
management, sales management, and personal production plans including time
management and negotiating skills.
AAI 83 Segment B - Agency/Company
Relations - 8 hours
Understand the relationship between producer and insurer,
ways of developing the public image of your agency and how to
handle agency growth and customer communications, while understanding the work
of market segmentation and target marketing.
AAI 83 Segment C - Agency Financial
Management - 9 hours
The ins-and-outs of agency management as it relates to
technology, client service, financial management and the producers' legal and
ethical responsibilities.
Additional Insureds and Certificates of
Insurance - 4 hours
Deals with one of the most misunderstood areas of insurance.
It also represents huge potential for E&O claims against agents and
brokers. The imperative to provide outstanding customer services sometimes
leads agents to abuse standard certificates. This seminar discusses contract law and how it
applies, the proper use of evidence of insurance forms, and the history of AI
endorsements.
Advanced Commercial Lines Case Study I-4 hours
Learn how to apply the Risk Management process to the three
following case studies: small manufacturing firm, a professional exposure, and
a garage risk. Understand and explain endorsements to the basic policy forms
that need to be used to modify coverage in different situations resulting in a
better product for the consumer. Case studies can be customized to your unique situations.
Advanced Commercial Lines Case Study II - 4 hours
In this participatory workshop with the use of two fictional
case studies in commercial lines, you will learn how endorsements to the basic
policy forms need to be used to modify coverage in different situations
resulting in a better product for the consumer. Case studies can be customized to
your unique situations.
Are You Covered for the "What if?" - Analyzing the Personal Umbrella - 2 hours
This class will analyze why even with coverage you have for Homeowners, Auto, watercraft, and motorcycles, you still might NOT have enough insurance. With today's lawsuit conscious society, a family needs to make sure it is covered for the "what if".
Auto Business or Business Auto: The Need
for Garage Policies - 4 hours
Recognize the need for garage policies to treat the
insurance needs of those in the automobile business and understand the
limitations of the business auto and CGL policies that apply to garage risks.
Best Practices - Agency Self-Diagnostic
Tool Workshop - 3 hours
By determining specific problem areas, agents can learn how
to improve their overall business operations. This workshop takes attendees
through the process of using the IIABA Self Diagnostic Tool. The tool helps
agents assess areas of their business such as growth, profitability, stability,
and financial management and set priorities that focus on those areas most
critical to their success. Agents will also participate in a planning session
where they will develop a performance enhancement plan outlined in the SDT.
Best Practices - An Introduction - 2
hours
Independent agents looking to build the value of their
businesses and join the ranks of the country's most successful agencies can
learn how with this seminar. It introduces agents to the business practices
common to the agencies participating in the IIABA Best Practices Study. The
presentation includes anecdotal information gleaned from on-site and telephone
interviews as well as actual survey results. Results of consumer research
conducted by IIABA and its Future One Marketing Task Force are also woven
throughout the seminar.
Best Practices - Automating Your Agency
- 3 hours
Although independent agencies made automation decisions many
years ago, they have yet to achieve the efficiency gains and increased profit
that was promised. This seminar will help agents align their business strategy
with their technology decisions and understand the business issues behind
automation. The seminar will provide practical tips and ideas on how to fully
utilize technology to improve customer service, profitability, productivity,
and efficiency while also avoiding errors and omissions claims.
Best Practices - Bloodlines and
Birthdates - 3 hours
I love you, you’re perfect, now change. Understand how
agencies will attract, retain, include, and create opportunities for real
responsibility and partnership for young agents. Help to neutralize negatives, focus
on the positives, and try to relate to the younger and older generation.
Best Practices - Business Perpetuation
and Mgmt. Succession - 2 hours
Participants will be able to understand the major issues
involved in perpetuating their agencies and making a successful transition in
management and leadership. Also, be familiar with the 8-step process involved
in transferring agency ownership, and the major factors involved in agency
perpetuation, while providing agents with necessary tools to begin the
perpetuation planning process.
Best Practices - Creating a Sales
Organization - 4 hours
Agents can learn what characteristics and practices are
common to world class sales organizations both inside and outside the insurance
industry in this seminar. By examining how the "best" have created a
sales culture and built strong sales organizations, agents will delve into the
IIABA's study, Best Practices of the Leading Sales Organizations in the United States.
Agents will receive several useful tools to measure the strengths and
weaknesses of a sales organization. Materials provided will help attendees make
practical applications of the workshop content.
Best Practices - Insurance Distribution,
Trends, Implications, and Effects of Change - 3 hours
Understand that evolutionary versus revolutionary change is
not sufficient to meet customer needs and stave off competitive forces in the
insurance industry. Understand the drivers of change in the current insurance
distribution system while encouraging the observation of distribution in other
industries to understand their potential impact on the insurance business.
Provides a step by step guide for
agents to use in adopting new business practices that will address the changing
distribution system and adapt their business models to recognize these
unprecedented opportunities.
Best Practices - Joint Agency / Company
Planning Tool - 3 hours
Understand the importance of joint planning between the
agency and the companies they represent and between the company and the agents
they represent. Understand the tool to proactively approach new companies for
appointments and their existing companies to strengthen their relationship.
Review the joint planning tool and become comfortable with the information
required and the need for full and open disclosure form both the agent and the
company.
Best Practices - Quality Customer
Service - 3 hours
Agents interested in making quality customer service part of
their agency culture can do so by attending this workshop. The workshop teaches
agents how to collect and use information already available in the agency to
improve customer satisfaction. By using the IIABA Quality Customer Service IDEA
BOOK, agents will learn tangible skills and techniques to make quality customer
service part of their everyday business operations. The workshop will provide
agents with ideas for enhancing customer service satisfaction and details on
how they can tailor a customer service program to fit any agency, no matter how
big or small.
Best Practices - Recruiting, Developing,
and Motivating New Producers - 4 hours
Understand the costs and benefits of adding new producer to
your sales staff while designing effective compensation packages for new
producers. Understand the methods used to find candidates for producer
positions, determine appropriate competencies, revisit interview techniques and
develop a process for bringing new producers into the agency. Become familiar
with the various forms of producer career development and methods to motivate and
retain new producers.
Best Practices: Technology - Making
Money the New Fashioned Way - 4 hours
Understand the current use of technology and make informed
decisions on what types of technology to implement in the future in order to
streamline processes, increase efficiencies, and increase revenues.
Best Practices - The Next Generation
Leadership Seminar - 3 hours
Understand how to search out and maintain opportunities for
real responsibility and partnership in independent agencies. Developed with the
Young Agent in mind, this seminar introduces a new leadership tool that will
help them through specific leadership issues as they arise.
Best Practices - The Next Generation - A
Young Agent’s Leadership Guide - 6 hours
A more in-depth look at issues faced by independent agencies
and the Young Agents employed by them. Identifies the importance of focusing on young agents, helps understand
the traditional agency management model, while grasping the critical leadership
and communication skills for the future. You will also be able to integrate new
ideals and new ways of doing business to build effective teams, and look to the
future for an agency ownership career path.
Better than Garlic - Enchanted
Endorsements to Keep the E&O Vampire Away From Your Door - 3 hours
A fast-paced three hour look at the policy endorsements all
agency personnel need to know about or know more about to refine and complete
the protection provided to the agency’s clients.
Businessowners Policies- 4 hours
Understand the history of BOP policies, determine who is
eligible to purchase the BOP, and explain the coverages provided and not
provided by various BOP policies. Also understand when BOP is an inappropriate tool by
discussing the limitations in the forms.
CGL Additional Insured Endorsements - 2
hours
We just can’t get enough of this topic. Unlike our 4 hour
workshop, this one focuses just on the AI endorsements themselves that are
currently available and when it is appropriate to use each.
Client Diversity and Fair Access: The
Times they are a’Changin’ - 4 hours
Given today's diverse customer base, yesterday's sales and
marketing practices will no longer do. Learn how to market and sell to various
customers of differing race, gender, ethnicity, and culture.
Commercial Automobile Insurance - 4
hours
Understand the coverage provided and excluded by the BAP
including "covered auto", "who is an insured", and
pertinent endorsements.
Commercial Crime Coverage: Beyond the
Basics - 4 hours
In July 2002, the world of Crime Coverage drastically
changed with the introduction of the NEW CRIME FORMS. This workshop is a fine-tuned update of the
changes. Learn about the new “Discovery”
vs. “Loss Sustained” Forms and how Employee Theft Coverage has changed as well
as how to handle new Computer Fraud exposures … and much more.
Commercial Excess and Umbrella Liability
Coverage - 4 hours
Understand how to sell Excess and Umbrella coverages using
plain English. Be able to explain what is and is not covered by typical
policies.
Commercial Property Coverage I - 4 hours
Be able to understand the role of insurance rate and form
advisory organizations, have a general understanding of the various ISO
Commercial Lines Coverage Parts relating to property. Have an understanding of
the most often used Commercial Property form - the Building and Personal
Property Coverage Form. Have an understanding of Commercial Property
Conditions, and explain whether a described claim would be covered under this
form. Define or describe the key words and phrases for this course.
Commercial Property Coverage II - 4
hours
Understand the uses for various optional valuation methods
in property insurance, alternatives to coinsurance, blanket insurance and its
uses. Know the options for insuring fluctuating property values and when to use
them, and overall, be able to describe the key words and phrases for this
course.
Computer Conundrums - Analyzing the EDP - 2 hours or 3 hours
We will examine the Electronic Data Processing policy and identify property covered and not covered
by the policy - and why we need it even if we have property coverage for our computers. We will
list and describe factors to determine the amount of EDP coverage needed, as we identify EDP
exposures in a typical business and explain the valuation options found.
Difference in Conditions - 3 hours
DIC “lite”. A little less detail than our 4 hour workshop,
but with all the fundamentals you need to market and sell this important line
of business.
Doing it Like a Pro - A Beginner’s Guide
to Professional Liability - 3 hours
This is the definitive workshop designed to help you
recognize professional exposures with your current and potential clients and
how best to treat those exposures properly. TAKE OUR QUIZ: Which of the
following have the courts declared to be Professionals? (and therefore, in need
of Professional Liability Insurance?) a: Marine Surveyors, b: Web page designers,
c: Employment Agencies, d: Software consultants, e: Inventory Control Services?
ANSWER: ALL OF THE ABOVE!!
Dynamics of Personal Lines - 3 hours
Learn how to market and sell insurance in the Internet age.
Study successful agencies and learn what they have done to manage their
personal lines book of business for increased profitability and success.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance
and Insurance - 4 hours
Understand the basis of EPL suits and the exposures created
for businesses and organizations. Describe the coverage provided by EPLI
policies and how to sell these policies to your client.
Errors and Omissions Loss Control - 4
hours
The preeminent E&O loss control workshop in the P&C
industry. Learn how it happens, how to stop it, and how to maximize your profit
in the process.
Ethics, Smethics, Cut Me Another Piece
of the Pie - 4 hours
Why do good people do bad things? In the wake of the Spitzer lawsuit, the Enron debacle, and countless other examples of negative behavior, we must examine our personal and corporate codes of conduct to restore the public trust in the insurance industry. Using a case study approach, we will discuss why ethical decisions are considered “dilemmas”, how to go about using a framework to make ethical decisions, and why doing the right thing is always the best thing for your business.
Executive Risk: Corporate Liability in
the Post-Enron World - 4 hours
Understand the importance of protecting businesses and other
organizations and associations from the risks of corporate liability. Includes
a review of D&O and EPLI policies.
Highlights of the Homeowners Policy - 4 hours
Does your insured understand what is and is not covered on this policy? Clarity is the goal of these sessions. We will highlight newer policy language and endorsements that can make all the difference to your insured.
Highlights of the Homeowners Policy - 8 hours
For the eight hour class, we will go into greater detail on the coverages, and identify a specific situation as a business exposure. We will explain and properly apply the major Homeowners endorsements to specific examples while we recommend an additional policy, or the correct endorsement(s) to a Homeowners Policy to correctly cover the exposures.
Hot Topics in Commercial Insurance - 4
hours
In 2001 and 2002, ISO made changes to both property and
liability forms, totally revised the commercial crime program, and introduced
the new equipment breakdown form. In 2004, more changes are coming down the
pike from ISO. This seminar addresses these changes as well as those on the
horizon and helps participants to understand the impact this will have on
commercial insurance buyers in the future.
Inland Marine Insurance - 4 hours
Understand the types of risks that are eligible for inland
marine coverage and the types of policies available to insure them. Distinguish between “filed” and
“non-filed” forms and why it matters.
Insuring Residential Contractors - 1
hour
It’s still a challenge to write residential contractors,
particularly in California. This short seminar will discuss how to
present the risk to the underwriter, how to obtain the pertinent information
from the customer, and what’s available in the marketplace.
Introduction to the New, Totally Revised
Commercial Crime Coverage Format - 4 hours
Will review the basics of crime coverage under ISO’s totally
new coverage forms, including the Actual Loss Sustained and Discovery approach
to arranging coverage, the good and bad in the new forms, and how all these
changes impact your customers.
Introduction to Underwriting: An Agent’s
Perspective - 16 hours
A sixteen hour seminar presented in four 4-hour modules to
help agents and brokers understand what the underwriter needs to see in order
to move the submission to the top of the stack. Includes property, liability,
auto, workers’ compensation, professional liability, and other lines of
business.
Invaluable Endorsements for Every
Commercial Lines Property & Casualty Agent - 4 hours
A longer (four hour) look at the Endorsements in “Better
than Garlic” with some important additional Endorsements in many lines of
coverage.
Legs, Regs and Judicial Review: How the
Law Impacts Insurance - 4 hours
Understand the history of insurance regulation in the United States
and differentiate between federal and state regulation while
identifying the federal and state regulations that impact the insurance
industry in California.
Explain the role of the California Department of Insurance, including its
authority, funding, and purpose and describe the issues surrounding insurance
deregulation. Explain the impact of “unofficial regulators” on the insurance
industry and identify the federal and state legislation that has impacted the
insurance industry in California.
Understand the structure of the U.S.
judicial system and describe the court cases that have had an impact on the way
agents and brokers conduct the insurance business in California. Find resources for doing legal
research. Can be adapted for use in other states as well.
My Excess is Better than Your Surplus -
An Agent’s and Broker’s Guide to Successfully Navigating Nonadmitted Waters - 4
hours
Understand how the surplus lines market works, what should
and should not be placed there, what the upside and downside is of dealing with
the market, how to select a broker, and how to minimize E&O exposures when
placing business with a nonadmitted carrier.
Ocean Marine Insurance: The Granddaddy
of them All - 4 hours
Identify the various exposures specific to owners of
vessels. Explore the rich history of ocean marine insurance, its terms and
conditions, and how to address the needs of prospects and customers.
Often Overlooked Commercial Property
Coverages - 4 hours
Understand the purpose of various and often overlooked
Commercial Property Endorsements and forms such as the Builder’s Risk Coverage
Form, the Leasehold Interest Coverage Form, the Condominium Association and
Unit-Owner Coverage Forms, and the Legal Liability Coverage Form.
On the Road Again: Insurance Coverage
for Truckers and Motor Carriers - 4 hours
Understand the need for specialized policies for truckers
and others who are engaged in the transportation industry.
Personal Automobile Insurance - 4 hours
Be able to describe the types of vehicles available for
coverage, types of information contained on the declaration page, the aspects
of Part A - Liability Coverage, Part B - Medical Payments Coverage, Part C -
Uninsured Motorists Coverage, and Part D - Coverage for Damage to Your Auto. Be
able to describe the insured's duties following an accident or loss, explain
the provisions in Part F, and explain how each of the endorsements is provided
by the PAP.
Personal Umbrella Coverages and
Underwriting - 2 hours
Be able to describe the personal umbrella policy and the
customer's needs, while describing what information is needed to make an
underwriting decision. Identify exposures, and describe the liability exposures
for households and residence employees, and explain and evaluate alternatives.
A case study will also be used to illustrate an application of the personal
umbrella policy.
Property - The Forgotten Area of Contracting Risks - 4 hours
This course will assist agency owners, producers, and others in understanding
their potential dangers in the construction document their contracting insureds
routinely enter into and sign. It will focus on the Property aspects of the document
and the insurance issues resulting from it. We will review the property policies in
the marketplace today, contrasting and comparing language.
Rental Car Coverages - 3 hours
If you really have read a rental car agreement in the past, you would never want to rent a car. Does your auto insurance protect you? Do you really need CDL/LDW from the rental company? What about those credit cards? We will examine the 'ins and outs' of what your insured are signing and the various means to protect themselves if involved in an accident with a rental car.
Rule #1- No Income, No Business - An
Agent’s and Broker’s Guide to Business Interruption Coverages
and Strategies - 4 hours
A focused look at one of the most misunderstood areas of
insurance. For our customers, it’s quite simple: if they don’t have the
coverage they are likely to lose their business and their livelihood. We’ll
help unravel the mystery so you can better serve your clients.
Shift Happens: The Changing Face of
Insurance Distribution in the 21st Century - 3 hours
Understand why insurance carriers feel compelled to explore
alternative methods of distribution and what the driving factors are in the
economy causing them to pursue these options.
Spinning Mold Into Gold: Legal and
Insurance Implications of the Growing Problem of Toxic Mold - 4 hours
The real and perceived threats of toxic mold are creating
havoc in both the personal and commercial lines insurance marketplace with
claims for damage caused by mold on the rise nationwide, insurers are
scrambling to limit or eliminate coverage under traditional policies. This
course attempts to sort out the issues surrounding the "mold
problems".
The Terrorism Threat - Evolving
Insurance and Risk Management Solutions - 4 hours
Understand the issues surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks
and their implications for commercial and personal insurance buyers. Describe the
provisions of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA). Comply with the
requirements included in the TRA. Identify the market for terrorism coverage,
understand the pricing of terrorism, and evaluate the terrorism exposure for
commercial and personal clients. Design and implement risk management solutions
to the exposures presented by terrorism, while familiarizing the students with
ISO and non-ISO terrorism endorsements.
The Ultimate Submission: How to Get Your
App to the Top of the Stack
2 hours
The name says it all!
Umbrella and Excess Liability - 2 hours
Most of our customers do not purchase high limits of
liability, despite the fact that the product is immensely affordable. Perhaps
we’re just not explaining it right. This workshop will help you understand the
vast differences between the two forms of coverage, the characteristics shared
by most forms, and how to discuss the need with your client.
Understanding Business Interruption
Coverages - 6 hours
Finally, a workshop on this subject
that that you can comprehend (even if you are not a CPA), that is presented
from an agency viewpoint, and that is definitely not a remedy for sleep
deprivation.
This is a deep discussion of the many, many issues involved in arranging
Business Income coverage, the types of coverage forms available, and how losses
are settled.
Understanding Difference in Conditions -
4 hours
An in-depth look at methods used to broaden a client’s
commercial property coverage to include flood, earthquake, and other causes of
loss normally excluded by the Commercial Property Policy. A comparison of
various forms including the way deductibles apply, the markets available, and
how to properly arrange coverage.
Underwriting of Trucking Accounts - 2
hours
If you’re going to pursue this niche, it’s a good idea to
know how the underwriter is going to view your submission. This workshop was
designed and is presented by people who know the trucking market inside and
out—the underwriter’s themselves!
Wading Thru the Muddy Waters of Flood Insurance - 2 hours
This class will show why and where on the homeowners policy coverage for Flood and other land perils is excluded. We will then look at the flood policy and how it covers water issues and where the coverage ends on the policy. We will examine why banks and the federal government are requiring coverage in certain areas and how the insured can meet those requirements.
Who’s that Behind the Primary Carrier? A
Beginner’s Guide to Reinsurance - 3 hours
Be able to
understand basic terms and concepts used in reinsurance, benefits of
reinsurance to policyholders, reinsurance of marketing systems, reinsurance
functions, various types of reinsurance, development of reinsurance programs
and program administration, and reinsurance regulation.
Workers Compensation and Employers
Liability Insurance - 4 hours
Explain the
legal concepts and purpose of the Workers' Compensation system, how Employer'sLiability
relates to Workers’ Comp and the coverage provided by the WC and EL policy.
