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jimbo1.blog.com:
JLY Public Relations Blog for * Sycamore Press, * North America Writers Association, and for * Insurance, Continuing Education & LicensingWall Street Protesters Target Health InsurersOccupy Wall Street protesters held a speak-out and march in New York City targeting the health insurance industry. Several hundred ... Southern California Couple and Mother Arrested in Alleged Ponzi SchemeA Southern California couple and their mother were arrested and have been charged with violating multiple sections of the state’s penal ... To view the stories above in their entirety, go to the Insurance Journal link below. These news excerpts are used with permission by the magazine. IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM CA DEPT OF INSURANCE, RE: HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE VALUATION C.E. REQUIREMENT Sacramento, CA -- On or after June 27, 2011, prior to estimating the replacement value of structures or explaining the various levels of coverage under a homeowners' insurance policy, California resident P&C and Personal Lines agents and brokers who have not previously completed the 3 credit-hour homeowners' insurance valuation training, must do so. Completion of this course will fully meet the training requirements. The training requirement is part of, and not in addition to, the agents and brokers’ continuing education requirements. This appears to be a requirement only if the agent or broker is going to be doing homeowners' insurance valuations. We are currently working on our own Ca Homeowners' Valuation Course and will notify you when it is completed and approved. In the meantime, we recommend that you purchase the course from WCS; i.e., Barry Caudill is the owner and will treat you well. In fact, tell him I referred you to WCS. -- Jim YoungPosted 1 p.m. (PST) 10-27-2011
The CA Dept of Insurance continues to make sweeping changes to it licensing program, including c.e. requirements.
Recently, it split the property & casualty license into two separate licenses, as it did previously with Life & Health.
Further, P&C licensees who wish to sell Health Insurance must qualify for and obtain a separate Health license (no grandfathering), even though they have sold Health Insurance under the old rules.
We now have the Limited Auto license for those who are selling only personal auto insurance; and there's the older license -- Personal Lines -- for sellers of homeowners/renters/earthquake insurance and/or personal auto insurance.
In the past several years, the requirements have evolved to include several special/designated courses, such as:
* Anti-Money Laundering (Life Agents, 3 credit-hours)
* Long-Term Care (Life Agents, 8 credit-hours each two-year licensing cycle, if planning to sell LTC)
* 8-Hours Annuities Training (Life Agents, one-time in initial two-year licensing cycle, if planning to sell Annuities)
* 4-Hours Annuities Training (Life Agents, every two years following 8-Hours Annuities, two-year cycle, if continuing to sell Annuities)
* Earthquake Insurance (Property-Casualty, Personal Lines, 2 credit-hours, one-time, if planning to sell earthquake insurance)
* Homeowners' Valuation (Property-Casualty, Personal Line, 3 credit-hours, one-time, if planniing to do homeowners' valuations)
* Flood Insurance (PC & PL Agents-Brokers who wish to sell Flood Insurance, 3-credit hours, one-time).
These are the ones I know about to date; more may be coming. My company, JLY-PR: Sycamore Press offers CA-CDI-Approved Special/Designated Courses in:
* Ethics (5 Hours)
* Long-Term Care;
* 8-Hours Annuities Training
* 4-Hours Annuities Training.
If I don't currently offer the course you need, I am willing to help you find it. In the meantime, I'll be doing all I can to get the rest of the required special courses approved for this school, so you can get everything at one stop -- Here!
-- Jim Young
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Posted 8 a.m. (PST) 08/08/2011 This has nothing and everything to do with insurance, publishing, writers, etc. It does have to do with honor, duty, loyalty, integrity, commitment, and definitely risk. I'm writing about the 31 Special Forces soldiers -- most of them from Navy Seal Team 6 -- and the Afghan S.F. guys with them -- who were killed by insurgents in Afghanistan on Saturday. Having witnessed Seal candidates going through their paces on Coronado's Silver Strand, I can attest that they are indeed one tough bunch. I've heard that only one in 100 even makes it through the training. The loss of that many highly trained combat specialists -- all of them sons of the U.S.A. is a blow to this country but one that should only make us more resolved to defeat those who want to kill Americans -- for whatever reasons. We had no beef with this enemy until the terrorists attacked us. Now we defend ourselves and seek justice for the killing of our people. The Special Forces men served, lived, and died with honor, doing their duty. Of necessity they were committed to their cause; demonstrating integrity; loyalty to each other, the team, the unit, the service, and the country. Regarding risk: they accepted it and paid with their lives. Theirs was the ultimate sacrifice. We can ask for no more. We salute them and all those who are protecting our country and freedom at home and abroad. Thank you all! -- Jim Young, Director, JLY-PR; jyoung@insuranceprosguides.com; jyoungreadthis@yahoo.com
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Posted -- 3:30 pm. (PST), 08/04/2011:
Once again, the story is about Goliath vs. David. Only who knows whether the giant will be slain, or David. Hopefully, it will be neither one insofar as the insurance industry goes.
A recent survey by Insurance Journal that insurance agents tend to be miffed at insurance carriers for supposedly being out of touch with small business needs.
How many of us as consumers and professionals have viewed the products and services offered to us as "over the top," "overkill," too involved, and just plain unnecessary?
I know I have. As an insurance agent/broker, I tend to side with the "little guy," especially the "newbies," who are working like crazy to get their professional feet on solid ground.
All the while, the industry itself -- and the government -- have so many requirements and, yes, fees, that some find newer agents/brokers find it impossible to make it in this business.
For example, an individual who wants to become a PC agent/broker in California must do the following, at a minimum:
1. Pay for and complete 50 hours of classes for the PC pre-licensing requirement. The price will vary, depending on whether the licensing candidate takes his course online or at a physical location (from an approved pre-licensing school). But you can figure on paying $100 and up, on average.
2. Next, the student will usually attend -- either online or live -- an exam prep class, ostensibly designed to prepare her or him to take the State's 150-question, computer-driven, closed book, three-hour PC Exam. There's a healthy fee for that class -- anywhere from $20.00 to $130.00 for the first session, depending on whether you want barebones help or Cadillac tutoring.
Beyond the exam prep class, there are live, indepedent study room sessions with question and answer manuals for viewing, plus for sale -- exam-prep question and answer books, flash cards, and online study sessions and guides. These can run anywhere from $3.00 per hour to $25.00 and up for each type and set of materials.
3. The student will file an application (usually online) and pay the CA Dept. of Insurance app and exam fee. Currently, the CDI is charging $128.00 for the app/license and $32.00 per exam. (Probably 40% or more of first time examinees end up having to take the exam more than once, so that's added revenue for the CDI.
I'm not faulting CDI on any of this. In fact, for the past several years CDI has -- to my knowledge -- been the only State agency to actually lower its fees, instead of increasing them as it seems everyone else routinely does.
In fact, I wonder how they fare with the California politicians and other agencies. The move to lower taxes/fees is so foreign to American government anymore, one wonders why they do it and how they get by with it -- not that I'm complaining.
Regardless, back to my point -- it's hard to get a foothold in this industry -- especially when it comes to funding a broker/agent startup.
I've sold errors & omissions insurance and surety bonds for several years and have found that a significant number of licensing candidates have little to no idea of the expense, until they're already involved -- monetarily and physically -- in the process.
4. Then they find out, "Oh, I'm required to have E&O insurance. For a Life, Accident & Health person, it's less than for someone going into the PC arena. LAH E&O can run anywhere from $400.00 a year (with plenty of strings) to $2,000 and up.
The PC person will find the E&O coverage will average $2,500 a year and up. In a down economy with more people out of work, in foreclosure, and having more credit problems than usual, it becomes increasingly difficult to merely qualify for the insurance -- let alone pay for it.
Once the individual qualifies for the coverage, the next issue is how to pay for it. Paying cash is preferred by those of us who like to live that way. Next in line of preference would likely be via a credit card.
Beyond that, there are companies who specialize in setting up a monthly payment plan, to help ease the pain of coming up with the full premium all at once. Of course, they would prefer to finance your loan, but only if the agent's credit is squeaky clean. That means paying interest for the duration of the loan, too, another expense.
5. For PC brokers, there's the matter of a surety bond required by the State, designed to protect itself against screwups by the licensee. Those come in two-year or three-year issues and generally cost anywhere from $100-$200. (I sell bonds and E&O insurance, so contact me if you need help with either; jyoungreadthis@yahoo.com or call me at 619-244-1014).
6. None of this includes office expenses, the costs of setting up a dba and business entity licensing (if that's the aim), or finding a good agency and/or carrier through which to ply insurance products.
There can be a plus to all this for the agent/broker, however.
For those who are savvy, available, and good negotiators, they will find an agency and/or broker who will pay all the expenses and provide coverages cited above, and expect the new licensee to produce for them -- not an unreasonable arrangement.
Of course, the prudent managers/owners/brokers will expect to be repaid from the agent's commissions -- at least over time. After all, none of the setup is free, and we're all in this to serve, yes, but also to keep our business head above water and to make a profit. Someone has to pay -- every time! -- Jim Young
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