Back to school.Since Feb. 19, the education department of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of has been issuing a biweekly electronic newsletter, In the Classroom, that lists continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). courses available to its estimated 8,000 active and nonactive IIABNY IIABNY Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York Inc members, said Director of Education Kathy Lawler. In the Classroom also lists courses not offered by IIABNy, such as the Ultimate Producer School, a three-week course for commercial clients and producers sponsored by two nonprofit organizations: the American Institute for CPCU CPCU Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter CPCU Cardiac Progressive Care Unit CPCU Custody Pending Completion of Use and the Insurance Institute of America. Managed by Director of Sales David Thomas, the Ultimate Producer School is a new program developed in conjunction with Agency Management Resources Group in response to customers' requests. Thomas said some larger carriers used to offer producer schools for top-tier agencies "as a tittle bonus for production profitability" but have stopped doing so. "What we're hearing from many of our customers is that the schools have gone away or become more selective with their enrollment," he said. That's due to issues surrounding agency and broker compensation and contingent commissions Contingent commissions is a term used in the American insurance industry for any kind of broker's commission which is contingent upon some event occurring (instead of a commission paid on the sale itself). In the UK this form of payment is known as Overriders. , Thomas said. Some companies have become a little skittish skit·tish adj. 1. Moving quickly and lightly; lively. 2. Restlessly active or nervous; restive. 3. Undependably variable; mercurial or fickle. 4. Shy; bashful. that the training might be unintentionally considered a perk perk 1 v. perked, perk·ing, perks v.intr. 1. To stick up or jut out: dogs' ears that perk. 2. To carry oneself in a lively and jaunty manner. or compensation element. "It may be a factor driving certain companies to offer these types of schools to their agencies," he said. The Ultimate Producer School is offered to independent commercial lines agents. "It gets heavy, into both technical contract aspects of property and liability from a commercial perspective, but also has a focus on sales skills, which many programs are lacking,"Thomas said. "It's intended for somebody relatively new to the industry," Thomas said. "We're targeting people with less than three years' experience." Per-person tuition is $4,900. "It's not inexpensive, but when you look at the cost of getting a producer up and running sooner rather than later, the payback is quick because of the sales focus," he said. |
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