Designation Courses for P&c

iiinycboi

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got a question regarding all those insurance designation courses. There are so many now they probably overlap in education. Too many to choose.

I am an agency owner that wants to run a successful p&c and eventually when i get a full staff agency i can become an insurance consultant/risk assessment.

Now based on that which courses will you take?

CIC CPCU CRM ARM AAI AINS CISR

would you take cisr then cic or you think thats just repeated info and a waste of time and money. and AINS falls in this category i think as well.

difference in crm arm and aai? their all risk courses but whats the difference between certified and associate? and then there is the AAI Accredited Advisor In Insurance whats this for to be an advisor/consultant?

CPCU vs any other?

Also CLSR would you consider this class for commercial lines if you are taking cic and cpcu already?

I know i want to take CIC CPCU but are the other courses recommended? So many too chose so confusing why cant they make it simple and give you 2-3 designation courses.
 
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I personaly wouldnt bother with them yet until you are pretty successful and have staff to handle most things...

MOST clients dont give a crap what those are or what they mean,

I say focus on growing the business now and work on that later, then get ones designed for what you are selling, if you write a lot of commercial, then get the ones related to CL, etc......

One step at a time, my little Protege....LOL
 
ahh i see, i wont be taking any this year, but i will start with them next year since i have to do CE anyways.
 
I'm of the thought process that you should always be looking at obtaining designations. You have to complete CE's anyway, and why not get a designation in the meantime? I would suggest you get your CIC first as that is the best "all around" designation and then maybe the AAI. After that you could pursue your CPCU.

I know someone posted that most consumers don't care about this, but I would respectfully disagree. I believe that with social media, your professionalism via designations will put you in front of those truly searching for a knowledgeable broker. Not saying that those who don't have designations aren't knowledgeable, its just that the CIC, AAI, etc PROVE you know what you know. I'm in California and it seems there are brokers on every street - only way to stand out here and with CFO's, CPA's, etc is to have those letters after your name . . . good luck!
 
CIC is good. If you are a member of PIA they are now pushing the CPIA designation, which is newer.
 
Ok, i am registering for some ce credits this year,

but they make these courses so confusing as to what their for?

im deciding whether i should take cisr then cic or both? the cic say cisr is a good stepping stone. i will be taking cic in the future, should i just not waste time and take cic?

they look like they have the same course load.
 
No reason to take the CISR - go straight for the CIC. First start with the Personal Lines CIC course and then make the judgement call if you need the stepping stones. Good Luck!!
 
I took my first CIC course 2 weeks ago and loved the heck out of it. You have to study for 2-3 days and cram so be careful. I see some people there with CISR going for CIC and others have no designation at all.

Personally I think the CIC is better for you and you should go for it. I took the PL course and most of the people in the CIC course were CL agents and they were fine, so I would imagine you doing PL going for CL classes should be okay as well.

One thing I would keep in mind is that they are going to rip apart an ISO policy and go over nearly EVERYTHING in there with some emphasis on some parts over others. If you are nervous, go get some ISO policies and read over them to get a feel and then write down any questions that you might have. It'll at least make the material not 100% foreign to you.
 
I just wanted to update this after completing a CIC Casualty course with no commercial experience.

I learned a LOT and I feel that I passed the exam with flying colors.

One thing to keep in mind is that you are learning an ISO policy that is typically un-endorsed. This means that what you learn here might not be applicable for all of your insurance companies. They exclude a lot of things in the insurance world now, and also allow for things the ISO doesn't. Hartford, Travelers, etc. I believe are all proprietary forms, so this doesn't necessarily apply to them.

I actually feel that I did better with this course than others BECAUSE of my lack of knowledge, because I didn't have per-conceived notions of what was right and wrong like others did.

I think doing the CIC first isn't going to be a problem.



With that said, what designation would be good to get in addition to the CIC that teaches about COVERAGES? The CPCU teaches more on the corporate side from what I see.

What are thoughts on the AAI and AINS, for someone who wants to learn coverages, exclusions, and etc. and not give a **** about underwriting profitability guidelines or insurance company economics and accounting?

I'll get the CPCU eventually, but I'd like to learn coverages in a formal fashion FIRST. OTJ teaches well but sometimes you miss some things.
 
The core course of the CPCU focus on the industry, operations, and management but the specialty in personal or commercial lines is helpful. I completed my CPCU in 2010 after doing the first 6 courses as a commercial claims adjuster.

I was told the CIC is more practical for insurance agencies but as owners I don't think it matters what designation you have. I would want my employees to get CISR and CIC designations though.
 
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