The SECURE Act became effective on December 19, 2019, and ushered in some of the most sweeping changes to retirement plans in decades. On December 29, 2022, The SECURE Act 2.0 was signed into law to accomplish three goals – get people to save more for retirement, improve retirement rules, and lower the cost of setting up a retirement plan. After an overview of significant retirement laws, insurance professionals will discuss the purpose of the SECURE Acts. They will better understand some of the key changes outlined in the SECURE Act 2.0. They will examine how the SECURE Acts impact employer-sponsored retirement plans, defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, individual retirement accounts, and 529 plans. They will identify and consider retirement planning solutions, including life insurance, for issues created because of these acts.

In this session, participants will explore significant concerns found within the ISO Personal Automobile and Homeowners policies – such as ownership, liability, and loss assessment coverage – and develop ways to explain them to their clients.

From a small, one-time commercial bond to the multiple bond needs of a contractor, the insurance professional must be ready to answer questions for the insured. Contract or commercial? Bid bond or payment bond? With so many types of surety bonds, it can be overwhelming to understand what the client needs. In this 4-hour session, participants will learn the basics of bonding – what do bonds do, why they are important, and who needs them. They will take an in-depth look at construction bonds, bid bonds, and performance and payment bonds. They will learn about other types of bonds including Fiduciary and ERISA bonds, public officials bonds, and license bonds. They will be able to explain how bonds and insurance differ – who they protect, how much they cost, and how claims work for each one.

The trend toward mainstreaming and legitimizing marijuana is here and will continue to have a significant impact on the insurance industry. With that trend comes new regulations and a huge number of insurance questions and issues. Even today, there seems to be misunderstanding about the differences between hemp and cannabis. After a brief review of the history of cannabis in the U.S., participants will discuss the legal and regulatory issues. They will learn how the 2018 Farm Bill changed the landscape and what it effectively did. Using current ISO forms, they will examine insurance coverage considerations with farm, general liability, commercial property, as well as endorsements. They will discuss other associated issues and challenges with insuring hemp and cannabis risks including banking problems, transportation, medical marijuana and workers compensation, product liability, D&O, crime, E&O and medical professional, employment practices liability, and cyber.

Participants will be aware of the benefits afforded them of a Health Savings Account (HSA) and Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance. They will understand the HSA and how it is created. They will also understand Medicare and Medicaid as they relate to LTC and LTC Insurance. They will learn what LTC insurance is, what it costs, what services it covers, and who should purchase it. They also learn the tax advantages of having an HSA and LTC Insurance. By explaining state partnership laws and the benefit of depositing LTC premiums into an HSA, they may also recognize the tax benefits of this process and how the programs work well when they are both purchased.

Certificates of Insurance and the related issue of Additional Insureds are often sources of frustration, confusion, and E&O claims for the insurance producer.  In this session, agents will review critical things to consider before issuing a certificate and identify ways to avoid some of the common problems and errors. 

Develop environmental awareness and understand how to help businesses manage and transfer their environmental exposures.

(Final Exam Required for State CE Credit)

There are certain things every insurance producer should understand before writing commercial liability coverage for a client. What does bodily injury mean and does it include claims for emotional injury? What does the duty to defend in a CGL policy really mean and how does it work? What is the difference between subrogation and contribution, and how do our policies address waiver of subrogation? What are the possible coverage triggers under occurrence form policies, and how are costs allocated when multiple policy periods respond to a loss? How do claims made and claims made and reported policies work?

Do you know what to do when a crisis occurs? Uncover the insurance implications and general principles of crisis response for active assailants, product recalls, and data breach/cybersecurity incidents. Analyze a data breach claim and form a plan of action.

Participants will gain a better understanding of cyber risk exposures and why businesses need cyber liability coverage. They will examine first-party and third-party exposures related to cyber risks, coverage limitations in standard liability policies, and major provisions commonly found in cyber liability insurance policies. They will review solutions that include cyberspace specific products and risk management.

Insurance professionals will discuss the reasons why sales managers fail and reasons why sales managers need a selection and hiring process. Traditional hiring approaches don’t work. In this session, insurance professionals will learn the steps and methods necessary to effectively identify, hire, and select the right producer candidate. They will discuss specific skills required and critical sales traits of the candidate. They will discuss the costs of making a bad hiring decision and the benefits of a planned selection and hiring process.

The participant will learn how life and health insurance products take the uncertainty out of business planning.  The program will specifically discuss the risks that face every business owner, death, disability and retirement, and how to mitigate these risks.  

Participants will examine the concerns that exist when clients offer property and/or use property of others via popular web-enabled services such as VRBO, Couchsurf, Airbnb, and similar platforms. They will explore the most commonly used Homeowners Coverage forms, Personal Auto Policy, Recreational Vehicle Coverage forms, Watercraft policies, and the endorsements that can be used to provide coverage for these unique exposures. They will better understand the coverage issues that may arise when these items are shared with others.

The art of creating a compensation plan that is designed to your unique agency needs and balanced to provide the producer with both financial security and limitless rewards based on performance will be studied in this hands-on practical approach to one of the foundational elements of Agency Management.

Identify the reasons for providing the necessary insurance coverage for their high-net-worth client’s collections the challenges associated with this unique exposure. Understand valuation issues, appraisal practices, and use actual scenarios to examine the damage assessment process.  

In this session, participants will understand the role and function of an insurance adjuster and the importance of their relationship with the insurance agency, avoiding bad faith claims, and misconceptions about coverages and exclusions under certain personal and commercial policies.

While the core fundamentals of insurance have not changed over the centuries, the tools used by insurance agents certainly have. Today’s customer journey often starts online instead of contacting an agent to be their trusted advisor. InsurTech startups such as Lemonade, Pie Insurance, and Next Insurance have changed the way the insurance product is delivered, as well as the coverage clients receive. In this session, participants will explore how they can leverage the digital tools available to them to attract clients, meet their insurance needs, and minimize errors and omissions risk.

Using a hypothetical insurance case study, participants will gain an understanding of the stages of the investigation and litigation including the importance of the insured’s participation in the process. Key policy terms that provide the insurance carrier with tools to successfully investigate and defend lawsuits against insureds will be examined and discussed.