COMMERCIAL LINES INSURANCE MODULES

1. Questions Most Frequently Asked by Commercial Insurance Clients

A four hour course consisting of 11 questions that appear simple on the surface, but whose answers are far from simple and require a depth of knowledge on the part of the agent to give actual and factual advice to the client. This course explores the questions and the varied considerations that must be addressed in each situation. Included are the timely topics of Employment Practices Liability and Cyber Risk.

2. Commercial Property Insurance: Insuring the Small Commercial Risk

This four hour course includes a thorough introduction and review of the ISO commercial property policy and the ISO businessowners policy with special emphasis on the needs of the small business owner. It includes a discussion of the common types of business property and a comparison of the similarities and differences between the commercial property policy and the businessowners form.

3. Commercial Property Enhancements for the Small Business Owner

This four hour course is devoted to the endorsements available under the ISO property program and the ISO businessowners program that can be added to an insured's policy to greatly expand and enhance the coverage. The course includes a discussion of time element coverages, builders risk forms, reporting forms, peak season and several other coverage enhancements that would apply to small business. Optional coverages under the ISO Businessowners coverage form are also discussed.

4. Time Element Coverages

A four hour course intended as a thorough introduction to various forms of business income coverage provided in the ISO forms. The course covers the basic purpose of the coverage and moves through a brief history of the coverage and the various sources of present day products. The course then moves into specific income forms, including the most common endorsements and relationships of rates to coverages. With an understanding of this material, the agent should be capable of assisting clients with the various options and rate considerations of the forms involved in order to structure coverage to fit specific client needs.

5. Condominium Insurance

This four hour course is designed to discuss the condominium concept and to review the insurance coverage needs and the policy forms available to both the condominium association and the individual personal or commercial unit-owner. The course reviews several condominium association agreements emphasizing the insurance clause located in those agreements and how they may differ and relates this to the clauses within the policy language. Coordination between the condominium association insurance policies and the unit-owners policies is discussed with emphasis on avoidance of duplication and/or coverage gaps.

6. Businessowners Policy

This four hour program provides a complete review of the ISO Businessowners form. Included as well is discussion of various options that may be available from specific company products. This course can also be customized to review products offered by an individual agency to provide a working tool for market comparison.

7. Flood Insurance for the Commercial Account

A four hour course which explores the National Flood Insurance Program as it applies to commercial insureds, including a complete review of the general property form. Emphasis is placed on the Residential Condominium Building Association Policy that is mandatory as of October 1, 1994. Issues and opportunities created by the Flood Reform Act of 1994 are discussed, as well as the most recent revisions to the flood program, including the availability of a Preferred Risk Policy for commercial effective May, 2004.

8. Business Insurance Basics

A special introduction to the concepts of business insurance addressing the needs of the business insurance buyer. Protection for business property and liability, business automobile insurance and workers compensation requirements will be discussed. Specific policy language will be reviewed, but the emphasis of this six hour course is on business insurance needs and concepts.

9. Commercial Inland Marine

This four hour program begins with a discussion of the applicability of the Nation Wide Marine Definition to commercial insurance. A thorough review of inland marine coverages includes the Builders Risk coverage form, installation floaters, transportation coverages and various types of equipment and miscellaneous floater forms, including the potential advantages of non-filed forms.

10. Commercial General Liability Review

Based on the ISO Commercial General Liability policy, this course begins with a review of the concept of liability, including civil, contractual and tort liability. Sources of liability are discussed including premises, operations and products. Both the Occurrence and Claims Made forms of liability policies are reviewed with emphasis on the scope of coverage and who is included as an insured within the policy language. 4 hours.

11. Exploring the Personal- Commercial Insurance Overlap

This program deals with many of the questions that insurance agents face every day. The answers are far from simple and require a depth of knowledge on the part of the insurance agent in order to give accurate and factual advice to his or her client. Many of the answers involve the application of principles and coverage grants from a number of insurance policies within a client's portfolio. The course will concentrate on standard ISO policy language and interpretations from loss scenarios, court cases and other sources. In the case of non-standardized policy forms, such as excess liability policies, employment practices liability and state workers compensation laws, answers will be based on broad industry interpretations with emphasis on the need for thorough research in order to determine applicable coverage in the given situation. 8 hours.

12. Insuring Home Based Business

Home based business is booming! Whether telecommuting, running a full or part time business or turning a hobby into a home business, there are serious insurance concerns. This course examines the exposures and explores how personal insurance policies address the impact of home business on the home, personal belongings and the family vehicle. It follows with suggested methods to cover the home business exposures by using a variety of personal lines endorsements or products available in the commercial lines marketplace. The applicability and scope of these coverage alternatives are explored. 4 hours.

13. Custom Designed Courses

We have the ability to create and customize a course offering on a specific topic or around a specific product. This has been done successfully for a number of insurance companies, agencies and trade associations.

We also are approved instructors for commercial topics in the CIC, and CISR professional development programs, as well as the CPIA SalesWise Success Seminars.