Texas Agent Group Revising Essentials Training Program
The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas is updating its training program designed to provide agents with a foundation in commercial and personal lines insurance.
Beginning in January, IIAT is taking the best elements of its Commercial Lines Essentials and Personal Lines Essentials programs and making them better with expanded offerings, a single-day format and even more information professionals need to excel in serving their clients.
“Agencies and their staffs simply need more options than they’ve had in the past,” says IIAT’s director of education, Paul Martin. “Moving from a two-day class format to a one-day format will enable more agents to take advantage of the classes.”
The restructuring of the Essentials programs provides the opportunity for IIAT to offer even richer content. In addition to covering the core policies sold to customers, the program is expanding in the areas of residual markets, surplus lines and specialty insurance products. Courses are being designed to add ethics and flood education content to help agents earn these important continuing education credits to meet state and federal requirements.
The classes, which provide 7.5 CE credits, are: The Commercial Property Policy; Customizing Property Coverage; The General Liability Policy; Excess and Specialty Liability; The Commercial Auto Policy; Workers’ Compensation and Employment Exposures.
Program participants have the opportunity to earn the Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) professional designation by successfully passing examinations for each Essentials course, as well as E&O Loss Control and Customer Service courses. The nationally recognized ACSR designation is the leading professional education track for customer service representatives and account managers in independent insurance agencies that make up the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.
The ACSR program has three specialties: personal lines, commercial lines, and life and health. Developed by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America in 1988, the ACSR program has 13,000 designees in the United States, with more than 3,000 in Texas. The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas offers the only ACSR training program in the state.
Source: The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT), www.iiat.org