Video training for SGI CANADA professionals ... from ILScorp

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Looking for complete product knowledge online?

SGI CANADA brokers who are looking for a way to get in-depth product knowledge and training do not have to look any further than their computer.

ILScorp, with SGI CANADA, has developed a series of video courses designed specifically for brokers and staff who sell SGI CANADA products.

Today's insurance professionals are busy but still have the need for product knowledge. With the ILScorp SGI CANADA series of courses, the information and technical details are presented in an easy-to-follow and relevant conversation format between a broker and a client. It's an efficient and relevant way to get technical skills while finding out keys and tips in dealing with clients.

The ILScorp SGI CANADA series of courses cover the Agro Pak Policy and the Home Pak Policy. Spread over 18 courses (available in text or streaming-video format) covering everything from farm machinery coverage to farmer’s liability to special limits and optional coverages, this course series will give brokers all they need to successfully sell their products.

To try a free demo of the ILScorp and SGI CANADA course series, click here.

Not an SGI CANADA broker? ILScorp can develop online training courses specific to your brokerage or company, too. Visit our Course Development page for more information.

Please note: These courses are based on the Saskatchewan product and may differ from the product sold in other jurisdictions.

Louisiana Supreme Court Decision: Levee Failures in New Orleans

Louisiana's highest court said yesterday that an insurance company isn't obligated to pay for water damage from the failure of levees in the New Orleans area after hurricane Katrina.

Tuesday's ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court reverses a state appeals court decision that favoured New Orleans property owner Joseph Sher in his suit against Lafayette Insurance Company.

In November, the state's 4th Circuit Court of Appeal concluded that Lafayette's homeowner policy failed to exclude all forms of flooding because its language was ambiguous. But the state Supreme Court disagreed and said Lafayette Insurance is entitled to limit its liability for damage from a levee breach. Lafayette says its homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not flooding.

Katrina and Insurance

When Hurricane Katrina hit the American north-central Gulf Coast in 2005, its effects were felt heavily throughout Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, LA, where residents not only had to deal with the hurricane winds and rains, but also flooding when the city's levee system failed. The state's federal flood protection failed in more than fifty places. Nearly every levee in the metro New Orleans area was breached, flooding over 80% of the city's metro area and many neighbouring areas. A report released in 2007 found that two-thirds of the flooding in the area was due to levee breaches.

Hurricane Katrina is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion in damage, making it the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.

As north-central Gulf Coast residents started to clean up, rebuild and return to their lives, insurance issues became a pressing issue. State Farm Insurance, one of the largest P + C insurers in the area, was the focus of a proposed $50 million class action settlement, resulting from that company's handling of Hurricane Katrina-related claims, which would have affected as many as 35,000 policyholders. On January 26, 2007, United States District Judge L.T. Senter, Jr. denied the settlement agreement, saying that without additional information, the proposed settlement did not clearly establish a "procedure that is fair, just, balanced or reasonable."

In an attempt to classify the claims, the Mississippi Katrina Resolution Guideline Tool (MKRGT) was created as a classification matrix to identify five basic categories of hurricane damage, as follows:

• Foundation and pier only sites (slab cases) defined as the absence of structure on the site;
• Total/Constructive Total Damaged Structures defined as properties with damage to the insured structure equal to or greater than 60 percent of its insured value;
• Severe Damaged Structures defined as properties with damage to the insured structure between 30 percent and 60 percent of its insured value;
• Moderate Damaged Structures defined as properties with damage to the insured structure between 10 percent and 30 percent of its insured value; and
• Minor Damaged Structures defined as properties with damage to the insured structure equal to or less than 10 percent of its insured value.

Upcoming: In-Class Insurance Preparation Courses in Vancouver

West Coast Training's Todd Hochban is holding three live insurance preparation seminars in Vancouver throughout May and June.

Fundamentals of Insurance Preparation Course:

Date: May 26 - 30, 2008
Exam: Last day of the course

This five-day immersion course has an 80% pass ratio.

CAIB IV:

Date: June 16 - 20, 2008
Exam registration deadline: June 6
Exam date: July 9

CAIB II:

Date: June 23 - 27, 2008
Exam registration deadline: June 6
Exam date: July 9

Mr. Hochban has been an insurance trainer for over 16 years and has provided training to over 6,000 agents and brokers over 2,200 training days.

For more information or to register, visit: West Coast Training