Nov 19, 2013 | News
As the holidays approach our calendars start to fill up with additional events and activities on top of an already busy schedule. How do you fit it all in? Where do you find that balance?
As insurance professionals, managing your time is important. From responding to clients in a timely manner to arranging meetings, and balancing personal time, there is a distinct need in the industry for strong time management skills. ILScorp offers a number of time management courses, accredited for continuing education hours. Many of these courses are available as part of the ILS continuing education subscription bundles, or can be purchased individually. Examples of these courses include:
Taking Control – Creating a Time Management System that Works for You
This course examines the basic skills of organization and prioritizing. The information in this course drawn from the book entitled Time Management by Marc Mancini. Topics covered include:
- Organization and basic scheduling
- Time management misconceptions
- First priority: prioritizing
- Time killer: procrastination
- Goals, blocks, clusters and distractions
- Delegating
- Saying ‘No’
- Anticipation
- Time Crimes
- Tools of the Time Management Trade
Developing a Time Management System That Works
In this course, you will learn the basic skills of organization and prioritizing, time management myths and the skills needed to be as productive as possible, under the following headings:
- Organization and basic scheduling
- Time management misconceptions
- First priority: prioritizing
- Time killer: procrastination
- Goals, blocks, clusters and distractions
View these courses and more online continuing education programs at www.ILScorp.com or call 1-800-404-2211 today to get started.
Nov 18, 2013 | News
November 30 marks the Chambre de la sécurité financière compliance deadline in Quebec.
The Chambre oversees the training and ethics of nearly 32,000 members who work in five sectors and registration category: group savings plan brokerage, financial planning, insurance of persons, group insurance of persons and scholarship plan brokerage. If this is you, ILS can help you complete your mandated compliance training hours.
Representatives working in these areas in Quebec must earn the following professional development units (PDUs): 10 PDUs in general subjects; 10 PDUs in compliance with standards, ethics and professional practice; and 10 PDUs in topics specific to each discipline or registration category in which they are authorized to conduct business.
ILS offers
Quebec Compliance Courses and our 5 Part Ethics Series is included in the
ILS CSF subscription, which is available for only $285 for six months of access. You can obtain more than 100 PDU credits for just $285 . Courses are available for individual purchase as well.
All courses can be completed on your own schedule anywhere you have an internet connection, making it easy and convenient to complete your compliance hours.
Visit ILScorp.com or call 1-800-404-2211 today and get set up today.
Nov 15, 2013 | News
It’s that time of year again, when Canadian snowbirds head south, and should be thinking about what kind of medical coverage they’ll need in the United States. The problem, experts say, is many Canadians don’t want to consider the scary possibility that they may face a catastrophic medical emergency and need to be treated in a U.S. hospital.
According to a recent survey conducted for TD Insurance, only about half of Canadians aged 50 and over bother to check their coverage before leaving for vacation, and only 16 per cent call their insurance provider to determine if they need to update their policy.
Are you reviewing your clients’ travel insurance need this time of year? In addition to travel health insurance, its important to review homeowners and vehicle policies as well.
When buying insurance, consumers should take care to know what they are covered for and what they are not – high risk activities, for instance. And they should declare pre-existing medical conditions, which could cause them to have their claim rejected.
“The horror stories I’ve heard usually have to do with people who purchase insurance and think they are covered only to find out their claim is being denied because they did not disclose a medical condition they had before travelling,” says Dave Minor, a vice president responsible for life and health insurance at TD.
Canadians are accustomed to not worrying about who pays the medical bills; all they need to be concerned about is recovery. In the United States, hospital bills can run as high as $15,000 a day. At that rate, it doesn’t take much time to get into serious money.
David Redekop, the principal research associate at the Conference Board, says the issue of Canadians travelling to the U.S., or really any country, without insurance is much more prevalent among ordinary vacationers than so-called snowbirds.
The risk-takers are the day-trippers or those who only go for a week or two of sun, beach and golf.
There is a strong market for Canadian insurance agents to provide coverage for snowbirds. About 1.3 million snowbirds travelled south last year and took out about $200-million on insurance premiums, with the average individual premium about $700, according to Redekop’s research. The amount was almost double that for those 65 years and over staying three months or more.
There are other forms of coverage snowbirds should consider before leaving.
Many home insurance policies do not specifically cover incidents such as burst pipes, unless the homeowner has made arrangements with a neighbour or friend to regularly check the home, or they have an alarm system.
Most auto insurance policies will cover snowbirds driving their own vehicle in the U.S., but Minor says they should make sure their liability ceiling is high enough for the American court system. He recommends up to $2-million.
Insurance agents can learn more to guide their snowbird clients with ILScorp’s new homeowners policy courses as well as ICBC Autoplan and Ontario Auto Expert courses. And now, ILS is offering new Errors and Omissions courses as part of our Life / A&S insurance bundle.
Nov 13, 2013 | News
ILScorp has released an exclusive new E&O Insurance course. ILScorp Life A&S continuing education subscriber now have free access to “Introduction to Errors and Omissions Exposures Insurance.”
This course is accredited for one continuing education hour in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Errors and Omissions insurance, also known as Professional Liability insurance, is designed to cover the errors and omissions of Life Insurance Agents and their associates. It protects against claims for financial losses stemming from negligence.
According to recent statistics, one in seven (14%) people selling insurance will be successfully sued for an E&O insurance claim. Therefore, it is essential that agents be aware of the E&O exposure and take the steps necessary to prevent and control E&O insurance claims.
This new online insurance training course is one of nearly 100 continuing education courses (185 credit hours) included in the ILScorp Life/ A&S subscription. All ILScorp courses are accredited and are written by insurance experts. The text and video courses engage the user so the learning experience is both interesting and entertaining. For your convenience, all of the courses available anywhere in the world you have an Internet connection.
Some of the courses available in the subscription include:
- The Individual Pension Plan
- Critical Illness Insurance: Benefits for the Living
- The Fundamentals of Customer Service – Providing the Service Our Life Insurance Customers Expect
- Life Agent Development Course Disability Insurance
- The Money Management Planning Process
- Insurance and Estate Planning
A six-month subscription includes access to these course and more for only $250 plus taxes. Learn more, earn more, with ILScorp.
Nov 12, 2013 | News
Nov. 12, 2013, aka 11-12-13, is expected to be a popular day for weddings. And as thousands of couples say I do – or commit to do so over the next few months (39 percent of marriage proposals happen between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day) – a new study shows many of these couples are ignoring important discussions about insurance.
A recent survey by the U.S. National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) cites notable discrepancies between what couples know they should talk about before tying the knot, and what they actually discuss.
The NAIC survey found that before the wedding, many couples had not fully probed topics that affect insurability. For example, while 71 percent of newly married couples acknowledged the importance of sharing beneficiary designations before marrying, nearly half never got around to addressing their life insurance needs before saying “I do.”
“This survey captures a sentiment we often encounter that consumers want insurance education, but often don’t know where to begin,” said NAIC President Jim Donelon.
The survey highlighted several trends common to young couples:
- Though 61 percent of couples ages 18-24 talked about combining auto policies before marrying, only 30 percent cited their spouse’s driving record a key factor in calculating premiums as an important topic to discuss before marriage. In fact, across all age groups, more couples viewed “where we will spend the holidays” as more important to discuss before marriage than their partner’s driving record.
- 84 percent of respondents ages 18-24 said it was important or extremely important to share details about pre-existing health conditions before marriage. But before the big day, only 73 percent had addressed the topic of whose health insurance to keep.
- 62 percent of engaged or newly married couples ages 25-34 rated designating a beneficiary as important or extremely important to discuss pre-wedding, but only 42 percent even broached the subject of whether or not they will have enough life insurance before tying the knot.
The data suggests older newlyweds are just as likely to put off important conversations:
- 85 percent of engaged or newly married couples ages 55+ said a pre-marital discussion about insurance beneficiaries was important, yet only 40 percent exchanged thoughts on life insurance coverage amounts before exchanging vows. In fact, 33 percent of recently married couples ages 55+ had yet to discuss life insurance as long as one year after the wedding.
- Before tying the knot, recently married couples ages 55+ were more likely to have discussed their entertainment budget than their life insurance coverage (50 percent vs. 40 percent, respectively).
To avoid misunderstandings, the NAIC advises couples to schedule a pre-wedding sit-down to directly address auto, home, health and life insurance. Key questions to consider:
- How’s your driving history? Finding out your spouse has a lead foot after saying “I do” can be a shock to your psyche and your auto insurance premiums. If your partner has a less-than-ideal driving record, consider a named-driver exclusion clause, or you may want to think twice about combining coverage.
- Can we afford to renovate our home? As couples merge households, consider what that starter home offers now and will offer in the future. A renovation investment of $5,000 or more can change a home’s replacement value and the house insurance coverage needed.
- Which health plan should we keep? The lowest premium isn’t the only consideration when deciding among health insurance options. To avoid a short-term decision that results in long-term increases in out-of-pocket expenses, review provisions related to cost sharing (deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance) and consider what is not covered by the plan.
- How much life insurance is enough? Now that “I” actually means “we,” couples should insurance needs revisit life insurance coverage. To arrive at a new amount, consider future income potential, the cost of raising children and any outstanding mortgage payments.
Are you prepared to guide your clients through these changes? ILScorp offers specialized continuing education for Life & A/S insurance agents as well as on line insurance training for general insurance agents.
Nov 8, 2013 | News
Alberta’s provincial government is proposing changes to province’s auto insurance system, to better protect consumers from rising premiums, while still giving individual companies more opportunity to make their case for increased pricing.
“Albertans have told us they want increased oversight in their auto insurance rates and we’ve listened. These reforms will set insurance rates that are fair for Albertans and make our already strong auto insurance system even better,” said Doug Horner, Alberta minister of finance and president of the Treasury Board.
The “Enhancing Consumer Protection in Auto Insurance Act” (Bill 39) would allow both mandatory and optional auto insurance premiums to be regulated by the independent Automobile Insurance Rate Board.
Alberta already has legislation regulating mandatory insurance premiums — like third party liability — these proposed changes would ensure optional premiums would also be regulated.
Heather Mack, director of Alberta government relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said consumers should be pleased with increased regulations, which she said could keep premiums down.
“This is definitely good for consumers. But at the industry level, we want less regulation. We want more flexibility, more competition.”
Another proposed change could somewhat appease the industry, Mack said. A file and approve system is being proposed, where each insurer could apply for premium adjustments on an as-needed basis instead of an annual, industry-wide rate adjustment.
“Whereas IBC was the one to present before, just once a year, now companies can present individually at any time. That will increase competition, so that’s a good balance,” Mack told the Calgary Herald newspaper.
But Derek Fildebrandt, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told the Herald it could be dangerous to artificially reduce certain premiums through increased regulation.
“When the government tries to keep prices down artificially in one area, premiums might go up in another area. One group of drivers will have to pay eventually, and we don’t know which demographic that will be.
Other changes proposed for the auto insurance system would involve moves to ensure Albertans get improved access to health care after a collision. As well, the Insurance Act could be strengthened in the area of solvency requirements for insurance companies to improve general market conduct. Changes are not being proposed for other components of Alberta’s automobile insurance system, such as the definition of minor injury and the related cap on payouts for minor injuries.
Excerpted from the Calgary Herald
Are you an Alberta Insurance Agent? Have you registered with ILScorp for your online continuing education, insurance training and licensing? See what we offer today!
