The Business of Insurance

Instructor UIE Phone (253) 846-1155 Email mail@uiece.com

Course Overview The Business of Insurance is designed for a property / casualty (general lines) agent but a life and health agent would benefit as well.

Course Schedule

Chapter	Subject	Description
Chapter 1	Legal Principles for Insurance Professionals	From drafting policies to settling claims disputes to litigation, the very nature of insurance inherently makes it different from most forms of business. And the legal system is an integral part of the industry. What is the difference between a standard contract and an insurance contract? What court cases have influenced government regulation on the insurance industry? How do the legal principles of common law, contract law, and civil law relate to the role of insurance professionals? And how can understanding these principles affect the way you perform your duties in a professional and ethical way? These and others are the questions that will be considered throughout this course.
Chapter 2	Discrimination in Insurance	An informative retrospective on racial discrimination in the insurance industry. Review a brief history of racial discrimination in America and some legal cases that have influenced present day policies underwriting guidelines. Understand how you can identify and delineate between direct and subtle forms of discrimination with the aim of eliminating discriminatory practices in the insurance industry.
Chapter 3	Reinsurance	The world is full of risk. Managing that risk has never been more challenging than it has been in the last 100 years. New technologies have emerged, natural and man-made catastrophes have been occurring more frequently, global events are disrupting economies, and the insurance industry has been significantly affected. How have insurance companies been dealing with the astronomical economic losses caused by ever increasing catastrophic events? And how has the role of reinsurance helped mitigate those losses? These are the questions that will be considered throughout this course.
Chapter 4	The Underwriting Process	The entire concept of insurance is based on providing financial protection against uncertain events and insurance companies assume billions of dollars in financial risk every year. But the world is in a constant state of uncertainty. The insurance industry is continuing to recover from the aftermath of a global pandemic. What can insurers do to maintain their profitability in an ever-changing world? The answer is in the company’s underwriting. Underwriting is considered to be crucial for insurance to succeed, but what exactly is an underwriter? What is involved in the underwriting process? What mathematical and legal concepts have a bearing on the underwriting decision? And how does it all relate to profitability? Find the answers to these and other questions as you learn all about the underwriting process– the who, the how, and the why.
Chapter 5	Business Insurance	Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. They create jobs, drive innovation, and boost economic growth. But when the unexpected happens, such as property damage and liability claims, businesses need business insurance to help cover the costs and remain operational. In a post-COVID-19 world, what limitations does insurance have in regard to traditional risk transfer solutions and what are they doing to compensate? What challenges do businesses face in obtaining financial resilience, especially when coping with such things as cyberattacks, natural disasters, and supply chain disruptions? These and other questions will be answered in a course that will benefit insurance professionals and business owners alike.
Chapter 6	Claims Handling	Despite being one of the biggest industries in the world, at its core, insurance is still a business that focuses on people. A policyholder hopes that the unexpected never happens, but when he or she experiences an event that requires the submission of a claim, what is the role of the claims department? What are essential activities of an effective claims handling process? What challenges do claims professionals face and what solutions have been developed to combat these difficulties? These are the questions that will be considered throughout this course.
Chapter 7	Ethics	In a post-COVID-19 world, the expectations of consumers and the challenges of the insurance industry have changed in unprecedented ways. Experts are saying that innovation and growth are essential if insurers want to survive. And insurance agents are constantly facing external and internal pressures in competitive work environments. With all of these difficulties and challenges, is it really possible to be an ethical insurance professional? What is ethics? What are the complexities of ethical decision-making in the context of insurance? And how can an insurance agent apply ethics in practical ways? These and other questions will be answered in a course that will allow you to dig deep and see for yourself what kind of insurance agent you really are.

Additional Information

None.