Whether your firm dabbles in professional liability underwriting and placements, or it's a central focus of your offerings, your employees now have access to the PLUS Curriculum--a collection of 23 training modules with material ranging from the fundamentals of liability insurance to advanced topics.
NAPSLO member companies are also eligible to receive a PLUS membership which includes monthly issues of the PLUS Journal, discounted fees for PLUS chapter and conference events, products and RPLU exams, and access to the PLUS Web site, including the online member directory, PLUS industry library and Career HQ.
THE CURRICULUM
The 23 learning modules that make up the PLUS curriculum can be used as training tools for employees starting their careers in the professional liability segment or those whose responsibilities are being expanded to new lines.
For experienced professionals, they are a source of reference material that can be used to refresh understanding of key concepts or coverages.
Content for the modules was compiled by picking the brains of top professional liability industry "subject matter experts," and then organized into text, workbooks, case studies and online interactive tools suitable for adult learners, according to PLUS.
The modules include eight that are identified as core modules, six executive liability modules, seven E&O modules (relating to seven different types of errors and omissions insurance) and two additional modules.
The core modules, addressing fundamental liability insurance concepts and basic professional liability underwriting skills are:
- Fundamentals of Liability Insurance
- Commercial General Liability Insurance: Overview
- Professional Liability Insurance: Overview
- Financial Analysis
- Professional Liability Reinsurance
- Professional Liability Insurance Claims
- Medical Professional Liability Insurance: Introduction
- Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability Insurance Introduction
The six executive liability modules are:
- Public/Financial D&O Liability Insurance
- Private/Non-Profit D&O Liability Insurance
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance
- Fiduciary Liability Insurance
- Fidelity & Crime Insurance for Commercial & Government Entities
- Financial Institution Bonds
The seven professions covered in depth by the seven individual E&O modules are:
- Lawyers
- Accountants
- Medical Professionals
- Design Professionals
- Real Estate Professionals
- Insurance Professionals
- Miscellaneous Professionals
Two additional modules cover media professional liability and cyber risk insurance.
NAPSLO's member companies and their employees can order curriculum modules at special discounts for each individual module or for the complete 23-module set.
The curriculum is also the study material for the RPLU (Registered Professional Liability Underwriter).
NAPSLO members working toward their Associate in Surplus Lines Insurance (ASLI) designations do not have to take the two electives courses required under the ASLI program, if they have attained the RPLU designation. The ASLI designation, developed by the Insurance Institute of America and the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation, is comprised of two courses on surplus lines (ASLI 163 & 164) and two electives selected from a list of approved courses.
To learn more about the PLUS curriculum, visit the PLUS Web site at https://plusweb.org/index.cfm/p/Edu.Curriculum
CONFERENCES AND CHAPTER EVENTS
Chapter events, hosted by regional PLUS chapters, provide an opportunity for business associates working in the professional liability industry arena to meet and network.
U.S. regional chapters include: Eastern (New York); Hartford; Mid-Atlantic (Philadelphia); Midwest (Chicago); Northern California (San Francisco); North Central States (Minneapolis/St. Paul); New England (Boston); Northwest (Seattle); Southern California (Los Angeles); Southeast (Atlanta); Southwest (Phoenix & Denver); and Texas (Dallas). There are also PLUS chapters in Canada and London.
Educational sessions at these events, coordinated by local volunteers participating in the professional liability segment, include panels of leading industry experts and prominent speakers.
The chapter events are open to all. They are not restricted to those who live in a chapter area.
PLUS' international conference, held annually in November, is PLUS' signature event, attracting 2,000 insurers, brokers, attorneys and other industry leaders for educational sessions and networking opportunities.
NAPSLO members who attended the international conference in Chicago last year not only could have heard the keynote speaker--former President Bill Clinton--share his insights on the interconnectedness of a global world, but they also could have attended a special session on the surplus lines industry put together by representatives of NAPSLO.
For those who didn't attend the conference, here are some of the key takeaways from some of the educational sessions that were reported in National Underwriter magazine and on NU's Online News Service:
o Crime insurance and fidelity bonds provide only limited protection to financial institutions and other insureds seeking to recover losses from fraudulent schemes like mortgage shams and Ponzi schemes--news that generally comes as a surprise to insureds that believe these are catchall policies instead of first-party coverage products.
o Bernard Madoff could not be convinced to buy professional liability insurance for his investment services, but legal requirements did force his hand when it came to purchasing a fidelity bond, a specialty broker revealed.
o More pension liability suits are likely to be filed by victims of Ponzi schemes, according to a lawyer who reasoned that there are fewer hurdles to face in bringing lawsuits against employee benefit plan fiduciaries than against directors and officers
o D&O insurers may have contributed to the credit crisis, because misbehaving company management increasingly believes their policies protect them, another lawyer suggested.
For more detailed discussion of what was covered at these sessions, read the full articles by clicking on the links below:
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