Oct 4, 2013 | News
Book Your Seat Now in an ILS Virtual Classroom Insurance Training Program.
With the ILS Virtual Classroom insurance training programs you could be finished your Level 1 insurance licensing and ready to start your career in the Canadian insurance industry by Nov. 29. No need to wait until the new year or a new semester to complete your insurance training!
The ILS Introduction to General Insurance Virtual Classroom program starts Nov. 4 and runs for four weeks. The ILS Introduction to General Insurance has a pass rate of more than 80% among students using the Virtual Classroom study program. The ILS Introduction to General Insurance licensing program is valid in BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The virtual classroom program also offers Fundamentals of Insurance Exam Preparation; and CAIB 1, 2 3 or 4 Exam Preparation. You must register by Nov. 1 to write the CAIB exams upon completion of your ILS exam prep class.
All of the ILS Virtual Classroom courses include:
- a daily assisted learning calendar – to keep you on track, we provide a study calendar that breaks down the insurance training courses into easy-to-manage daily study modules;
- online video courses – it’s like having a personal tutor for your insurance training, with the added benefit of being able to pause, rewind and review at the touch of a button;
- daily email quiz questions – questions on the previous day’s readings help to enforce key concepts;
- weekly practice exams – weekly practice exams simulate a real exam environment, so you can become comfortable with the exam process;
- An online discussion forum and review videos – to help keep you focussed and on track.
The virtual classroom gives you the flexibility to complete the work on your own time, but also gives you the tools to keep you on track to complete your course in just four weeks.
Register today at ILScorp.com and be on your way to a rewarding insurance career. Once you’ve registered, the ILS staff will be in touch to get you set up and ready to learn. For more information call 1-800-404-2211.
Oct 3, 2013 | News
Each province in Canada offers its own options for insurance licensing, and ILScorp has you covered, regardless of where you live. Our online video courses prepare you to write your provincial insurance council’s licensing exam.
ILScorp’s interactive online video Level 1 and Level 2 Licensing Courses combine the dynamic instruction of Todd Hochban with the ease and convenience of online learning. The courses are streamed online, and divided into easy-to-manage chapters. Each chapter includes 10-15 minutes of video featuring the instructor and easy to read text. Numerous exercises and mock exams are included to reinforce your knowledge retention.
Once you have completed the ILS prep courses, you’ll need to must register with your provincial insurance council to write your licensing examinations.
ILScorp offers Licensing Exam Preparation Courses for:
- British Columbia
- BC Fundamentals of Insurance
- Alberta
- Ontario
- New Brunswick
- Nova Scotia
ILScorp Licensing Exam Preparation courses are:
- Complete and comprehensive
They include everything you need to know to write the Level 1 or Level 2 exam. No additional books or material are required.
- Affordable
A course subscription provides you with four months of unlimited access to the course. There is no other charge, other than to book your examination through your Insurance Council.
- Effective
Online self-study is a proven way to successfully prepare for examinations. Study at your own pace and at your convenience. Stop the program at any time and return when you want. Review difficult points as often as you wish.
- Professional
Todd Hochban, CAIB, AIIC has been instructing Level 1 and 2 students for 23 years. This video-streamed course uses the same techniques that have helped hundreds of students successfully pass their insurance licensing exam.
In BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, you can also choose to complete the ILS Introduction toGeneral Insurance Licensing Program, which offers both the accredited course and licensing exam as one package.
Once you purchase your subscription, you can begin taking your courses immediately. If you are a new subscriber to ILScorp, you will receive an automated username and password by email. All of the course material is viewed online, so all you need is an internet connection. Your courses can be accessed any time and you can log in and log out as many times as you wish during the course period. Quizzes and final exams are offered in most of our courses to help you retain the information.
Once you feel prepared to write your licensing exam, you must contact your provincial Insurance Council to book your exam. Should you require any assistance at any time during your course work, we are here to support you 5 days a week! Call us today at 1-800-404-2211 with any questions.
Oct 1, 2013 | News
A series of 5 new Homeowners Insurance Policy courses designed for insurance agents and adjusters has been launched by ILS. These online insurance training courses, each good for one continuing education credit hour, are accredited in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
While modern home insurance is seen as an essential part of a typical Canadian family’s insurance coverage, that hasn’t always been case.
Up until the mid-1960s, homeowners rarely purchased the insurance coverages we take for granted today. In fact, many homeowners purchased coverage only for their dwelling, believing their belongings had little value. Also, as no one expected to be sued, many homeowners resisted all efforts to sell them personal liability insurance. The Homeowners Forms of the 1970s helped to solve the problems of inadequate coverages and limits. These forms included all three coverages and more. However, insurers still had a problem: people were under-valuing their homes. This problem took many years to solve and it was not until the 1980s that valuation guides were required to be completed for all new applications for a homeowners policy.
The five-part series, written by Steve Hawrishok, includes courses covering:
1. Property Coverages Agreements & Definitions
2. Property Coverages A-D
3. Extensions of Coverage
4. Insured Perils & Exclusions
5. Basis of Claim Payment & Other Terms
All five courses are now included in the general and adjuster continuing education course catalogues at no extra charge to ILS subscribers. They can also be purchased individually.
Go online at www.ilscorp.com or call us a 1-800-404-2211 to join the more than 23,000 other Canadian insurance professionals who are learning with ILScorp every year.
Sep 27, 2013 | News
No need to panic! You still have time to finish your mandatory continuing education hours before today’s Ontario general insurance continuing education deadline. Get started now with a subscription to the ILS general insurance continuing education catalogue.
ILScorp has recently updated and re-accredited 50 continuing education courses for Ontario insurance agents. These courses are all part of the popular ILScorp online CE course subscription, which offers access to more than 160 General insurance CE courses.
With over than 22,000 insurance professionals from across Canada training with ILS every year, we are the leader in online insurance training.
All ILScorp courses are accredited and are written by insurance training experts. These text and video courses engage the user, so the learning experience is both interesting and entertaining. The online format allows you to access your courses anytime, anywhere, and at your convenience.
A six-month subscription to our General Insurance continuing education courses is only $185, which allows you to choose from more than 160 accredited online CE courses (more than 300 credit hours). Or, if you wish, purchase courses on an individual basis, starting at $85. Group subscriptions are also available for groups of five or more people, at a savings of $50 per person.
The ILS General Insurance Training Course Catalogue includes the following course categories: Personal Lines; Commercial Lines; Automobile; Farm; and Professional Management and Personal Skill.
Ontario insurance agents – your Sept. 30 Continuing Education deadline is now only a few days away. In Ontario, principal brokers and deputy principal brokers are required to complete 10 credits per year, with 5 in the management category, and all other licensed individuals require 8 CE credits. The year runs from Oct. 1- Sept 30.
Call 1-800-404-2211 or go to www.ILScorp.com and get started today. We’re here to help from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Continuing Education with ILS – fast, easy, done!
Sep 26, 2013 | News
Are you ready to start your insurance career, and want to to prepare to write the CAIB exam? Then the Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker Level 1 Exam prep course from ILS is for you. Learn the fundamentals of working in the insurance industry, and prepare to write your CAIB 1 licensing exam. Looking to earn your CAIB 2, 3, or 4 designation? ILS can help there too!
ILScorp offers insurance training and exam prep courses for CAIB 1, 2, 3, & 4, via online video training, virtual classrooms and live immersion classes.
Our interactive, online CAIB Exam Preparation video courses combine the dynamic instruction of Todd Hochban with the ease and convenience of online learning. Each CAIB insurance training course contains streaming video, and is divided into easy-to-manage chapters. Numerous exercises and mock exams help to reinforce knowledge retention. Study online with 24/7 access to the program, allowing you to work on your own schedule.
Or if you want more guidance, start the ILS CAIB exam prep Virtual Classroom program on Nov. 4 and receive a study schedule, daily emails and quizzes and more. You’ll be ready to write any level of CAIB exam in just four short weeks.
Through ILS’s online courses, you’ll receive the same instruction as students who attend classroom sessions. Long-time insurance educator Todd Hochban brings his successful “need-to-know” approach to this video production. Preparing to write the CAIB 1, CAIB 2, CAIB 3, and CAIB 4 examinations has never been easier!
Online self-study is a proven way to successfully prepare for insurance licensing examinations. Study at your own pace – stop the program at any time and return when you want. Go back over difficult-to-grasp points as often as you wish. More than 80% of students who prepare to write their CAIB exams with the ILScorp CAIB tutorial courses are successful.
Once you’re ready to write the exam, contact your local insurance council to arrange your exam.
Instructor Todd Hochban highly recommends using the CAIB textbook in conjunction with the ILScorp CAIB exam prep programs to thoroughly learn the material. CAIB textbooks can be purchased through your provincial brokers association. Contact the association directly for more information.
And remember when it comes to CAIB, ILS wrote the book! Our founder and past president Steve Hawrishok developed and wrote the CAIB course.
Call 1-800-404-2211 or visit ilscorp.com today for more information.
Sep 25, 2013 | News
It’s quiz time: While driving your SUV, you are involved in a minor, low-speed accident. Fortunately, no one is injured, but there is some damage to your vehicle – more than just a scratch – and maybe to someone else’s car or property.
Do you inform your auto insurance company about it, or keep the matter quiet and pay any repair costs out-of-pocket?
Concerns about auto insurance rate hikes are often the determining factor behind your answer, according to a Consumer Reports study. But there are some important factors to weigh as you determine your best course of action.
When to report the accident:
Seven in 10 auto accidents in the US in 2011 involved at least two vehicles, according to US Department of Transportation data, as did 52 per cent of the car insurance claims filed in recent years by more than 31,000 Consumer Reports subscribers surveyed last summer.
If your accident falls into that category, you should always report it – especially if you may have been at fault – because your insurance coverage protects you against liability for harming others.
Your insurance company and legal considerations might require you to report in such cases, but its also in your own best interest to officially document the facts of the case when you’re involved with a stranger in a potential damage claim situation.
Even if you could work out a private arrangement with another reasonable person to keep the auto insurance companies out of it, repairs often cost more than people anticipate.
For example, in a test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, when a 2010 Toyota Corolla rear-ended a 2010 Toyota RAV4 at 10 mph, the Corolla had more than $3,800 in front-end damage and the SUV incurred more than $6,000 in rear damage, because of the vehicles’ bumper height mismatch.
The Corolla’s damage looked minor, and the RAV4’s was visually almost imperceptible. In 14 similar trials, the cheapest damage in 14 involving seven vehicle pairings produced almost $3,000 in total losses – six times the typical $500 collision deductible.
In addition injuries to you or other people involved in the accident, may not be apparent immediately. The adrenaline rush accompanying even a low-impact crash can mask injury symptoms, and soft-tissue damage can take 24 to 48 hours to show up. Bogus injury claims are another possibility, which will be difficult for you to prove without help from your insurance company.
If you don’t report your accident immediately and are hit with big costs down the road, your auto insurance company might not cover you because their window of opportunity to investigate the claim has been lost.
When it’s a toss-up
When the damage for an accident occurs only to your property, you have a more difficult choice make.
Filing a claim could produce a tempting payout, but you need to consider the unknown factor of how your claim might impact your premiums.
According to Consumer Reports, consumers won’t know in advance how much their premiums will increase, and for how long, in order to weigh that against a claim payout. But among the survey respondents, seven per cent of claimants said they felt their insurer unfairly raised their premium as a result of a claim.
Most states regulate “chargeable” accidents, which are loss payouts that auto insurers are allowed to count against your driving record in calculating your risk and setting your premiums. The rules vary, but payout thresholds of $500 to $1,000 are typical, which means that accidents costing the insurer less than that can’t raise your rate.
Major insurers, including ICBC Autoplan, will also have their own loyalty programs, which give “accident forgiveness awards,” based on how long you’ve been with the company and your good driving and payment record.
When not to report
If the damage is minor and confined to your own vehicle and property, maybe from backing into your own fence or garage door, you’re typically not required to report it to your insurance company if you choose not to make a claim.
It also doesn’t make economic sense to do so if the repair cost is smaller than or not sufficiently bigger than your collision coverage deductible.
Excerpted from the Buffalo News
B.C. insurance agents – are you looking to enhance your knowledge of ICBC’s Autoplan programs? ILScorp now offers two new Autoplan courses, one designed for newcomers to the auto insurance industry, and another more advanced course. Learn more at ILScorp.com
