Today the FCA have published draft guidance to set out what firms should do to ensure vulnerable consumers are being treated fairly.

Yes,  It’s back but different.

Our incredibly popular course ‘All you need to know about Insurance in a Day’ has been running for over 15 years and hundreds of people from our industry have benefited from attending in helping them gain some basic but wide and varied knowledge about insurance and our industry to help them in their jobs.

As we all know by now, things have changed and at present we are we are unable to deliver the face to face training sessions, however we are delighted to announce that we are offering a virtual 3 hour ‘All you need to know about Insurance’ training session to the market.

This is ideal for those who have attended our one day course already to do as a refresher, but it also expands knowledge a little further as it looks at a policy, the content and terms used. Also, the sales and claims process of a typical personal lines and commercial policy. It covers a lot that they don’t tell you in the text books and may never come across unless you are studying or you have been working in the industry for many years!

NEW – it will also briefly look at some important but timely regulatory issues such as the Code of Conduct which is being introduced for staff by the FCA and is on firm’s T&C agenda’s.

This is a very popular course, and is now even easier to engage and book staff on it as it saves on travel time and expenses and is nice compact and engaging session.

It is an ideal opportunity to invest in your staff, refresh their knowledge and remind them what an important, valuable and interesting industry we work in.

This is the first in a series of Insurance modules we are delivering and is an ideal foundation course for anyone working in insurance

Here’s what we will cover:

Module One

• The Key important regulatory things you should know about – How we are regulated, FCA principles,  an overview of the Code of Conduct soon to be in force.
• What is Insurance and why we have it?
• The Insurance Market and the changing face of our industry
• How insurance works
• The insurance principles
• The different types of insurance – you will be amazed at what can be insured!
• How insurance is transacted
• A typical policy explained –  e.g. Motor, Shops and Office
• A brief look at sales and claims practices (Retail and commercial)
• What they don’t tell you in the text books

At the end of the course delegates will receive a certificate of attendance afterwards for their training and development files.

It is ideal for those who have not had any formal insurance training, those who are embarking upon their insurance exams, those who are changing job roles and those who would beneft from a refresher in these topics as well as being ahead of the game and knowing more about the Code of Conduct.

The session will be for 3 hours (and will include a break).

Time: 9.30-12.30pm (with a break)

Date: 20^th August 2020

The cost of the session is just £59 plus vat and will be delivered via ZOOM. To book contact Deborah@createsolutions.co.uk

Find out how the FCA are seeking legal clarity on business interruption (BI) insurance during the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis and what insurers and intermediaries are expected to do

Click here for further details https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/business-interruption-insurance

The FCA will be replacing its existing Financial Services Register with an enhanced Financial Services Register later this month (27 July).

See further details https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/fca-launch-enhanced-financial-services-register

Date: 27^th July 2020  

Time: 2pm1 hour including questions  

It is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and retain quality staff. The Covid-19 situation means firms have to put extra focus and attention on engaging and motivating their workforce (especially as many are working from home). For some, staff performance levels have increased during this time but they may have also decreased due to external factors or lack of effective management.

We have been hit with a tidal wave of change. Changes in the business, changes in the market, change to the way we operate and big changes for our staff.

Some staff may have been furloughed and no matter what, people will remember how they have been treated by their employers during this time of change. Losing staff is very expensive. Studies show that it costs a business around 75% of a person’s annual salary when they leave you and this presentation will show why that figure is so high!  It is important that training and performance management is maintained, even though we are operating differently.

Conducting appraisals or performance reviews is key to keeping your staff on board and is just one of the good culture indicators.

Even if you are not yet a team leader or manager, this presentation can be helpful, as it will explore how you can create realistic targets with your employee.

The presentation will look from an INSURANCE perspective on how best to set objectives for staff, how frequently meetings between staff and their manager should occur, how to run a development plan alongside the appraisal process and very essentially making sure those that perform well are appropriately rewarded.

If appraisals are done well then there should be NO surprises for the member of staff or their manager at the end of the year.

This presentation is appropriate for those who are responsible for  staff, team leaders, managers, trainers and HR.

Learning objectives:

•         Understand the cost of losing staff to the business

•         Understand how to set SMART objectives within the insurance industry

•         Understand how best to timetable staff appraisals and interim reviews

•         Understand the importance of setting staff development plans that run alongside the targets set

•         Understand the importance of rewarding appropriately

About the Trainer:

The presentation will be delivered by Alan Chandler who is one of the most popular presenters in the UK insurance market and delivers many seminars for the local institutes.

To Book:

• Please note the maximum number of attendees is 3 per firm (if you need more then please let us know and we will let you know if we have any spare places due to cancellations)
• We will not be sending you a booking form for the webinar as it is a FREE webinar. However if you are unable to attend please let us know in advance so that we can offer your place to another person.
• To book, please send the names and email addresses to claire@createsolutions.co.uk
• The webinar will be delivered via ZOOM and log in details will be sent in advance of the session.

A look at the Insurance Market’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and the importance of business ethics and culture during this time of change 

Date: 23^rd July 2020

Time:  10.00am (the session will last approx 45 mins)

Speaker: Mike Cranny FCII, Director, Create Solutions Ltd

Cost: Free of charge to Create Solutions clients

The insurance industry has been hit with challenges like never before. From finding new ways of working, looking after the safety and well-being of its staff, continuing to serve its customers the best they can and trying to manage the continuation of business, whilst identifying and dealing with the new emerging risks associated with Covid-19.  It certainly is a testing and challenging time for most businesses and in addition firms need to ensure that they do not fall foul of the FCA regulations.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, you should have an understanding of what brokers and insurers need to do to satisfy the FCA with regards to treating customers and staff fairly as a result of Covid-19.

• What has happened so far, and what the FCA and customers expect?
• The immediate response of the market to the crisis, including issues on homeworking and returning to work.
• It will consider how to respond to customers in financial difficulties and what firms should be doing to ensure they continue to treat customers fairly in this time of crisis.
• It will look at the importance of good ethical business practice and culture during this time and some simple steps firms can take.

To Book: Please contact deborah@createsolutions.co.uk to book your place. Places are limited to 3 per firm but if you require more please let us know and if we can accommodate you we will. Once you have registered with us, we will send you  Zoom link details . If you are unable to attend please contact us to cancel at your earliest convenience to allow someone else to book.

Date: Wednesday 5th August 2020

Time: 10.00am (the session will last approx. 45 mins) and we suggest you allow 1 hour

Delivery: Via Zoom (Details will be sent to you once you have booked your place)

Our August 2020 “Bitesize” compliance session will look at this important topic. As you know, the code of conduct applies to almost all staff from 9^th December 2020. (Even if the FCA allow a short extension this will only be in ‘extraordinary circumstances’)

Now is the time to put your plans in place. This Bitesize session will look at:

• The Code of Conduct?
• What is it and what it means for firms?
• Why is it being introduced?
• What firms need to do and by when?
• Delivering the training
• Breaches of Code of Conduct – The impact on the firm and staff member
• How it impacts on other areas of your business… and are they ready?– e.g. HR, Training, Monitoring, Compliance, Reporting etc.
• How we can help?

Who should attend: Senior managers, those with prescribed responsibilities and those who have responsibilities for the delivery, roll out and monitoring of Code of Conduct within the firm. Please ensure you pass this invite onto the right people within your organisation.

To book: please contact deborah@createsolutions.co.uk with the names of the delegates.

There is no charge for this session for Create Solutions clients.  We are providing these in place of our face to face workshops and ensuring that we work with you on important topics and continue to keep you informed during this time of change.

Implementation periods for solo-regulated firms

Read article here

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/extension-smcr-implementation-periods-solo-regulated-firms

Date: 3^rd July 2020  

Time: 1.00pm -2.00pm   

Broker Professional Indemnity premiums are in many cases doubling which reflect the fact that Pi underwriters believe the possibility of claims against brokers has never been higher. This presentation will explore why the amount of errors and omission claims against brokers are on the increase and how these can potentially be mitigated.

Various new pieces of legislation including the brokers duty under the Insurance Act 2015 and GDPR are making brokers more vulnerable than ever, which coupled with increased litigation in society, increased client expectations and ever higher regulatory demands mean that brokers cannot continue to do what they have always done, far more pro-activity is required.

Alan Chandler who is widely regarded as one of the leading trainers and presenters within the UK will provide a number of examples of how the tide of litigation is turning against insurance brokers and what they need to do to mitigate their E&O risks.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, delegates will be able to:

• Understand why broker error and omission claims are increasing

• Understand how recent statutes are increasing the E&O risk

• Take positive action to mitigate these E&O risks

To Book:

• Please note the maximum number of attendees is 3 per firm (if you need more then please let us know and we will let you know if we have any spare places due to cancellations)
• We will not be sending you a booking form for the webinar as it is a FREE webinar. However if you are unable to attend please let us know in advance so that we can offer your place to another person.
• To book, please send the names and email addresses to claire@createsolutions.co.uk
• The webinar will be delivered via ZOOM and log in details will be sent in advance of the session.

As we are unable to bring you our Summer Compliance update workshop, we are happy to announce the first of a series of short, to the point compliance update webinars. The first one will be held on 2^nd July 2020 10.00am

Create Solutions Bite Size Compliance update session

“Taking a breath to stock take”

• What has happened in the past few months
• FCA focus
• What you need to be focussing on now including CODE OF CONDUCT
• Q&A

Date: 2^nd July 2020

Time: 10 – 11.00am  followed by Q&A (allow 15 mins for questions afterwards)

The meeting will be held via  ZOOM. Zoom details will be sent in advance

To register please send confirmation of your attendance to deborah@createsolutions.co.uk or contact the office on 0161 870 6637

This webinar is free for clients, if you are not a client but would like to attend this webinar please email karen@createsolutions.co.uk