The Insurance School | #NeverHuntAlone
Jason L. Perez | The Insurance School .com
EVERYTHING you’ll need you know, you learned in kindergarten.
✊🏼 W/up Floridians!!!
If you’re txt savvy, you’d know, that’s how we’re saying hello these days…. Oh, you knew that? Duh – My point exactly! The rest of this course will be equally as simple since, we’re just reviewing information you’re already familiar with.
So, huddle around this CE campfire and I’ll share a few stories with you. Over the next few paragraghs, I’m going to help you relax by giving you a roadmap and setting some expectations. My informal “tone” isn’t just for the introduction. We’re keeping it simple throughout the entire course.
Continuing Education Requirements
- Compliance Period = Every 2 Years
- ALL NEWLY Licensed Insurance Agents in Florida MUST complete #24–hours of Continuing Education every two (2) years.
IF… you’ve been a licensed Insurance Agent in good standing for six (6) consecutive years, the Department of Finacial Services will give you a 4–Hour CE Discount. In theory, the 6-year benchmark means you’ve learned something along the way.
Starting on our 4th compliance period, we’re ONLY responsible for 20–hours of “CE TorTuRE”. Maybe it’s the DFS’s way of congradulating you for making it 8-Years.
– Meniachiacial laugh!
- Once You’ve Completed 3 Compliance Periods, CE Requirements decrease to 20 Hours
Have you noticed all the BOLDED Words & somewhat self-explaniatory colors? All of these exagerations are here to help highlight food for thought. Not just any type of nugget. We’re talking the good stuff that’s DEFINITELY tested.
Before I transition into talking about CE facts for compliance purposes, let’s fash back to where I mentioned my “Informal Tone”. YES, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) requires us to do Continuing Education.
#OnFlipSide
The DFS didn’t require we take BORING CLASSES!
The DFS just wants us Insurance Education Providers to convey the facts. No laws against telling stories and acting like life is interesting. ETHICS – You’re thinking eww. Not me… I’m thinking about Stupid Criminals.
I’ve got #Floridaman memes flashing before my eyes.
Have you heard the story about the Salti Crime Family?
FRAUD VIOLATION | Press Release
Thursday, February 20th, 2020
- The Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis announces the arrest of Four Suspects behind a Two Hundred & Thirty Thousand Dollar ($230,000) Insurance Fraud Scheme in Tampa.
This story is about four brothers, Aymen, Faiz, Mohammed and Ayiha Salti. For comedic reasons, we’re going to refer to these geniuses as the Salti Crime Family.
In a nutshell, DFS Investigators discovered that the Salti Crime Family started staging minor traffic accidents at gas stations in June of 2016 and continued until April of 2019.
The cars they were claiming to be damaged were in fact… Not damaged at all. In the nearly three years, the “Salti Crime Family” ran their scheme, they pocketed approximately $230,000 from the fraudulent invoices they submitted to their insurance companies for repairs.
Well, the joke is on these salty dudes now because, since they never fixed any of the cars, the DFS is gonna fix them! These 4-Banditos were all arrested and booked on Racketeering and Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering charges.
How serious is this violation?
Well, all four members of the Salti Organized Crime Family had their bail set at $1.2 million dollars each and, if convicted, they each face up to 30 years in prison. OUCH…
I heard through the grape vine that after booking, the Salti’s were heard saying, “We would have gotten away with the money (IF), It wasn’t for the Florida CFO and his meddling investigators from the DFS’s Division of Forensic & Investigative Services.”
That last part, it may (OR) may-not be fake news however, the Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis was quoted saying,
“Fraud has reached epidemic proportions in Florida and scams like this drive-up auto rates for every driver on the road. I’m thankful for the hard work of my fraud detectives in tracking these fraudsters down.
We must continue to work together to do everything we can to uncover these fraud schemes and bring these scam artists to justice.”
The Florida CFO – Jimmy Patronis
- Elected Official
- Head of The Department of Financial Services
This press release to point out how important the state of Florida views the CFO’s role in regulating the business of insurance. Every press release references who Jimmy Patronis is with the following statements,
“The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis is a statewide Elected Official and a *Member of Florida’s Cabinet who oversees the Department of Financial Services.
CFO Patronis works each day to fight insurance fraud, support Florida’s firefighters, and *ensure the state’s finances are stable to support economic growth in the state.”
We’ll deep dive into the CFO’s fight against Fraud after I properly introduce Mr. Jimmy Patronis and the Fraud Free Florida initiative a little later in the class.
Now… back to *CE Compliance Periods
Despite how long we’ve been licensed, ALL insurance agents in Florida must complete FOUR hours of CE focused on *Florida’s Insurance Laws, & *Professional Ethics every #24 month complaince period. Even with me writing this course, the Department of Financial Services required me to take this same course with an insurance school.
Nobody gets special treatment around here.
Agh… Now you know where my micro rant about “BORING” classes came from. I won’t mention any school names. I will say the last round of classes I took, was like reading a dictionary written by legal robots.
You know we’re already learning. Can you identify the FIVE (5) test worthy topics I addressed in the 1st 1,000 words of this Blog-Style CE Course? If not, not worries. We’ve embedded a bunch of study aids throughout the course. To make sure the rest of the tested key words and concepts jump out and bite you in the face, let’s identify what these tested topics look like.
#
The Hashtags are compliments of iFlash4U.
Yup, we’re going to discuss the number sign that identifies as a Hashtag. They’re easy to miss if you’re skimming the text in a hurry. We placed them into the text as #Superscript. Bookmarks1 appears after the word and elaborate on keywords and concept. #Hashtags are in front of the word. They identify tested topics and make them EASY to Search.
You may already know this stuff but, I have you trapped for 4-hours so…
Every webpage also comes in a PDF version.
- For you Audiobook lovers, we also have this blog series are on The Insurance School’s iPower Move Podcast.
- The only people who can’t use this shortcut are the ones flipping through a textbook like the NAIFA State Manual.
If you’re working in Word or on a normal non-Apple computer,
- Hold the Control button down on your keyboard & simultaneously hit the letter “F”
- If you’re packin’ a Mac – Hold Command and press “F”.
When the search bar pops up, type in the word or phrase you’re looking for.
POOF – Everywhere the word is used, appears in a list off to the side.
This feature works on almost all document formats. If you’ve never used it before, I suggest jumping into now and giving it a try. Searching # – You’ll find every tested keyword and concept next to the answer.
We Make Licensing & CE EASY!
YOU’RE WELCOME.
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
That’s how you’d feel if I didn’t tell you where we were going with this course. I would be a terrible tour guide if I sent you into the Florida Everglades for a four-mile hike without a trail map. This course is no different.
If you know how to use it, the information in this course is VERY useful to you as an agent & an insurance policy holder. Up to now, every LAW & ETHICS course I’ve read felt like it was written by an attorney who lived in a law book or an uppity number cruncher who dreamed of being a famous compliance officer.
Dusty old courses are only for those who don’t know.
I like current events. On social media, I follow several different local news pages to see what the locals are reporting on. Current events are easy to talk about. Did you know last year in Boca Raton alone, DFS Investigators uncovered nearly 100 million dollars in fraud between two clinics. I heard about the arrest from the CFO’s Press Releases. You can find them by searching “News You Can Use” on the CFO’s website.
Seriously…
The section is called “News You can Use.
If the Florida CFO is discussing it in public, it’s important. Insurance current event are a terrific way to engage consumers on-line. When you’re shopping for insurance, where do you go first? GOOGLE! You read-up on the things you’d like to know more about.
If you’re reading this, you’re already a client so, you’re invited. We host an online workshop a few Wednesdays a month. Join us and we’ll help learn how to use DFS resources to brand yourself as an Authorized Insurance Agent online. You can find our updated calendar on *The Insurance School .com.
Insurance Education Providers don’t choose any of the topics in this course.
All topics we’ll discuss are identified by the Department. If you’re asking yourself WHY does the DFS want us to review the same information every two years? It’s because they want to make sure ignorance of the law could never be a defense in court.
True story.
In this course…
- What is considered to be conducting the Business of Insurance?
- Discussing the General Powers and Responsibilities of Florida’s Regulatory Entities such as,
- Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis (CFO),
- The Department of Financial Services (DFS),
- Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR or Office),
- Office of Financial Regulation (OFR),
Marketplace Resources,
On Guard For Seniors, focused on Identity Theft Awareness.
Professional Ethics, Fiduciary Responsibilities, and the roles of non-regulatory advocacy organizations such as;
- National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA),
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners,
- National Association of Health Underwriters,
- Marketing, Advertising, and Licensee’s Responsibilities pertaining to;
- Licensing,
- Insurance Education Providers and Continued Education,
- Agent Contact Information,
- Insurance Agency Licensing,
- The Duties of Licensed – vs – Un-Licensed Personnel,
- Transferring, Surrendering or Terminating an Insurance License,
- The Appointment Process,
- Obtaining a New Appointment(s),
- Renewing an existing Appointment(s),
- Terminating an Appointment(s),
Recent Marketplace Violations
- Administrative fines
- Criminal Consequences
- Identity Theft & Medical Identity Theft
- Un-Authorized Entities and
- The importance of verifying insurers before representing them.
Central Florida Insurance School
www. BEAT EVERYONE .com
WE MAKE LICENSING EASY
Jason L. Perez - The Florida Local
