Value of CPCU Testimonial

Name: Jim Jones

Position: Director Katie School of Insurance

Illinois State University

CPCU Designation Year:  1992

Reason for Pursuing CPCU Designation:

I had completed a number of internal course at my company along with the AIC and ARM designations, and was looking to move into a position that was less technical and more managerial. The CPCU was well-recognized by the company I worked for, and so I thought that attaining a CPCU would demonstrate my interest in subjects beyond the claims and risk management technical area.

Path to CPCU:

I began taking CPCU exams in June of 1987 (I began that month with CPCU’s 8 and 9) and completed the program in June of 1992. In-between I worked in the Peace Corps as a math teacher from 1998-1990. So I really only had about 3 years of work. I usually took two exams during each exam window (they didn’t have as many exam opportunities as they do now). I passed all my exams until I got to 10. I got cocky and didn’t put as much time into as I should have, and had to retake CPCU 10.

Benefits to Me Personally:

First of all, having a few CPCU’s under my belt helped me to re-enter the industry after my Peace Corps stint. Also, shortly after I completed my CPCU designation I was selected to become a claims branch manager. I believe that attaining my designation helped me in landing that job. The CPCU also afforded me the opportunity to travel to San Francisco and meet with other CPCU’s from around the world. I feel that having a CPCU has always helped distinguish me from other candidates who were competing for the same job.

Value of CPCU to Employer

The CPCU was also a tremendous benefit to my employer as I was able to better understand how my area related with and supported the performance of other departments and the company as a whole. I shared information I learned from CPCU with colleagues, I even remember circulating a few pages around the office. My success encouraged others in the office to pursue their designation, and this helped raise the overall level of professionalism for my area.

My current and past employers benefited immensely from my involvement with the CPCU Society and my local chapter. I served on a national committee (Claims Interest Section) and co-wrote articles, developed workshops, and gave presentations based on what I learned from the many talented people I worked with on the committee. Later I joined the Total Quality Section’s national committee and opened up a whole new way for me to improve performance. I learned about tools to diagnose problems, learned of ways to improve processes, and learned about how to develop appropriate performance metrics. I even helped my employer to start an internal center designed to communicate best practices in this area.

I continued to write articles and give presentations which brought positive exposure to my employer, and helped improve my communication skills. With my current job, networking is essential to developing external constituents for my employer, and I could not have effectively done that without being in the CPCU society.

In addition to content knowledge I also learned how to run a meeting, project management, ethical decision-making, and best practices in claims and sales. I met with people from numerous areas outside of my functional area which helped to broaden my understanding of the industry and how my employer could better serve the industry.

CPCU’s Value to Customers

I think the value to customers in using a CPCU is that you have at least a good foundation of knowledge, having committed to becoming a professional, and have taken an oath to not act with self interest at the expense of the customer. I can tell you from my own case as a branch manager, customers benefited from my ability to analyze and insurance contract. Several  times my adjusters would bring in a claim to me to get approval for denial of coverage and I pointed out the error they made in interpreting the policy or failing to read the entire policy, such as exceptions to exclusions. I think this also benefited my employer who did not have to deal with the litigation or loss of confidence in wrongfully denying a claim.