iLaw
1
By: Jason L. Perez
Department Authorized Insurance Education Provider
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | The Insurance School .com
| HAPPY NEW INSURANCE YEAR UPDATE!
5-Hours of LAW CE is now ONLY 4!
Florida’s only REQUIRED Continuing Education Course *Law and Professional Ethics is now 4-HOURS instead of 5.
Ü The One-Hour Reduction in Law & Ethics continuing education change went into effect in January, 2022.
Even if you have more than one insurance license, you’re only required to satisfy ONE Required Law and Ethics course per compliance period. Non-resident agents and adjusters licensed in a reciprocal state, will not be required to complete a 4-hour course in Florida if they’ve complied with the CE requirements in their state.
Ü WHAT is a Reciprocal State
These are states which acknowledge Florida Licensees as Authorized Professionals. This means the regulatory entities of the other state “Acknowledge” Florida licensees as – Knowledgeable & Trustworthy.
Since these states will allow our licensees to communicate with their local residents, Florida returns the gesture and allows their resident licensees to conduct the business of insurance in Florida.
This reciprocal acknowledgement means non-resident agents don’t need to satisfy Florida’s Pre-Licensing or CE requirements. It’s assumed the agent will complete compliance in their home state.
Before I deep dive back into hardcore CE things, let’s discuss this informal format.
I think you like it.
Don’t ever forget, our Florida CFO DOES NOT require us to take BORING CLASSES! They just want us Insurance Education Providers to convey the facts. No laws against telling stories and acting like life in Florida is interesting.
Typically, someone says ETHICS – You immediately think EWE! NOT ME…Stupid criminals and #Floridaman memes are flashing before my eyes.
Have you heard the story about the Salti Crime Family?
VIOLATION | Tampa, Fla. – Insurance Fraud
Thursday, February 20th, 2020
Florida’s CFO, Jimmy Patronis announces the arrest of Four Suspects behind a Two Hundred & Thirty Thousand Dollar ($230,000) Insurance FraudScheme.
This story is about four brothers, Faiz, Aymen, Mohammed and Ayiha Salti. For comedic reasons, these masterminds are now known as the Salti Crime Family.
IN A NUTSHELL…
Florida’s Department of Financial Services Insurance Investigators discovered the Salti Crime Family had been staging minor traffic accidents at gas stations. They started in June of 2016 and continued until April of 2019.
The cars they were claiming to be damaged were never damaged. In the three years, the “Salti Crime Family” ran their scheme, they pocketed approximately $230,000 from the fraudulent invoices they submitted to their insurance companies.
The joke is on these Salty Banditos.
Since they never fixed any of the cars, the DFS is gonna fix them! These brothers were all arrested and booked on Racketeering and Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering charges.
How serious are these violations?
All four members of the Salti Organized Crime Family had their bail set at $1.2 million dollars each. If convicted, they each face up to 30 years in prison – OUCH.
I heard 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 may (OR) may-not be fake news.
« Florida’s CFO 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.”
CFO Press releases like this one does a nice job pointing out the types of violations the CFO and his Department of Financial Services handle. Of course, the Florida CFO isn’t personally investigating insurance crimes with the local CSI Miami crew… Or is he?
Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer is HEAD of the Department of Financial Services – > (DFS) -> OR -> Department for short. This Department has 13 Divisions. Six of these Divisions only handle insurance industry related matters. One of these specialized sectors of the DFS is called, the Division of Investigative and Forensic Services (DIFS).
[NAIFA (26.1.1) p. 402]
Maybe our CFO is rocking his Ray Bans while hanging with his investigators.
Probably not however, to give you an idea of how important the CFO is to the business of insurance, let’s glance at the bottom of his press releases
« CFO Authority
“The Chief Financial Officer 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.”
*| Fraud Free Florida .com
iLaw
2
By: Jason L. Perez
Department Authorized Insurance Education Provider
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | The Insurance School .com
🐐
In iLaw Part-2, we’ll properly introduce the G.O.A.T – -> Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer. Well, Jimmy may or may not be the Greatest of ALL CFO’s however, I already used the Goat emoji.
I wonder…
How will we slide an eggplant emoji into Episode 4?
Parts 3 & 4 continue bragging about the CFO. The difference is Part-3 focuses on the primary responsibilities of the CFO’s Department of Financial Services. Part-4 zooms in on the 13 Divisions of the CFO’s Department of Financial Services.
*| Do you know WHY, old-busted textbooks use ugly language like “Chapters”, “Units” and other dry word salad descriptors to compartmentalize main topics?
BECAUSE…
| They DO NOT LOVE YOU – Like we do.
We created this 2023 Law & Professional Ethics course is in multiple formats. Which version floats your boat? Maybe, you ABSOLUTELY HATE reading textbooks. Ok, listen to our DFS Authorized Instructors throw down on the #iPowerMoves Podcast.
If you’d prefer to watch the next Episode…
NO PROBLEM!
Our Podcast and Videos sync with our written versions.
Listen or watch our instructors LIVE or, On-Demand. Memorizing textbooks is so 2020. Learning from insurance industry related stories worth re-telling is how *The Insurance School .com makes Continuing Education so EASY!
Listen or watch our instructors LIVE or, On-Demand. Memorizing textbooks is so 2020. Learning from insurance industry related stories worth re-telling is how *The Insurance School .com makes Continuing Education so EASY!
- SMASH the like button and LEAVE A COMMENT! How can we collaborate if you fly through our content & leave no traces like a ninja?
| iPower Moves Podcast: 2023
All our Episodes are hosted by a Department of Financial Services AUTHORIZED Instructors, like ME! 😁😁😁 These matters to YOU because, regardless of the class version you prefer, they’ll ALL DFS Authorized.
| Does it seem like I’m trying to get you to notice the word AUTHORIZED?
From fresh out of Pre-Licensing rookies, to the veteran agents who “remember when”. None of us can avoid taking this Four–hour Insurance Law and Professional Ethics course every #24 months. Even with me being the author of this course, I’m not excused. The DFS requires me to complete my continuing education with an insurance school I’m not affiliated with.
| Nobody gets special treatment around here.
Apparently, the last round of CE classes I read had an unforeseen negative effect on my psyche. It seems these last classes were so incredibly BORING; I developed a severe case of Bibliophobia – The fear of BOOKS.
That’s not true.
*Check out our Podcast and Videos anyway.
Can you identify at LEAST FIVE (5) test worthy topics we’ve touched on? If not – No worries, you’ll run into them on the End of Episode quiz. To make sure the rest of these keywords and concepts jump out and bite you in the face, let’s identify what our tested topics look like.
[K, (3.3.2.1) p. 41], [g. 562]
| AUTHORITY & AUTHORIZED
*Green means it’s a test question answer.
PINKY PROMISE – You’re going to be asked AT LEAST two (2) question about the Agent Authorization process on the CE Final Exam. This same exact content is also used in our Pre-Licensing courses. You shouldn’t listen to people who say you’ll never use pre-licensing again.
Everything about this REQUIRED CE Course is a Pre-Licensing review.
The fact we’re REQUIRED to review basic insurance laws EVERY Two Years tells you how important the CFO thinks these topics are. Do you think I want to use the word *Authority and *AUTHORIZED constantly? Nope but, the “Authorization” is the core insurance consumer protections.
Insurance Agent Licensing and the Insurer Appointment Process is how Florida regulators maintain professional industry standards. People who circumvent industry standards DO NOT have the best interest of their client in mind. Agents are expected to be Trusted Liaisons. Unauthorized entities are IMPOSTORS.
Let’s talk about these Un-Authorized Industry Terrorist.
Un-Authorized Entities
IF someone calls you a bad name – “Sticks and Stones”. If, someone calls you an Un-Authorized Entity – Either turn yourself in or RUN because, you now have a 3rd Degree FELONY on your Record.
Conducting the business of insurance goes When a person simply participates in the marketing and sale of an insurance product WITHOUT proper *Authorization from the DFS, they’re committing a crime.
Un-Authorized Entity Violation is a 3rd Degree Felony.
* To receive AUTHORIZATION from the DFS to sell policies, you MUST have a valid Florida Insurance License & active Insurer Appointment(s).
[K, (2.1) p. 16] Types, Insurer [Kg. 568]
| Continuing Education (CE)
A few words ago when we 1st touched CE in the opening moments, I mentioned NEW Agents needing to complete 24 hours of Continuing Education every two years. When an agent’s been licensed for over 6–years, only 20 hours of CE.
First three CE Compliance Periods = 24-Hours of CE.
4th Compliance Period = 20-Hours of CE.
Are we done yet?
Are we done yet?
NO – Relax, we still have over 25,000 words to go. Luckily, I’ve already jammed a bunch of answers into these 1st 12 pages. In case you were wondering, the DFS doesn’t measure the time you spend taking online & correspondence courses. Classes like this are rated by their word count.
Enough of that. Right now, I want to know more about you. We don’t have many words to allocate so, think of this section like we’re speed dating.
Do you like local news and events?
No way me too! On social media, I follow several different local news pages. Ok… It’s true I follow a few questionable pages also…
Time’s up, date is over.
Seriously though, we can learn from the local Florida news. I like knowing what’s going on. What pain are the locals experiencing? Current events are easy to discuss and way more fun to read than static courses. Did you know last year in Boca Raton, DFS Investigators uncovered nearly 100 million dollars in fraud between just 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 My Florida CFO 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 spark an insurance discussion on-line. ALL Insurance related communications are classified as *Marketing / Advertising. These initial interactions are in essence, the hook to your insurance value proposition.
If, your goal is to spark an insurance conversation, it’s marketing / advertising.
üSocial Media post & stories count.
üTwitter and messaging app communications are regulated.
ALL INSURANCE COMMUNICATIONS ARE REGULATED. Even smoke signals. These days the smoke signals typically just indicate the next riot location. Anyway… Back to these hooks. When we want to buy something, our smartphones do the research.
OK GOOGLE…
[Insert Insurance Question Here]
I use insurance blogs and content to attract prospects like you, all the time. This course is built around current events. The Salti Crime Family story came from the CFO’s “News You Can Use”. Our risk mitigation discussions use the BEST – MOST RELIABLE resources in the industry.
IMAGINE… You’re in the market to buy a new life insurance policy.
- You come across my Linkedin Blog… “10 Things You Should Before Buying a Life Insurance Policy. At the end of my blog, you follow the links to my website, and we connect.
Identifying your future needs impacts the entire family so, we schedule a follow-up for the next day when your significant other is around.
| What’s going through your mind the night before?
Tomorrow we’re making a life decision.
That’s how I see it. If you were my client, I’m sending you DFS Consumer Guides. I want you to feel empowered by state backed information I sent you. These resources have NO ADVERTISEMENTS on them. No google banners trying to redirect you to another agency or insurer. Just facts designed to help you make an informed decision tomorrow.
How would you feel about our upcoming appointment after spending some time looking through the insurance resources hosted by the DFS Division of Consumer Services?
Chances are, you didn’t even know the State of Florida had an army of customer service professionals ready to help answer ANY insurance question or resolve any problem you could be having.
When I walk through your door and begin addressing your concerns in sync with your expectations – Would you feel better about being engaged in our discussion? Hopefully so. If not, lighten up.
My point?
My Florida CFO .com resources are the TOP of the credibility totem pole. I can’t teach you how to sell in this class BUT, if you pay attention, I will give you a glimpse of how to use DFS Resources effectively.
I teach most of our Authorized Florida Pre-Licensing course using the CFO website. WHY… because licensing is pretty much just formal training on how to properly answer Florida’s Most Frequently Asked Insurance Questions.
Consumer guides are the answers to your frequently asked questions. They identify minimum standards and what a successful outcome should look like. If you’d like to improve your online presence and maybe start attracting prospects on-line, email our #iFastSocial Marketing Team at iFastSocial@gmail.com or, just join us on our Web Wednesdays Webinars.
In the next episode, I’ll introduce you to the Florida CFO, Jimmy Patronis.
Before we jump out of 2023 Law Episode 1, I want to make sure you know I didn’t choose any of the topics we’ll discuss in this course. All topics were identified by the Department. If you’re asking yourself WHY 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 your defense in court.
True Story.
Episode 3 ->
<- Click Here
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Jason L. Perez - The Florida Local