Description

The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), homeowners (HO) forms have only undergone two revisions since 1991; however, those revisions have been significant with regard to bringing the forms in line with the risks that today’s homeowners face. Many companies have adopted the ISO forms but file amendatory endorsements for the states they write in to conform with both state regulation and changing risk appetites. This is especially relevant to states with coastal exposures.

Today, catastrophe exposure has reared its ugly head in almost every state. In the past, coastal exposure, especially hurricanes, mostly defined catastrophe. The new face of catastrophe risk includes not only hurricanes but also winter storms, wildfires, tornado and hail activity, earthquakes, and other large loss situations. 

Water losses have also had a hand in shaping changes within the industry. In many marketplaces, water losses comprise more than 60 percent of all homeowners policy losses. 

As a result of these changes, agent errors and omissions (E&O) claims have been rising as they relate to technical coverage issues. However, the opportunity to capitalize on the sales potential that extra knowledge brings is equally important.

Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to take a deep dive into the ISO homeowners forms to see how coverage applies for home owners in today’s marketplace. We’ll look at the importance of eligibility requirements and proper wording of the named insured, as well as valuation and knowing how the policy responds to loss in differing situations. We will also look at alternative policy language and how it is used to modify coverage to fit the insurers’ varying risk appetites.

Upon conclusion of this course, you should:

• understand HO forms, the eligibility requirements, and how to name the insured on the declarations page of the policy properly;
• understand and apply key definitions within the policy that can affect coverage and how the policy may respond;
• understand the difference between covered property and property not covered, the perils for which property is insured, how exclusions apply to shape coverage, and the key conditions that need to be complied with after a loss; and
• be able to explain coverages under Section II of the policy and how exclusions and conditions work together to provide or exclude coverage.

Course #220504 | 3 OGI | Instructor: Vince Sorgi