Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter

Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU)


Established in 1942, Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) is a professional designation in property-casualty insurance and risk management, and is widely recognized as the premier designation in the insurance industry. The prestigious CPCU designation is held by just over 1% of all those employed in the insurance industry in the United States. The rigorous curriculum requires completion of nine (9) graduate and post graduate level courses covering topics such as insurance law, history, contracts, property insurance, liability insurance, operations, ratemaking, and risk management, as well as business courses in finance, corporate structure, and ethics.

Designees must pass extensive national exams in four (4) core courses, three (3) courses in either a personal or commercial insurance concentration, one (1) elective of their choosing, as well as one (1) ethics course. These exams are standardized, three-hour essay and objective-type exams.

CPCU designees are also bound by a Code of Ethics, and must satisfy experience requirements. The CPCU designation is administered by the American Institute for Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters. Designation holders have formed a professional society, the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) Society. In addition to annual national meetings which serves as a conferment ceremony, the society has over 150 local chapters throughout the country.


Core Courses:
CPCU 500 Foundations of Risk Management and Insurance: Risk Management, Risk Assessment, Risk Control, Risk Financing, Enterprise-Wide Risk Management, Insurance as a Risk Management Technique, Insurance Policy Analysis, and Common Policy Concepts.

CPCU 520 Insurance Operations: Overview Of Insurance Operations, Insurance Regulation, Insurance Marketing and Distribution, The Underwriting Function, Underwriting Property and Liability Insurance, Risk Control and Premium Auditing, The Claim Function, Adjusting Property and liability Claims, Actuarial Operations, and Reinsurance.

CPCU 530 Business Law for Insurance Professionals: U.S. Law, Contract Law, Contract Law: Insurance Applications, Commercial Law, Property Law, Tort Law, Agency Law, Agency Law Insurance Applications, Business Entities and Employment Law, and International Legal Environment.

CPCU 540 Finance and Accounting for Insurance Professionals: Corporate Finance and Accounting, GAAP Financial Statements, GAPP Financial Statement Analysis, Insurer Statutory Accounting, Insurer Statutory Annual Statement Analysis, Cash Flow Valuation, Bonds and Stocks, Insurer Investment Portfolio Management, Insurer Capital Needs and Sources, Capital Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, and The Underwriting Cycle.



Commercial Concentration:
CPCU 551 Commercial Property Risk Management Insurance: Into to Commercial Property Insurance; Building and Personal Property Coverage Form; Causes of Loss Forms; Other Commercial Property Coverage Options; Flood, Earthquake, and Specialty Forms; Business Income Insurance; Inland Marine and Ocean Cargo; Commercial Crime Insurance; Equipment Breakdown; Businessowners Policies; Industry-Specific Policies; and Surety Bonds.

CPCU 552 Commercial Liability Risk Management and Insurance: Commercial General Liability (CGL); Business Auto, Garage and Motor Carrier; Workers Compensation and Employers Liability; Management Liability; Professional Liability; Environmental; Aviation; Excess and Umbrella Liability Insurance; Cyber Risk; and Terrorism.

CPCU 553 Survey of Personal Insurance and Financial Planning: Personal Insurance Overview; Automobile Insurance and Society; Personal Auto Policy: Liability, Medical Payments, and UM Coverage; Personal Auto Policy: Physical Damage; Duties After an Accident; Endorsements; Homeowners Property Coverage; Homeowners Liability Coverage; Homeowners Coverage Forms and Endorsements; Other Residential Insurance; Other Personal Property and Liability Insurance; Life Insurance Planning; Retirement Planning; and Disability and Health Insurance Planning.


Personal Concentration:
CPCU 555 Personal Risk Management and Property-Casualty Insurance: The Personal Auto Insurance Environment; Personal Auto Insurance: Liability, Medical Payments, and Um Coverage; Personal Auto Insurance: Physical Damage and Endorsements; Homeowners Property Coverage; Homeowners Property Coverage: Perils, Exclusions, and conditions; Homeowners Liability Coverage; Other Homeowners Coverage Forms and Endorsements; Other Residential Insurance Coverages; Watercraft, Rvs, Mobile Homes, and Excess Liability; Personal Lines Profitability and Pricing; and Personal Lines Portfolio Management.

CPCU 556 Financial Planning: Introduction to Personal Financial Planning, Life Insurance, Annuities, Disability and Health insurance Planning, Postsecondary Education Funding, Retirement Planning, Retirement Funding, Estate Planning, Investment Basics, and Income Tax Planning

CPCU 557 Survey of Commercial Insurance: Commercial Property, Business Income, Commercial Crime, Equipment Breakdown, Inland and Ocean Marine, Commercial General Liability, Commercial Auto, Businessowners, Farm, Workers Compensation and Employers Liability, Miscellaneous Coverages.


Elective Courses
AAI 83 Agency Operations and Sales Management
AIC 34 Workers Compensation
AIC 35 Property Loss Adjusting
AIC 36 Liability Claim Practices
ARe 144 Reinsurance Principles and Practices
ARM 56 Risk Financing
AU 67 Strategic Underwriting Techniques
CPCU 560 Financial Services Institutions
ERM 57 Enterprise-Wide Risk Management: Developing and Implementing


American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters

CPCU Society

Famous quotes containing the words chartered and/or property:

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    The air, a chartered libertine, is still.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    No man is by nature the property of another. The defendant is, therefore, by nature free.
    Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)