Who Has Done Their CII/DIP CII/ACII?

dranzer01

starrystarry wrote: »

Yeah I'm a life & disability underwriter and quite a few of my colleagues don't have any CII qualifications. It's their experience that counts, though the qualifications definitely help. It's not easy to get your foot in the door without any experience though, unless a trainee role comes up.

how long have you been an underwriter? are you based in the city? how much experience do you have/what kind/type?

starrystarry

dranzer01 wrote: »

how long have you been an underwriter? are you based in the city? how much experience do you have/what kind/type?

I've been underwriting for eight years. I started out working for one of the big life insurers, did various different jobs including a stint in the call centre, some training and general admin work. Then some internal vacancies came up for trainee underwriters so that's how I got into it.

I already had my FPC & AFPC (the older style CII qualifications) before I became an underwriter, then I did three more CII exams and also got the AMUS Diploma in Life Underwriting.

I moved on to a different company about 18 months ago, they're based in the south east but I work from home in the north west. I underwrite life, critical illness and disability cover.

FlameCloud

I've got my ACII- as well as ACILA. In my field, the ACII is nice, but not really necessary if your have the other. ACILA however is normally worth a 15k pay rise if you are smart enough.

InsideInsurance

The preferences vary over time about the balance between experience and qualifications but the same goes with any technical job.

I'm not old enough to have been around as long as some of the chaps I've worked with but remember one of them going on about working for one syndicate at the time when they decided to make the ACII mandatory for all (lead) underwriters which caused major problems as most of them didnt have qualifications, but of cause he did.

I'm not an underwriter but have done my CII exams which does make me a little bit of a curiosity but it was over a decade ago now so may well be very different to how it was in my day. I know more recent exams I took like Prince2 have since changed and now are multiple choice.

I know a few underwriters that have gotten there via exams and coming in as junior underwriters but most, particularly more recently, have been people working elsewhere within the organisation thats then moved across into underwriting - normally they've been doing some form of technical support like cat modelling

smifffy1989

Cert CII is easy I did it in about 3 months

I am doing the Dip CII & ACII currently, I found the law module (PO5) difficult and I would say it is only for the committed as coming home every evening and studying is not fun.

I would say get your CII then get an employer who will financially support you. My bill so far is probably close to £3,500 as I have undertaken some coursework modules.

starrystarry

smifffy1989 wrote: »

Cert CII is easy I did it in about 3 months

I am doing the Dip CII & ACII currently, I found the law module (PO5) difficult and I would say it is only for the committed as coming home every evening and studying is not fun.

I would say get your CII then get an employer who will financially support you. My bill so far is probably close to £3,500 as I have undertaken some coursework modules.

PO5 was horrid. It was one of the compulsory units for my underwriting diploma. I can honestly say, of the ten CII exams I've done that was by far the most tedious.

ACG

I have done RO1, RO5 and CF6 - all were multiple choice.

InsideInsurance

starrystarry wrote: »

PO5 was horrid. It was one of the compulsory units for my underwriting diploma. I can honestly say, of the ten CII exams I've done that was by far the most tedious.

I remember having to do a compulsory law module, cannot remember the code for it, and thought it was ok. Did do it in my days of defending 3rd party claims and so possibly it was a bit more relevant to my day job which made it more bearable

dranzer01

thanks

i received an email from cii and they said i need 40 credits to become cert cii.

lm 1 is 10 credits

lm 2 is 15 credits


she then said IF1 is 'compulsory' i think which is 15 credits to my knowledge.

Trillain

If you do LM1it is equivilant to IF1, so you are not allowed to sit both. I did both LM1 and LM2 and am sitting IF2 next week to complete my Cert CII.