Two out of three firms are expected to increase CPD training this year

Insurance professionals completed nearly double the minimum CPD training last year as employers increased budgets by 29%

Premium Credit provides free CPD accredited sales and customer service training for brokers

New research(1) from Premium Credit, the UK's leading premium finance company, shows that two out of three broker firms plan to increase training for staff this year even though they are already exceeding the minimum required by regulators.

Its study among insurance professionals found 65% expect a rise in training this year with 26% expecting the amount of training to increase significantly. 58% expect a rise in Continued Professional Development (CPD) training specifically for premium finance over the next two years.

The expected increase comes even though firms are already investing heavily in training - average budgets for training increased by around 29% last year partly in responses to the Financial Conduct Authority making CPD training a regulatory requirement in 2018 for all insurance professionals with a minimum requirement of 15 hours a year.

In fact, the Premium Credit survey found on average insurance professionals spent 29 hours last year training under the new CPD regulation, doing almost double the legally required amount.

Premium Credit's own free training delivered by its Capability team has supported more than 850 insurance partners across the UK since the team's inception in 2016. They have delivered almost 2000 training sessions to over 10.5 thousand delegates. Partners saw improvements in the administration of credit agreements, reduced queries to our call centre and e-business support teams and an average 7% increase in insurance premiums financed following training.

The research found that insurance professionals spent the most time studying the laws governing insurance distribution (18.6%). This is closely followed by the topics of the insurance market and accessing customer needs, both taking 16% of average training time.

Premium Credit have recently added to their CPD accredited curriculum with a course entitled 'Delivering Customer Excellence' in recognition of the importance of the customer experience to long-term customer value. The course covers essentials from dealing with difficult situations and complaints, altering your style for the best outcome and how to 'wow' your customer.

Adam Morghem, Premium Credit's Strategy and Marketing Director said: "It is impressive that companies are doing more than double the minimum training requirements, and plan to invest further this year to develop their people. There are also tangible commercial benefits to ba had too.

"The cost of this investment can be subsidised by firms taking advantage of accredited free training. Our own CPD accreditation underlines our ongoing commitment to supporting our partners and continues to receive excellent feedback from brokers."

The rise in interest in premium finance training is partly driven by a rise in credit being used for insurance and the requirement to offer finance compliantly to all customers. Around 45% of brokers say clients increasingly want to use credit to pay for insurance and 30% say premium finance will play an increasingly important role in securing sales.

Premium Credit is the market leader in the UK and Ireland and the only premium finance provider accredited by BIBA.