Insurance Journal Forums

Hello,

I've been researching getting my CPCU for a couple months now and think I am ready to commit, looking for some opinions. I'm 23, 1 year personal lines experience, and 2 years commercial underwriting experience. I don't make that much right now, I do okay and am just debating whether or not I should put $265 into getting the materials, should I look at it as an investment? I want to move ahead and make insurance my career and feel this would be the best way to do it.

Any opinions?

CPCU is one of the most respected designations in the P&C businesss. If you think you can commit to study the materials and pass the tests, then I would recommend it. I'm sure it will help you greatly in the long run.

How much does it normally cost? Can you usually do it at a self-pace?

1. When you are a CPCU the insurance world knows you are dedicated to the biz.

2. To make real money you have to deal with sophisticated clients - they will appreciate what a CPCU means.

3. You probably need continuing ed anyway. Make it pay dividends.

4. Whatever you spend is reimbursed by most employers - if not, or you are self employed, it is still a business exp to you - you are spending 75 cent dollars.

5. You are only as smart as the last book you read or the last class you took.

Thank you for the replies. I've gone ahead and ordered the materials for the 510 exam. I have a question for those that have completed all the exams; what method of studying do you think works best for CPCU? Taking lots of notes, reading the book a couple times, going over the practice exams over and over, etc.

Unless you have an accounting background, I would recommend the class for at least that section. If you are a self starter and can commit to 30 nights and all weekends studying, prior to the exam, self study will work. I took only the accounting class. It is a lot of material to digest, but if you can answer the study questions in the workbook, you will be successful. The only folks I know that questioned the value of the program, are the ones who took one course and flunked the exam because of lack of preparation. Good luck.

The Burnham System worked wonders for me. Helped me get through the courses in about 18 months. I don't suggest you try to rush through the material at that speed, however, that is what worked best for me.

After the 510, I would suggest going after the 551, 552, & 553 to build some momentum. I found the 530 to be the most difficult of all the exams.

Do you think 530 was more difficult than 520, the accounting book? Most people I've heard have said 520 is most difficult? Perhaps they are close?

In answering the questions for the test, if an answer asks "describe", how many sentences is necessary to complete the question? Sometimes two sentences would describe it, but is this sufficient?

I will order them in order of difficulty - most to least (in my opinion)

1. Commercial Property
2. 540
3. Commercial Liability
4. 530
5. 510
6. Personal Lines Survey
7. 520
8. 560

The 520 I found to be fairly easy...same w/ the financial exams (finance background). I felt the 530 - Insurance Law, contained the most material of all the exams. Probably just barely made it over the 70 pt threshold!

Regardless, if you should have questions or concerns with any of the material feel free to make a post. I'm glad I finally found the forum link to this wonderful website!

syoung718 wrote:The 520 I found to be fairly easy...same w/ the financial exams (finance background). I felt the 530 - Insurance Law, contained the most material of all the exams. Probably just barely made it over the 70 pt threshold!

Regardless, if you should have questions or concerns with any of the material feel free to make a post. I'm glad I finally found the forum link to this wonderful website!

I'm hoping 520 would be easier than 510. I'm still 5 weeks into my studies for 510 and find it quite challenging. It's slowly starting to sink in and don't know if I plan to take the test on the 17th.

As for 520, I have taken a 4-unit classes of Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting in the last 9 months, so I'm hoping I will see some overlap. I did take Financial Management, and not sure how I squeaked out an A. lol

Joe

Hello. I am currently looking to take the CPCU 530 Business Law Exam and was wondering if anyone knows of an AUDIO book/ study guide which I can use to study? I would be very much grateful if anyone has any suggestions. Thank you!

these tests are not difficult if you study, I feel they are 300 level work at best. Take 2 or 3 at time and get it out of the way

Thinking of taking CPCU: what is the recommended order of difficulty from least to most?

Popeye, read the previous posts in this thread for an answer to your question.

popeye wrote:Thinking of taking CPCU: what is the recommended order of difficulty from least to most?

The difficulty of the CPCU 500 is based on your general knowledge of the insurance industry. If you've been in the industry for a while and have experience with risk management, you should have no problem. The hardest part about this first exam is the type of CPCU 500 questions that will be asked

If I had to rate the exams in terms of easiest to most difficult, I would rank:

• ARM 56 (The elective I chose, was easy compared to CPCU exams)
• CPCU 520 (Easiest only because I was used to the CPCU exams after taking the 500)
• CPCU 500 (A little challenging because I was not used to the CPCU format)
• CPCU 556 (Easy because I studied finance in college, but LOTS of questions about minor taxation details)
• CPCU 540 (Studied finance in college so wasn't too hard for me, but LOTS of formula based questions)
• CPCU 530 (Difficult because I had no knowledge of the legal environment)
• CPCU 555 (Very tough, lots of questions about minor details that I was not expecting such as questions about specific endorsements)
• CPCU 557 (Tough because it was about commercial insurance so I did not have prior knowledge)