About Property & Liability Resource Bureau Educational Services

Educational Services

PLRB Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo

The Property & Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo is the largest property and liability claims educational event in the industry. It is an intensive three and a half days of 90-minute concept sessions and technical clinics, half-day workshops and seminars, exhibits, and other training and networking events allowing experienced claims personnel to study, analyze, and debate hypothetical claims situations, theories, and practices with their peers, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals. Over 110 topics, 30 of which deal with liability/casualty subjects, are currently offered. Those with multi-line responsibilities can choose to attend any combination of property and liability sessions. Most sessions qualify for Continuing Education Units from those states with CEU requirements for insurer staff adjuster licensing. The materials from all Conference sessions are available on line to all PLRB member and affiliate employees and meeting attendees within weeks of the meeting. Registration is free, of course, to all member insurer staff, and Affiliate Member employees receive discounted pricing.

Regional Adjusters, Large Loss, and "Hot Topic" Conferences

PLRB runs Eastern, Central, and Western Regional meetings each year, with each drawing about 600 attendees. Each attendee can attend eight 90-minute breakout sessions dealing with 28 topics relating to core property and liability claims adjusting skills. Each attendee also receives electronic access to the materials from all 28 topic sessions for reference or further education back at the office. Those not able to attend can still benefit from the meeting handouts by accessing them on line.

The Property & Liability Resource Bureau annual Large Loss Conference focuses on $100,000+ claims in three tracks: commercial lines property claims; personal lines property claims; and casualty claims. It features new and emerging strategies, technologies, and services that adjusters and experts can use to more effectively manage and control large, complex property and casualty claims. It is characterized by adjuster-led presentations, with extensive audience participation, and the opportunity to learn together with many of the industry's finest performers. The Large Loss Conference is for Large Loss Supervisors and Managers, GAs, EGAs, Complex Case Managers, those who aspire to this level of claim handling, and service providers who work with these types of claims.

As members' training and educational needs develop, PLRB responds flexibly. For example, during 2001 - 2003, The Property & Liability Resource Bureau ran such programs dealing with mold and terrorism issues. A construction defect litigation symposium was conducted in 2004. In cooperation with the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), PLRB conducts live or Web-based "Critical Issues" seminars dealing with the most important claims legal issues of the day.

And, again, registration for these meetings is free for all member insurer staff and Affiliate Member employees receive discounted pricing.

Distance Learning Modules

The Property & Liability Resource Bureau provides an ever-growing growing inventory of self-study distance learning modules. These modules vary in type from those which can be completed in just a few minutes, to those which present more in-depth material lasting an hour or so, to those offering multiple hours of adjuster Continuing Education (CE) and mandatory attorney Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit.

Our most recent modules, which are all CE/CLE-accredited modules, consist of audio-visual materials prepared by PLRB staff, by the industry's leading claims service providers, or which originate "Live From the Claims Conference," capturing the experience of attending our property and liability Claims Conference sessions. The "Live from the Claims Conference" modules come complete with handouts, PowerPoint presentations, audience questions and interaction, and have full-motion audio/video streaming and captioning.

Our CE/CLE-accredited modules provide self-paced learning from any Web-enabled workstation or PC. Test results are tracked by PLRB and can also be tracked by individual members. Certificates of completion can be printed out and the PLRB has automated much of the process of applying for and receiving CE credits for those modules which are CE-approved. A list of the topics offered, with links to the course descriptions, CE-approvals, and the courses themselves, can be viewed here.

Our current production schedule of The Property & Liability Resource Bureau CE/CLE-accredited modules calls for us to release new modules totaling at least 16 hours of credit each year. Thus, adjusters and attorneys can satisfy their CE/CLE license-maintenance requirements entirely through completion of such modules--all without any travel, registration, or CE-credit expense.

Webinars

PLRB presents a continuing series of monthly webinars. These webinars have three purposes:

  • PLRB Services Training : PLRB staff offers insurer staff training in how to take maximum advantage of all that PLRB offers them in Web resources. These webinars focus on either our property coverage resources, our liability coverage resources, or our catastrophe services.
  • Hot Topics : Expert presenters deal with emerging issues in either the liability or property coverage or adjustment areas.
  • Fine-Tuned Adjuster Series : "Soft subjects" such as customer service, productivity, and management are dealt with in these webinars. While not offering CE credit due to state restrictions, these lunchtime presentations have proved vastly popular with our members staffs, with many garnering 800 to 1,000 participants.