CISR Personal Residential

Three formats: self-paced online instruction, live instructor-led webinars delivered over two to four weeks, and one-day in-person classroom sessions. Each course consists of 7 hours of classroom instruction. Online courses work on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, and self-paced enrollments allow a 60-day completion period. All formats are taught by active insurance practitioners.

The proctored final exam is 1 hour in every format, and passing it is required to earn designation credit for the course. The Alliance does not publish a passing score on its CISR pages, so confirm the current passing standard with the Alliance rather than relying on a number you have heard secondhand.

Five of the nine CISR courses, including the examination that follows each one. You have three calendar years following the year in which you passed your first exam to finish all five. Insuring Personal Residential Property is one of the nine, so it can count toward your five.

CISR is an intermediate-level program, and the Alliance states that participants should have a working knowledge of the applicable policies covered in the courses. Someone with no homeowners background should study the policy forms before class. Experienced personal lines CSRs typically find the material manageable but detailed on liability and policy conditions.

The Alliance's CISR pages do not publish a retake policy, fee, or waiting period. Contact the Alliance directly at 800-633-2165 before you register so you know the rules that apply to your enrollment. Do not assume a free or immediate retake.

The Alliance recommends taking Other Personal Lines Solutions after both Insuring Personal Residential Property and Insuring Personal Auto Exposures, because that course builds on the homeowners and auto policy foundations. Within the designation, the five courses can otherwise be taken in whatever order fits your calendar and CE needs.

The published course topics are personal residential concepts, homeowners policy property coverages, and homeowners policy liability coverages and policy conditions. Expect questions that require you to identify a client exposure and then explain which coverage responds, which is excluded, and what endorsement or additional coverage would close the gap.

Two patterns: memorizing coverage limits without being able to apply exclusions to a scenario, and confusing property coverages with liability coverages and conditions. The course is explicitly aimed at reducing errors and omissions claims, so practice explaining limitations and coverage gaps in plain client language, not just reciting form numbers.

State CE credit is approved in all states for CISR courses. Specific credit amounts vary by state, so check the Alliance CE Guide for your state before registering. Passing the course exam also earns designation credit toward the CISR, and later toward CISR Elite if you complete the remaining four courses.

Designees must complete an annual update program, choosing from qualifying courses such as 7-hour CISR, CSRM, or William T. Hold courses, certain CIC, CRM, or CPRM courses, or Ruble, MEGA, and Dynamics seminars, some of which require dues. Confirm current qualifying options with the Alliance each year.