A specific membership designation for health insurance and protection intermediaries, ‘Cert CII (Health and Protection)' has been announced by the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (AMII) and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
The new designation provides a grounding in the basic principles of insurance, including the legal and regulatory environment, and develops understanding of the health and protection market.
Successful candidates who are members of the CII can use the ‘Cert CII (Health and Protection)' designation upon completion, signifying specialist knowledge and commitment to professional development to employers, colleagues and consumers.
To qualify for the new designation, candidates must pass a mandatory unit, ‘Insurance, legal and regulatory' (IF1), plus a minimum of two optional units from ‘Healthcare insurance products (IF7), Private medical insurance (790), Financial protection (R05), and Group Risk (GR1).
Brian Walters from AMII said: "IF7 has been very well received by our membership and the full certificate is the next step for those wishing to gain a recognised qualification.
"To have a sector-specific designation from the CII is a milestone for our industry. We anticipate that this new qualification will help to raise already-high standards and reinforce our core message that private medical insurance is a complex product best purchased with specialist advice."
Steve Jenkins, director, financial services markets at the CII added: "We worked with leading practitioners from the PMI industry to develop the exam and its coursework and the feedback from the market to the exam was extremely positive.
"The development of a specific membership designation was the next natural step.
"A membership designation is an important way to communicate to consumers and individual's technical expertise and a commitment to an established professional body's code of ethics.
"We'd encourage members to explain to their customers the value and expertise that professional qualifications and titles such as Cert CII (Health and Protection) represent."
Group Risk Development (GRiD), the group sector promotional body was involved in the development of GR1 in 2008 - a unit which is an option in one of the pathways to the designation.
Grid declared its support of the units inclusion, recommending advisers take the option.
A spokesperson said: "The new Cert CII (Health & Protection) designation gives health and protection practitioners the option to progress further to achieve a sector-specific full CII certificate qualification which demonstrates specialist knowledge and a commitment to professional development.
"We are delighted that GR1 has been included in this designation route."
