Insurance Mentorship Program Checklist

Write distinct objectives for each track the cohort will run — typically producer (quote-to-bind, retention), underwriter (appetite, hazard-grade judgment, referral discipline), and claims (FNOL intake, reserve setting, ROR drafting). One blended track is the most common reason mentees disengage.

Tie each track to a recognized designation path — CPCU, AINS, AU, AIC, or CIC through The Institutes or The National Alliance. Mentees who can credit program time toward a designation stay engaged longer than those getting generic coaching.

Pair mentors and mentees with overlapping P&C, L&H, or surplus-lines authority — a personal-lines mentor cannot meaningfully shadow a mentee's commercial submissions. Document minimum book size, years of experience, and state-licensing overlap for each pairing.

State explicitly that mentees may shadow but not bind outside their own granted authority, and that any quote sent under a mentor's name remains the mentor's E&O exposure. Reference each appointed carrier's binding-authority letter — agencies with multiple carriers commonly have different limits per appetite.

A six-month program that ends two weeks before a CE deadline lets mentees credit program coursework toward their state CE hours. Check each participant's biennium end date in NIPR before locking dates.

Open recruitment with the agency principal or claims manager, not HR — visible sponsorship from a producer of record or a senior examiner produces a higher application rate than a generic L&D email.

Capture each applicant's track preference, current NPN, resident-state license, lines of authority, designation progress, and book or claim caseload.

Look up each mentor on the NIPR PDB by NPN — confirm the resident license is active, non-resident appointments cover any state where the mentee operates, and CE hours for the current biennium are on track. A mentor with a lapsed CE is unlicensed and cannot supervise quoting or binding.

If the NIPR check returns a CE shortfall, expired non-resident appointment, or a state action, pull the mentor from the cohort and source a replacement. Do not let the mentor self-cure CE during the program — the gap creates unauthorized-transaction exposure for any quote shadowed in the meantime.

Use a 20-minute structured interview keyed to the track competencies — submission triage for producers, appetite-fit reasoning for underwriters, reserve adequacy and ROR judgment for claims. Cross-track pairings rarely work; reassign mismatched applicants now rather than at midpoint.

Cover the scope of mentee shadowing vs. mentor responsibility, the carrier-specific binding authority limits, OFAC screening at quote and at claim payment, and the agency's recorded-statement consent policy. Agencies have lost E&O claims because a mentee took a recorded statement without disclosure under a two-party-consent state.

Include current appetite letters from each appointed carrier, the binding-authority matrix, ACORD form crosswalk (125, 130, 140, 25), and the agency's submission-quality standards. Update the handbook each cycle — appetite drift is the single most common mentee submission rejection.

For producer track, shadow a live commercial submission through Applied Epic or AMS360 — clearance, app completion, rater run, carrier submission, indication vs. firm quote, bind, and COI issuance. For claims track, shadow an FNOL through Guidewire ClaimCenter or the TPA portal: coverage analysis, reserve setting, ROR drafting if needed.

Provision a sandbox in the AMS so mentees can practice ACORD 125/130/140 completion without touching live policies. Auto-populated fields drift over multiple renewal cycles — running a sandbox renewal exposes the auto-population pitfalls without an actual filing risk.

Match the carrier's reserve cadence — typically 30/60/90 days on open claims — and add a parallel mentee review where the mentor walks the reasoning. Reserve drift is a frequent market-conduct exam finding and a useful teaching surface.

Thirty minutes, biweekly, with a standing agenda — submissions or claims worked since last check-in, blockers, designation coursework progress, one specific feedback item from each side. Programs that drop to monthly typically fail at month three.

Score each pair against the track competencies set in design — producer hit ratio and quote quality, underwriter referral discipline, claims reserve accuracy and cycle time. Flag pairs at risk now; remediation at month five rarely recovers the program.

Diagnose the cause before changing the pair — most at-risk pairs are a calendar problem, not a chemistry problem. If chemistry is the issue, reassign rather than terminate; mentees who get pulled tend not to re-enroll.

Pull each participant's CE transcript from NIPR or the state DOI portal. If program coursework is being credited, confirm the provider filed the hours under each participant's NPN — provider filing lag of 30+ days is common.

Capture cohort-level metrics — quote-to-bind change for producers, referral rate for underwriters, cycle-time and reserve-accuracy change for claims — alongside qualitative feedback. Archive with the L&D file under the agency's standard retention schedule (5–7 years for most states; longer if the cohort touched WC files).