NOTE: The Institutes no longer offers the CPCU 410 course/exam.

If you’re wondering what the CPCU 410 course is about, you’ve come to the right place! Read on to find out what topics it covers and how it compares to the traditional core CPCU classes that it replaces.

What is in this post

• About CPCU 410
  • What is the CPCU 410?
  • What topics were covered in CPCU 410?

What is CPCU 410?

CPCU 410: Speaking the Insurance Language is a course that used to be required for the ARM to CPCU path. The Institutes has since retired this course and no longer offer this course/exam.

What topics were covered in CPCU 410?

CPCU 410 was basically a selection of topics from CPCU 520, CPCU 530, and CPCU 540. We previously did a side-by-side comparison with the old version of the core classes, and the 410 content was almost identical to the content for the same corresponding chapters in the old versions of the core courses, word for word. Here is a more specific list of the topics covered:

From CPCU 520 (insurance operations):

• Overview of insurance companies
  • Main goals of insurance companies
  • Ways to classify insurance companies
  • How to measure an insurer’s performance
  • Functional view of insurance (brief overview of each department)
  • Technology & insurance operations
• Underwriting process
• Claim handling process
• Actuarial functions
• Risk control functions
• Premium auditing process
• Reinsurance functions

From CPCU 530 (business law):

• Contract law
• Sales contracts
• Consumer laws
• Personal property law
• Real property law
• Defenses against negligence
• Intentional torts
• Product liability
• Data-related laws
• Tort concepts
• Producer law
• Employment-related laws

From CPCU 540 (finance and accounting):

• GAAP balance sheet
• GAAP income statement
• GAAP analyses
• Time value of money
• Financial markets & intermediaries
• Types of financial risk
• Bonds
• Stocks

Is CPCU 410 easier than the traditional core CPCU classes?

In some ways, CPCU 410 is slightly easier than the core classes that it was based off. However, it still has it’s own unique challenges and it certainly isn’t an “easy” course.

• CPCU 520: For most students, the hardest parts from CPCU 520 are the technical content from the actuarial chapter and the reinsurance chapter. However, none of the difficult content is included in CPCU 410. In that sense, the 520-related content from CPCU 410 is definitely on the easier side.
• CPCU 530: The biggest challenge with CPCU 530 is the sheer amount of content. CPCU 410 only covers a small fraction of that, so in that sense, CPCU 410 is “easier.”
• CPCU 540: CPCU 540 has accounting content and finance content, which are both challenging for different reasons. The accounting content involves a lot of formulas and requires you use to use critical thinking to interpret financial statements. The finance content includes a bunch of technical theories that aren’t easy to understand. CPCU 410 does not include the super technical finance-related stuff, so in that sense, it’s “easier.” However, you still have to learn all the accounting formulas and how to apply them to financial statements, so you can’t avoid the math just by taking CPCU 410.
• Overall: Because CPCU 410 does not have a single underlying theme (like business operations for 520, law for 530, and finance for 540), it can feel really all-over-the-place. Also, you won’t have the the benefit of having later chapters building on or reiterating what you already learned in earlier chapters. Normally, that would give you important context and allow you make connections between various concepts within the course. The fact that you can’t do this as well in CPCU 410 might make it harder for some students to remember the details compared to if they had those opportunities.