SNC Spotlight

Insurance can be complex. Turn to our blog for up-to-date, relevant content to help you make the best decisions for your financial institution. With expert knowledge from seasoned industry professionals, we simplify insurance topics so you can get back to business.
All Posts

How to Explain CPI to a Borrower, Part 1: Equipping Your Staff

At State National, we recognize that collateral protection insurance (CPI) is not a term every borrower knows. Here, CPI expert and Sr. Client Executive Kathy St. Clair shares her insights on how to educate borrowers about CPI and what to say if a borrower has questions about a CPI certificate placed on their loan. If you do not know what CPI is, we recommend first reading What Is Collateral Protection Insurance (CPI)?


Topics Covered in This Article


Your Client Executive Is Your Expert Navigator When it Comes to CPI

NewsImage-FileneAs a long-time client service provider for State National, I know that borrower satisfaction is vitally important to you, and to us. My mission in sharing this blog post is to help further inform you and your staff about how and when we recommend talking about CPI with your borrowers.

When you communicate with State National, you are likely doing so through your Client Executive. You can think of us as your expert navigator, teammate, and guide for all of your collateral protection insurance program needs. Your Client Executive is always available to help you understand what your financial institution needs to do to ensure a successful CPI program.

We understand that specific protocols will differ depending on your unique business needs, because no two financial institutions are the same. Your Client Executive is there to consult and collaborate with you as a partner. So while my explanation in this blog post can provide general tactics and strategies to strengthen your staff’s knowledge, the best methods to maximize your program benefits will come from working closely with your Client Executive and reporting any questions or concerns. Chances are, we already have a solution in our toolkit!

Be Proactive and Let Your Borrower Know About CPI When They Sign Up for a Loan.

When you communicate with your borrowers, it is best to be upfront, transparent, and informative. Some surprises can be great, but not all surprises are welcome! We always try to share with any staff members who work with loans how important it is to make borrowers fully aware that they are required to have insurance — and that they will see notices from you if they do not.

By accepting a car loan, a borrower acknowledges that they will provide full-coverage insurance on the vehicle. Because of that, they need to ensure their insurance policy always remains active and up to date, and their agent or insurance company needs to list you as the lienholder. If that process works smoothly, they should never see any notifications regarding insurance.

Your staff should also let borrowers know that if they receive a notice there are several ways to quickly and easily show proof of insurance. They should stress that notices regarding an insurance coverage lapse should never be ignored, but should be read immediately as they will give the borrower instructions on how to update their insurance to avoid having a certificate placed on their loan.

Don’t Know How to Answer a Borrower's CPI-Related Question? We Have You Covered.

SN_CARS-LP_withoutSN

Many of our partners have a hot button on their work phones. This button transfers a borrower’s call directly to our insurance verification department using your own custom 1-800 number that allows us to answer the call using your financial institution's name. You, or any member of your team who receives a CPI call, can let the borrower know they are being transferred to the insurance department for your CPI program. As an additional option, you can add a MyLoanInsurance link on your webpage so staff can direct borrowers to provide proof of insurance online.

We want to take as much of the program administration off of you and your teammates as possible. If your team does not currently have a hot button that directs to our contact center or needs assistance with the MyLoanInsurance link, please let your Client Executive know.

Your 24/7 Loan Insurance Status Assistant — InsurTrak!

InsurTrak is the industry's only system built from scratch specifically for CPI. It is your real-time source of truth for insurance tracking, claims, and reporting, resulting in maximum ease, speed, and transparency. Your loan portfolio data is at your fingertips, accessible instantly, all in one place. Plus, your staff can access useful videos with quick and helpful tips in the InsurTrak Knowledge Center.

InsurTrak-PoweredBySN_BlackGreen

We assign InsurTrak access to as many individual users as needed at your financial institution. This powerful, one-of-a-kind tool is your transparent and bird's-eye view into everything going on with your CPI program.

With InsurTrak, you can quickly view a borrower's loan status and look at the transaction history to better understand why they are receiving notices or why a certificate placement has occurred. If InsurTrak shows that it is because of cancellation on their current insurance, you can ask the borrower if they still have insurance with that carrier or if they have changed.

If the borrower has insurance, we need a copy of their current policy. You can let your borrower know that after they provide that proof, the notices they are receiving will stop. And if a certificate has been placed on their loan, they will receive a CPI refund once they provide valid insurance information.

 

How do you answer specific questions a borrower may ask? In Part 2 of the SNC Spotlight series How to Explain Collateral Protection Insurance to a Borrower, we look at simple answers to common questions you and your staff may encounter regarding CPI.

 

Kathy St. Clair
Kathy St. Clair
Kathy St. Clair is an experienced Senior Client Executive with 36 years of insurance industry experience. She is skilled in property & casualty insurance, banking, coaching, sales, and customer relationship management (CRM). Kathy has been with State National for over 14 years and is a champion to the partners she serves.

Related Posts

Your Partner in Protection: Compliance Without Compromise

Compliance You Can Trust, Transparency You Can See Balancing risk management and regulatory compliance while maintaining strong borrower relationships is no easy task. At State National, we understand the weight of this responsibility. Protecting your financial institution, your borrowers, and your reputation is at the core of our work. That’s why our mission is to deliver industry-leading portfolio protection solutions anchored by innovative technology, unmatched transparency, and steadfast reliability. How State National Ensures CPI Compliance At State National, compliance isn’t just a priority, it’s built into everything we do. We know lenders face mounting challenges, including economic uncertainty and heightened regulatory scrutiny. That’s why we’ve developed a comprehensive approach that goes far beyond checklists; it’s about operating with integrity and ensuring our programs exceed regulatory and operational expectations. Industry Expertise You Can Rely On Regulatory Expertise: Our skilled team actively monitors federal and state-level mandates to ensure your program remains compliant. Whether it’s evolving regulations or precise documentation requirements, we’ve got you covered. In-House Compliance Department: Our on-site team employs strict, measurable quality control processes. Proactive Adherence: This same dedicated team manages over 50,000 regulatory filings annually, helping you stay ahead of federal and state mandates, including guidance on NCUA, CFPB, and other key industry regulations. Comprehensive Audits: Our meticulous audits and legal reviews ensure your institution is prepared not just for current regulations but also for future challenges. Proven Reliability: State National achieved the prestigious 'A' (Excellent) rating from AM Best the very first year we were eligible, and we have held that rating for 30+ consecutive years — a testament to our exceptional financial strength and dependability. Future-Forward Research: We actively collaborate with industry organizations and regulatory bodies to anticipate and adapt to upcoming compliance changes, ensuring you and your organization are always ahead of the curve. Comprehensive Risk Management Our industry-best risk management services go above and beyond to protect your institution, ensuring compliance every step of the way. From data security to borrower communication, we incorporate rigorous measures, including bulletproof audit trails and prevention-focused processes, to safeguard against potential missteps. Accurate, prevention-first approach reduces unnecessary borrower touches. Focused portfolio protection expertise with decades of specialized experience. Complete audit trails for ongoing compliance visibility. Proper licensing for all State National claims adjusters to ensure claims are always handled in accordance with required regulations. Ongoing annual training for all relevant employees on the proper handling of PII, Fair Claims Handling, best practices for data security and controls — phishing, quishing, physical security both in and out of office, and more. Borrower submission of insurance information directly to us minimizes the risk of lost documentation. As the only dedicated portfolio protection provider that is also the underwriter, we don't act as a broker like other providers do — we are able to streamline communication and eliminate unnecessary handoffs and information sharing. Taking the Extra Step at Every Step Because every state department of insurance operates differently, we've also gone above and beyond to meet each state's unique regulatory standards. We create state-specific notices tailored to these requirements, and also carefully develop all of our borrower notice cycles to align with each state's precise notification guidelines. Advanced Technology Tools for Simplified Compliance Solutions Staying compliant in a rapidly changing financial environment requires advanced tools and forward-thinking innovation. That’s why State National integrates advanced technology into every facet of portfolio protection, designed to simplify compliance while improving efficiency and control. Our proactive approach ensures that the vast majority of insurance updates — about 79% — are handled completely behind the scenes, with no lender or borrower involvement. We employ extensive automation to maximize accuracy and efficiency, including our well-established EDI process, cutting-edge AI tools including insurance search and verification technology, Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), automated text and email notifications, and more. What Does Technology Have To Do With Compliance? Because of the unprecedented speed and accuracy of these automation efficiencies, our fast, effective, low-touch resolution reduces the risk of uninsured borrowers while enhancing operational precision. With 97.5% of borrower insurance issues completely resolved prior to any certificate placement, your institution avoids the compliance pitfalls that come with false placements. The InsurTrak Advantage In addition, our proprietary InsurTrak platform simplifies insurance tracking and reporting, giving you the tools needed for real-time program oversight, clear audit trails, and automated accuracy to prepare for any internal or external review. InsurTrak also automates payment changes, adds, and refunds, heightening speed and accuracy and avoiding the slowdowns and errors that come with manual processing. InsurTrak’s transparency is unmatched by any other insurance tracking platform — you can see real-time borrower data and a complete borrower history, see any communication including chat logs, and even listen to recorded borrower calls on-demand, right in the system. All of the information you need is at your fingertips — you are never in the dark. Proven Reliability Through Experience Over more than five decades, we’ve built a legacy of reliability, with a commitment to providing consistent excellence. From our implementation team that draws on years of expertise to make every transition seamless, to our highly responsive dedicated Client Executives and Account Reps who know your individual program inside and out, we do everything we can to ensure every partnership is successful. When you work with State National, you gain more than just a portfolio protection provider; you gain a partner whose focus is safeguarding your institution’s long-term success.

SNCares 2024 Recap

Community, Care, and Connection: SNCares Year in Review From grants to giving hands, here are some of the ways we made a difference in 2024 At State National, giving back isn’t just something we do — it’s part of who we are. That’s one of the reasons we created SNCares, a companywide committee dedicated to service and philanthropy. Over the past year, we’ve had the privilege of partnering with dedicated organizations and contributing to meaningful causes that uplift our communities. From grants and donations to hands-on volunteering, our dedicated team members embraced hundreds of opportunities to make an impact. The stories shared here are just a glimpse of the meaningful work we accomplished together, both as individuals and as a company, throughout the year. We hope you enjoy this snapshot of the many ways we came together in 2024 to make a difference and help create a brighter future for those around us!

Charting the Course for 2025: Bright Ideas and Bold Strategies from Our Client Advisory Council

Bright Ideas and Bold Strategies from Our Client Advisory Council At State National, collaboration isn’t just a buzzword — it’s the foundation of how we work with our credit union partners to drive growth and innovation. That’s one of the reasons we created our Client Advisory Council (CAC), a forum where some of our most valued partners can share information, collaborate with peers, and let us know their most important concerns so we can strategically develop solutions to benefit all credit unions.