I just took my State Farm Cert, sponsered by Renfroes, in Ft Worth 2 weeks ago. This class, according to the Renfroes instructors, was the first use of the REVISED IDL, and test. The first testing on policy yielded a fail rate of 50%+. Part of the problem was that the test contained a number of "tree" coverage questions that were not covered in enough detail during the IDL, and required utilizing about 1/3 of the training time the next day to clarify. Another area that was heavily looked at in the test was in the endorsement coverage, again that could have used a little more depth of explanation in the IDL.
The estimatics portion of the test also had a high 1st test fail rate. One of the trip points in this test was questions about estimating cedar/wood roofs, which was not covered in the IDL or study material at all. One of the areas that I had expected, which was not on the test, was in the names used in construction. I had heard that you had to be pretty good about using the proper construction terms on this test.
A third problem, for me, was that I had completed ALL of my CE's the week before and had the CE coverage names and amounts confused with the SF coverage names and amouts, along with the fact that I had taken all of my class notes on a big chief tablet, which I could not have on the table during the test.
I passed the estimatics on the first test and did pass the policy on the second test. For the policy test I had transferred all of my notes to the sample policy so that they were availiable during testing.
In summary, if you are going to be taking the SF Cert, take your notes on the face of the sample policy. One way to help there is to take your sample policy and copy it at 75% size. This will give you LOTS of margin for note taking. What I actually did for my sample policy was to cut and paste it into a Word document, then went in and double spaced the document, AND left 5 spaces between each section number for notes. Then take that same (modified) policy and sticky note it by coverage area for faster reference back to a particular section, The tests are limited by time and more than a few people had not finished the test when time was called.
Jim Acree
Stupidity is the art of not trying to learn
Ignorance is the lack of opportunity to learn
I am ignorant