Claire-ification

Are you a member with a question? Contact IA&B Vice President - Advocacy Claire Pantaloni, CIC, CISR to find the answer at 717-918-9202 or ClaireP@IABforME.com.

QUESTION:

Where can we find insurance brochures in Spanish that our Spanish-speaking staff can use to help support the “technical” side of their conversations?

ANSWER:

An increasing number of agencies are trying to cater to the Spanishspeaking community and an increasing number of resources is available.

For some general brochures with more of a marketing angle, the Insurance Information Institute (III) has flyers already made. From the url below, you can scroll down to “Online Brochures,” and you will find flyers both in English and Spanish. Just as above, if you speak Spanish, you’ll be able to see if you’re comfortable with the wording and if it properly reflects what you are looking to explain. http://www.iii. org/store

For state-specific coverage, our three states have made an effort to develop resources in several languages, particularly in Spanish.

Pennsylvania Insurance Department - https://www.insurance.pa.gov . The website has a translate option (top right corner). The feature translates the web page instantaneously. The coverage brochures, however, have not thus far been translated.

Maryland Insurance Administrationhttps://insurance.maryland.gov and select “En Español” (top right).

Delaware Department of Insurance - https://insurance.delaware.gov/ information/espanol/

Other states nearer our southern borders have developed glossaries and other resources that could be used for basic insurance concepts. However, if you use a resource from another state, you may want to exercise caution before providing it to your customers and make sure the information is generic enough to apply to your state’s coverages as well. If your staff is fluent enough to read the Spanish version, and finds it properly translates the coverage as applicable in your state, then go with it. If your staff can speak Spanish but is unwilling to make the call based on the technicality of the translation, first review the English version to make sure the coverages are properly described (when the English version is available). The Texas Department of Insurance has several insurance glossaries (depending on the line) at https://www.tdi.texas.gov/webinfo/glossaries.html

For Flood insurance, FEMA provides brochures in Spanish at https://www. fema.gov/flood-insurance/outreachresources/publications . In addition, many web pages are fully translated and display buttons showing the languages available for that page, including Spanish.

Finally, some carriers may offer documents in Spanish. USLI has an insurance glossary at https://www. usli.com/media/pq0ppjhg/uslienglish-spanish-glossary.pdf

This document is not a legal opinion and should not be relied upon as such. The intent of this document is to provide a general background regarding the topic or topics discussed, not to provide legal advice. Producers and agencies should consult an attorney regarding specific situations and specific questions with respect to the topic or topics covered in this document. Neither the Insurance Agents & Brokers nor any of its employees shall be responsible for any errors or omissions regarding any statements made in this document, nor any errors or omissions regarding any statutes, regulations, court rules, and/or any other government documents cited in this document.