About IEA Training
IEA Training is the Insurance Education Association, a California training provider founded in San Francisco in 1876. We teach workers’ compensation claims, disability and absence management, and workers’ comp law to claims professionals, HR teams, and legal staff. Every course is online and self-paced.
IEA runs four programs: CPWC for California claims adjusters, CPDM for disability and absence managers nationwide, DMCS for California leave compliance, and WCLP for legal professionals. IEA has been owned by Michael Sullivan & Associates since 2020 and is based in Fresno, California.
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What IEA teaches
Four programs, each built for one role. All of them are online, self-paced, and start the day you enroll.
Claims Practitioner in Workers’ Compensation
For California workers’ compensation claims adjusters, and for people entering the field.
- Three tracks: Indemnity ($2,499), Medical-Only ($1,899), Medical Bill Review ($1,079)
- Follows the California claims adjuster training curriculum in 10 CCR §2592.02
- Includes six months of Sullivan on Comp
- Rated 4.7 out of 5 in verified student surveys
Certified Professional in Disability Management
The national certification for HR, benefits, leave, and absence management professionals.
- Three modules, 54 hours, $1,480 for the full certification
- Approved for 53.25 SHRM PDCs and HRCI recertification credits
- Covers FMLA, ADA, workers’ comp, STD/LTD, and return-to-work programs
- Rated 4.5 out of 5 in verified student surveys
Disability Management Compliance Specialist
A California micro-credential for people who handle FMLA, ADA, CFRA, PDL, and accommodation requests day to day.
- On demand, $349
- Hands-on California leave and accommodation compliance
- Counts toward the CPDM certification
Workers’ Compensation for Legal Professionals
For attorneys, paralegals, and law firm staff working California workers’ compensation cases.
- 26 modules in three tracks; full certification $1,999
- Approved for California MCLE credit
- Designed by Michael Sullivan, author of Sullivan on Comp
What makes IEA different from other workers’ comp training providers
The facts a buyer, an employer, or a licensing board would check. Every figure comes from IEA’s own records or from the approving body.
| Founded | 1876, in San Francisco, as the Fire Underwriters Association of the Pacific. IEA is one of the oldest insurance training providers in the United States. |
|---|---|
| Enrollments | 414,507 course enrollments recorded in IEA’s classroom era, 1983 to 2018, across California, Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada. |
| California adjuster training | CPWC follows the claims adjuster curriculum in 10 CCR §2592.02, the regulation California insurers use when they designate adjusters. How the hours work. |
| HR credits | CPDM is approved for 53.25 SHRM Professional Development Credits and 53.25 HRCI recertification credits. |
| Legal credits | WCLP courses are approved for California MCLE credit through the State Bar of California. |
| Reference library | CPWC includes six months of access to Sullivan on Comp, the California workers’ compensation treatise. WCLP is built on it. |
| Format | 100% online and self-paced. No cohorts and no class dates. Enroll and start the same day. |
| Student ratings | CPWC 4.7 and CPDM 4.5 out of 5, from verified post-course student surveys. |
| Employers | Team training for insurers, third-party administrators, self-insured employers, law firms, and public agencies. Enterprise training. |
| Headquarters | Fresno, California. Students enroll from across the United States; about seven in ten are in California. |
Programs IEA does not offer
IEA does not sell the WCCA or WCCP designations; those have been The Institutes’ programs since 2012. IEA does not offer the CDMS (Commission for Case Manager Certification) or the CLMS (DMEC). If you already hold a CLMS, see the CLMS graduate page for how CPDM fits.
150 years, in brief
How a fire underwriters’ association in Gold Rush San Francisco became a workers’ comp and disability management training company.
The beginning
The Fire Underwriters Association of the Pacific is founded in San Francisco to promote good practice among insurance adjusters. Classes follow, and by 1905 it is running an insurance certificate program with seminars from the University of California, Berkeley.
A new name
The organization becomes the Insurance Educational Association and an approved private post-secondary school in California, teaching property, casualty, and life insurance professionals across the state.
Workers’ compensation
Working with the Workers’ Compensation Claims Association of Los Angeles, IEA launches a four-course Workers’ Compensation Claims Administration certificate. It becomes the most popular program in IEA’s history and spreads across California, then to Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada.
Two national programs
IEA introduces the Workers’ Compensation Claims Professional (WCCP) program in 1993 and the Certified Professional in Disability Management (CPDM) certification in 1996, developed with the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC). CPDM is still IEA’s national certification today.
WCCA and WCCP move on
IEA sells its WCCA and WCCP programs to The Institutes and refocuses on California claims training and disability management. Delivery shifts from classrooms to telecourses and, by 2018, live webinars.
Michael Sullivan & Associates
IEA is acquired by Michael Sullivan & Associates, publisher of Sullivan on Comp, and relaunches as the Insurance Education Association: a fully remote, for-profit training company.
Today
All four programs are on demand. CPWC serves California’s claims adjusters, CPDM serves disability and absence managers nationwide, and WCLP and DMCS serve legal and HR compliance staff. Students enroll and start the same day, from anywhere.
Who owns IEA Training
IEA Training is owned by Michael Sullivan & Associates (MSA), a California workers’ compensation defense firm, which acquired IEA in 2020. Sullivan on Comp, the reference used in CPWC and WCLP, is published by MSA.
IEA operates as a separate training company and teaches professionals across the industry: insurers, third-party administrators, self-insured employers, applicant and defense law firms, and public agencies. Course content is written to the statute and the case law, not to any one firm’s position.
The IEA team
IEA is a small team, and you reach us directly. Call, email, or connect on LinkedIn.
IEA Training (Insurance Education Association LLC)
7120 N Whitney Ave, Fresno, CA 93720
800-655-4432 · info@ieatraining.org
Malaysia Alston
Sr. Account Manager
malston@ieatraining.org
424-217-1396
Martina Quinn
Marketing Director
martina@ieatraining.org
714-689-0169
Brian Allain
Chief Executive Officer
ballain@ieatraining.org
714-689-0161
Ready to compare IEA’s certifications?
Four programs, one question: which role are you training for? Start with the certifications page, or ask a counselor. Replies within one business hour.