Continuing Education Requirements/Procedures
Each resident life, disability, property or casualty insurance agent, broker or solicitor is required to complete twenty-four (24) hours of approved continuing education as a pre-requisite to license renewal or re-issuance (reinstatement). Three of those hours must be Ethics.
The completion of self-study course hours are limited to eight hours within a single twenty-four hour period. Therefore, if someone orders a 16 hour course, it cannot be completed any sooner than the second day from purchase.
Non-residents are exempt from continuing education requirements (with the exception of Long-Term Care and Long-Term Care Partnership insurance. See section below).
“Approved” means a seminar, class, or self-study course that has been granted insurance continuing education credits by the Commissioner. Community colleges, vocational-technical institutes, insurance companies, agent’s and broker’s associations, industry trade associations, individuals, educational organizations and insurance training schools offer these courses. In addition, the Office of Insurance Commissioner will, from time to time, conduct seminars that are approved for continuing education. When an individual successfully completes an approved course, they will receive a certificate of completion from the sponsoring organization.
Licensees are not required to complete only those courses that present a topic in the line of insurance for which they are licensed. It is suggested, however, that licensees attempt to take courses covering the lines of insurance for which they are licensed most of the time.
Licensees must include copies of the Certificate of Completion of continuing education courses with the license renewal application. All courses must have been completed within the twenty-four months immediately preceding the assigned renewal date, and may not be repeated within a three-year period of the course completion date.
Excess credit may NOT be carried over. Licensees must retain each Certificate of Completion for a minimum of three years from the date the course is used for continuing education compliance.
The Commissioner conducts audits to monitor compliance with the continuing education requirement. An audit letter may request that you provide additional information relating to courses you reported at renewal time. Failure to provide the requested information or documentation may result in disciplinary action against an individual’s agent, broker or solicitor license.
A list of organizations that sponsor approved continuing education courses is available from the Licensing & Education Section of the Insurance Commissioner’s Office. Licensees should contact the listed organizations to determine which courses are currently offered.
Long-Term Care and Long-Term Care Partnership Insurance Course Requirements
Resident and nonresident licensees engaged in the transaction of long-term care insurance, long term care partnership insurance, or both, are required to initially take an approved six-hour course on long term care, long term partnership, or both. A minimum of a four-hour refresher course is required to be taken every two years.
The Commissioner will prescribe the content of the course. Each course will be approved in advance. The insurer, not the licensee, must certify to the Commissioner that its appointees complied with this requirement.
Note: Even though the insurer is certifying that its appointees have complied with these requirements, the licensee must still retain a Certificate of Completion for a minimum of three years from the date the course is used for continuing education compliance.
The approved six-hour and four-hour courses may also count towards the twenty-four required continuing education credit hours, if it is approved for that purpose.
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