What are the continuing education requirements for insurance agents?

Most states require 24 hours of continuing education every two years, including 3 hours of ethics, the standard in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Uniform Licensing Standards. States differ: New York requires 15 credit hours per two-year period, and renewal cycles vary from annually to every four years. Complete the hours before submitting your renewal; providers typically need three to five business days to report completions, so finish early.

Arizona requires continuing education to renew producer lines of authority such as Life, Accident and Health or Sickness, Property, Casualty, Personal Lines, and Variable Life and Variable Annuity. The license term runs four years and expires on the last day of the licensee's birth month, so CE must be completed within that cycle, and NIPR verifies compliance before accepting a renewal. Adjusters and bail bond agents have no CE requirement.

Resident producers holding Life, Accident & Health, Property, Casualty, Personal Lines, or Public Adjuster must complete 24 continuing education credits every two-year cycle, starting with their second cycle. Of the 24, 3 credits must be in Ethics and 3 in a category of choice, with the remainder in the licensed line of authority. Property or Personal Lines producers need at least 3 credits in Homeowners, and up to 12 excess credits carry over if completed in the last 120 days of the cycle.

Resident DC producers renewing a major lines license must complete 24 credit hours of approved continuing education every two years, including at least 3 hours in ethics, before the license expires in the producer's birth month. Property and casualty producers must also complete a one-time 3 hours of flood insurance training during the first renewal period. Resident title producers need 16 hours (8 for DC-barred attorneys), and nonresident producers meet their home state's requirements, except nonresident title producers, who need 4 hours of DC-specific instruction.

Florida agents complete 24 hours of continuing education every 2 years: a 4-hour Law and Ethics update course specific to a license held, plus 20 hours of electives, due by the last day of the birth month. Licensees of 6 or more years need only 16 elective hours, and those licensed 25 or more years with a CLU, CPCU, or risk management degree need 6. Failing to complete CE can trigger a $250 fine. Title agents follow a separate 10-hour requirement.

Resident producers must complete 24 hours of continuing education (CE) every 2 years, including at least 3 hours of ethics, before renewing. Extra training applies to specific products: 8 hours before selling long-term care plus 4 hours every 24 months, 4 hours of Annuity Suitability Best Interest training before selling annuities, and a one-time 3-hour flood course for producers who sell flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Nonresident producers comply with their home state's CE instead.

Indiana producers holding major lines must complete 24 hours of continuing education every 2 years, and licenses expire on the last day of the producer's birth month. If you hold Accident & Health and/or Life authority, 3 of those hours must be an ethics course; Title licensees need 7 hours of Title coursework. Up to 12 excess hours can carry over to the next renewal period, but ethics and long-term care hours cannot. Only 24 total hours are required no matter how many lines you hold.

Kentucky agents must complete 24 hours of continuing education per biennium, including 3 hours of ethics, by the last day of the birth month (odd or even year, depending on birth year). All 24 hours may be classroom, correspondence, or self-study, and up to 12 excess hours carry over to the next biennium as general hours. CE finished even one day after the deadline is considered late and terminates the license, which then requires reinstatement.

Maine resident producers and consultants must complete 24 credit hours of continuing education every 2 years, including a minimum of 3 credit hours in ethics. The due date falls at the end of your birth month, in every odd or even year depending on your birth year. Non-resident producers follow their home state's CE requirement instead.

Resident producers and solicitors must earn 24 credits of state-approved continuing education every two years, including at least 3 credits in ethics, and up to 12 excess credit hours carry over to the next period. The CE review date falls in the licensee's birth month every two years. Missing it suspends the license for 90 days, during which you may service existing business but not transact new business; one year past the review date, you must start over as a new applicant.

Mississippi measures continuing education per license period, not annually. Producers and adjusters with a license period of 18 months or less need 12 hours; a period of 19 to 24 months requires 24 hours, including 3 hours of ethics. Bail agents need 8 hours per year (16 total over the 2-year license), and Industrial Fire licensees have no CE requirement.

Montana requires 24 approved continuing education credit hours every two years for producers, adjusters, and consultants licensed in major lines. The total must include at least 3 hours of ethics and 1 hour of Montana legislative changes. Producers selling annuities, long-term care, or flood insurance have additional training requirements on top of the 24 hours.

Resident producers in the major lines (Life, Accident & Health, Property, Casualty, Personal Lines) must complete 24 hours of continuing education per two-year cycle: 21 general hours plus 3 hours of ethics. No licensee is required to complete more than 24 cumulative hours for any license combination, and general courses can come from any course group, even lines not held. Courses cannot be repeated for credit within the same two-year period, and excess credits do not carry over. New licensees are exempt from CE for their first renewal.

Resident New Hampshire producers with Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty, or Personal lines must complete 24 state-approved continuing education credits every 2 years, including at least 3 but no more than 10 ethics credits. CE must be completed 60 days before the license expires. Producers renewing for the first time after passing the licensing exam are exempt, and non-resident producers in good standing in their home state owe no New Hampshire CE.

Ohio resident agents holding a major lines license must complete 24 continuing education credit hours per two-year renewal period, including 3 hours of ethics-specific credit; the remaining hours may come from any Ohio-approved courses. Title-only licensees need 12 hours (10 title-specific, 2 ethics), Surety Bail Bond-only licensees need 7 hours annually, and Viatical Settlement Brokers need 15 hours every two years. You may earn all credits through self-study, distance learning, or classroom courses, and you may carry over up to 12 excess hours to the next renewal period as general credits.

Resident producers in Oklahoma complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years: 3 hours of ethics, 2 hours of legislative update, and 19 hours of producer general. Title producers complete 16 hours (2 ethics, 2 legislative, 12 general), and resident adjusters complete 24 hours (3 ethics, 2 legislative, 19 adjuster general). Only Oklahoma-approved courses count, and the department verifies compliance before an online renewal can be submitted, so finish your hours at least 30 days before your license expires.

Oregon resident agents with life, health, property, casualty, personal lines, surplus lines, or variable life authority must complete 24 hours of continuing education each two-year renewal cycle. At least 3 hours must be professional ethics, at least 3 hours must cover Oregon statutes and administrative rules, and no more than 8 hours of credit count in any one day. Your CE must appear in your transcript before NIPR allows renewal, and providers have 15 days by law to enter credits.

Washington requires individual resident producers with life, disability, property, casualty, or personal lines to complete 24 continuing education credit hours each renewal cycle, including 3 hours of ethics. Resident adjusters must meet the same 24-hour requirement. Courses must be approved but do not need to match your lines of authority, and excess credits cannot carry over to the next cycle. Non-resident producers follow their home state's continuing education rules.

Resident agents licensed in any major line must complete 24 credit hours of state-approved continuing education every two years, with at least 3 of the 24 hours covering ethics. Limited-line-only licensees are exempt, and nonresidents satisfy Wisconsin's requirement by meeting their home state's CE. Excess hours cannot be carried forward, and the same course cannot be repeated within the biennial period.