Continuing education (CE) is an important part of maintaining your life insurance license. It is required in all states to help build your expertise and keep you updated on the latest industry developments. This, in turn, lets you serve your clients better.
In this article, Insurance Business focuses on continuing education for life insurance. We will discuss how it works, what courses are offered, and how long it takes to earn your credits. We have also compiled a list of the varying CE requirements by state.
If you’re a life insurance professional wondering what it takes to complete the required CE credits, this guide can prove useful. Read on and find out how continuing education helps advance your insurance career.
What makes a life insurance agent’s job rewarding is getting the opportunity to leave a positive impact on people’s lives following a tragic loss. Doing so in a constantly changing and highly competitive sector, however, can be challenging.
This is why the learning doesn’t stop once you get your life insurance license. Continuing education is a must to keep your skills and knowledge updated. This way, you can provide the best service possible.
Each state has different guidelines on how to earn continuing education credits. Most allow you to take CE courses online at your own pace. Some require you to attend a few hours of classroom instruction.
The bulk of classes you need to take cover life and health insurance topics. These include two to three hours of ethics training. Some states require agents to complete certain hours of insurance law and regulatory changes.
Most insurance agent licenses are up for renewal every two years. This means that you need to meet all continuing education requirements within this period.
There are some states where insurance licenses are valid for up to three or four years. If you’ve completed excess hours during the renewal period, some states allow you to carry over the credits to the next cycle.
If you plan on selling life insurance outside your home state, you don’t often need to take non-resident CE courses. The reason is that almost all states are signatories of NAIC’s continuing education reciprocity agreement (CER).
Under the CER, member states will recognize courses completed in other member states. The only exception is if you carry a Florida insurance license.
Pursuing continuing education is a key part of an insurance sales career. Know what it takes to succeed in the profession in this step-by-step guide on how to become an insurance agent.
Each state imposes different requirements when it comes to credit hours for continuing education for life insurance. Generally, you will need to finish 24 hours of training every two years.
Because life and health insurance are closely related fields, the requirements are often the same. Insurance Business compiled the list of CE credits required for life and health insurance agents in each state. Click on the links to view the complete details.
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State |
CE requirements |
Carry over of excess credits |
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics
Not more than 8 hours of management, marketing, sales, and training |
Up to 8 hours per renewal period |
|
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48 credit hours every 4 years, including 6 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Allowed for the next renewal period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics, which include 1 hour of anti-fraud training |
Allowed, excluding ethics |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period if earned within 120 days before expiration |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics, regulation, or law |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 5 hours per renewal period, excluding ethics |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 4 hours of law and ethics |
Up to 24 hours |
|
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15 credit hours every year, including 3 hours of ethics for resident agents with less than 20 years in the industry
10 credit hours every year, including 3 hours of ethics for resident agents with more than 20 years in the industry |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
20 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of law
30 credit hours every 2 years for L&H and P&C agents, consisting of 12 hours of L&H, 18 hours of P&C, including 2 hours each of law |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics or law |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period, excluding ethics |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period if earned within 120 days before expiration |
|
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36 credit hours every 3 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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18 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period, excluding ethics |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 10 hours of life, health, and accident CE courses |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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45 credit hours every 3 years, including 3 hours of ethics
60 credit hours, including 3 hours of ethics for newly licensed agents on first renewal |
Allowed for the next renewal period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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16 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Allowed for the next renewal period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics and 1 hour of legislative changes |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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30 credit hours every 3 years |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 to 10 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics and 3 hours of classroom training |
Not allowed |
|
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15 credit hours every 2 years, including: 1 hour of law 1 hour of ethics 1 hour of diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Allowed for the next renewal period |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics and 2 hours of legislative updates |
Up to 6 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics and 3 hours of law |
Not allowed |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years |
Up to 24 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 18 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
10 credit hours every 2 years
20 credit hours every 2 years for L&H and P&C agents |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 12 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics and 12 hours of classroom training |
Not allowed |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics and not more than 6 hours of agency management |
Not allowed |
|
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16 credit hours every 2 years, including 2 hours of ethics and law |
Allowed for the next renewal period only but must be reported within the current period |
|
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24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Up to 6 hours for the next renewal period |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
|
|
24 credit hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics |
Not allowed |
Check out the complete CE requirements for agents, brokers, and adjusters in this state-by-state guide to continuing education for insurance license.
Continuing education helps you serve your clients better by keeping you updated with the latest products, trends, and regulatory changes. Most of the courses you need to take are related to the line you’re licensed for.
The internet is replete with continuing education providers offering courses for various lines and specializations. To find the right courses, you need to check your state’s requirements and assess your training needs.
Here’s a sample list of CE courses life insurance agents can take.
Most state insurance departments have an online tool on their websites that allows you to check your continuing education credits. You can use this tool to find out how many hours you have completed and what CE classes you still need to take. You can also find out how much time you have before your insurance license expires.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a good training provider, we have them sorted out for you. Check out our picks for the top insurance continuing education providers in this guide.
The time it takes to finish continuing education for life insurance depends on several factors, including:
Taking continuing education courses online allows you to earn the credits at your own pace. Most CE providers also offer webinars where you can interact with instructors and other students.
Some states, however, require insurance professionals to complete certain hours of classroom training. Texas insurance license holders, for example, may need to take half of the required CE courses in-person.
Exams are given at the end of each course to verify what you learned. The passing scores vary by state but generally, you will need to get at least 70% of your answers right. Most insurance continuing education providers allow unlimited exam retakes for those who fail a test.
Just like other lines, life insurance is a continuously evolving field where changes can happen in a snap. One of the best ways to succeed in the market is to keep abreast of the latest developments. Our Life and Health News Section can help you with that. Be sure to bookmark this page to access breaking news and the latest industry updates.
Do you have helpful tips for other industry professionals taking continuing education for life insurance? Feel free to share them in the comments.
